Alleged rape victim running scared (death threats)

[Blue Diadem]

DURHAM, North Carolina (CNN) -- Kristal Brent Zook has probably spent more time with the family of the alleged rape victim in the Duke lacrosse case than any other reporter. The Essence magazine contributor and adjunct faculty member at Columbia University told CNN on Tuesday that the 27-year-old alleged victim's parents have seen little of her.

In an interview Wednesday with CNN's Betty Nguyen, Zook explained that the alleged victim, who was hired as an exotic dancer at a team party, has been staying at a variety of undisclosed locations since she accused three Duke lacrosse players of pulling her into a bathroom and raping.

NGUYEN: You spent more time with this family, yet this family has rarely spent much time at all with the accuser here. Is she just running scared?

ZOOK: She is, and I think understandably. The family has received death threats. They say that she has received death threats, anonymous phone calls. There were even some flyers, they say, that were strewn across the front yard of the family home a couple of weeks ago that had death threats on them. So it's understandable. No matter what happened that night ... she is going through a lot right now in the aftermath.

more here: www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/04/25/cnna.zook/index.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I find this very sad. Why isn't this woman getting protection?

[rodeodance]

1. that would happen if the police took the threats seriously. Maybe they

have reason not to? I do not know.

Why isn't this woman getting protection?

[papau]

3. have reason not to? Perhaps North Carolina bias? Perhaps bias against

rape victims, against poor, against black, against the young, against those in the sex trade?

Perhaps not very good cops or DA?

Hard to say.

[LostinVA]

5. My parents have said public opinion and reporting has been very

pro-victim, at least in their part of the woods. They get Charlotte and Hickory news stations.

[Virginia Dare]

7. She's going up against a huge power structure...

that is Duke University. Things will get nasty and ugly anytime you try to fight the power. As I recall the woman who accused Kobe Bryant received death threats as well.

This is a huge PR problem for Duke, and I'm willing to bet they will put alot of pressure on the alleged victim to drop the charges and quietly settle this.

If everything she has alleged is true, I sure hope she has the strength to endure this and see it through.

[LostinVA]

4. The answer may be as simple as: they can't afford to protect her

Alot of police forces are stretched pretty thin, and the RTP/Triangle area has grown so much over the past decade.

Maybe some other cops or ex-cops like Jukes can give better insight into this.

[jukes]

31. "police protection"

is a very slippery term. it can mean anything from a note on the blotter to have the "beat" car drive by a couple of times a night to providing a team of plain-clothes surveillance experts around the clock.

it's hard to determine what & why the authorities are doing in this set of circumstances. her "best" protection might well be to move around amongst relatives/friends and be very hard to locate.

my guess, amd it's truly ONLY a guess because i have no inside information as to the type of threats, is that the police are not taking it too seriously. high-profile cases like this attract a lot of nutters who just get their jollies disturbing people. quite possibly racist groups or individuals are posting threats, quite possibly friends/supporters of Duke, the lacross team, or the individuals have posted threats in an attempt to intimidate her also. ultimately, it's up to the DA to protect his prosecuting witness, and it may be his team (and the police) advising her to stay on the move AS WELL AS providing her w/ security. it wd be VERY foolish to publish the nature of any official security precautions, so we'll likely never know unless security fails and the witness is hurt.

i doubt she'll be physically unable to testify. whether she can withstand the storm of intimidation is up to her.

[Dhalgren]

8. It makes absolutely no difference whether her allegations are

true or not. The police cannot make that determination. The police must act based upon the situation, not what "some people" might think. If she is the victim in an on-going criminal investigation she should have protection; how the criminal case turns out is up to a court of law.

[ThomCat]

2. Because people are too busy building the defense for the men.

There seems to be a whole lot of energy going into their protection, and a lot of energy going into attacking her, blaming her, slandering her, and making her out to be a liar and a fraud.

When everyone is lined up against her, who's left to offer protection?

[etherealtruth]

6. This is becoming an alarming trend ...

It feels like rich, powerful, famous or lauded men are being given license to rape women.

I have no idea what happened in this particular case (and at this point most of us don't). The vilification of this woman in the media and the condoning of threats against this woman (within some segments of society) are disgusting ... This does nothing but dissuade women that are victims of sexual assault from reporting it.

Presented in a "certain light" the details of any woman's life can be construed as suspect.

[Virginia Dare]

9. Especially male athletes...

as a society we have over-glorified them, to the point where many of them believe themselves to be totally above the law. It seems to be very common on college campuses. Schools tend to look the other way, to the degree that they can. There is too much of a "boys will be boys" attitude.

Remember what happened at University of Colorado with the football team? There are countless other examples.

[YDogg]

10. Gosh.

I guess it could also be said ...

"Presented in a 'certain light' the details of any man's life can be construed as suspect."

But I'm glad I don't think that generally about women or men as a group.

[etherealtruth]

13. Yes it could ...

However the bias in rape cases is USUALLY directed toward the lifestyle and sexual history of the victim (more likely to be female).

Is your assertion that sexist bias' do not exist in American society?
(I can cite areas where sexist bias' are used situationally to the detriment of men and women)

[LostinVA]

14. I honestly don't think I've ever heard the sexual history of a man

being used against him in a rape case. ie... well, he had sex right before and right after the rape, or whatever.

[etherealtruth]

15. Never

'Nor does one ever hear a list of everyone he's ever had sex with.

My point to the "guy" I responded too was that sexism DOES exist ... the only area I can think of off hand where it has a severe deleterious effect against men is in the area of child custody (but the example is one of sexism and 'ism's aren't OK )

[LostinVA]

16. Right...

[etherealtruth]

17. One more ...

Another thing that is pissing me off ... the "suspects" are refereed to as Duke students and young men on the Lacrosse Team ... I want to scream when this woman is simply referred to as a "stripper" ...nothing wrong with being a stripper, but it is not the sum total of her being ... I would not have a problem referring to her as the student working/hired as a stripper, single mother hired as whatever ... her job , besides explaining why she was there is irrelevant.

Sorry ... I don't know what happened but the treatment of this woman is pissing me off, for her sake and the rest of us potential rape victims

[LostinVA]

19. Me too -- it's driving me nuts

If it makes you feel any better... my Mom says alot of NC news reports do call her a single mom and/or NCCU student working as an exotic dancer.....

I like it when the players are called "boys."

[TorchTheWitch]

22. I don't

I specifically dislike the players in this case continually being referred to as "boys". Calling them boys gives the impression that they're too young/immature to be responsible for their actions. They aren't boys, they're men, or if it makes people feel better, call them young men... but they aren't "boys" and it's innappropriate to call them that.

[LostinVA]

24. I meant, I DON'T like it when they're called boys

Good grief... I was on allergy meds last night....

[Blue Diadem]

21. That's what upsets me too

She's being treated as if she were the perpetrator. After reading that she's being tormented further and to the point she's terrified to stay in one spot..well the entire situation just makes my blood boil.

[YDogg]

20. Certainly sexist biases exist ...

... and I hope we as a society get past that in my lifetime. Do I think we will? Honestly? No.

But I take issue with the blanket statement that:
"Presented in a 'certain light' the details of any woman's life can be construed as suspect."

Are you talking about yourself? Your mother? Your sister? You sure as hell aren't talking about any woman in my family.

Your statement reinforces the sexist biases you seem to be complaining about.

[etherealtruth]

23. The vast majority of women before marriage have sex ...

Many women have more than 1 lover over the course of her life time (ave. number is 8.6 : http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2006/Feb06/r021306d)

I was not speaking about your mother or sister ... they may have, very well remained virgins until their marriages and had 1 lover their entire lives (the odds are: you would have no idea ...women tend to not share this info with males related to them and I can't imagine they would share with a male with "certain hang-ups") ... I don't know or care ... the point being that a women with almost any sexual history (vs. men for whom the societal reaction can be almost congratulatory) their history may be misrepresented and portrayed as something its not ...negative associations are still (culturally) associated with sexually active women.

"Your statement reinforces the sexist biases you seem to be complaining about." ...Uh , yeah my statements were used to be illustrative of the point that sexist bias' exist (especially toward women in rape cases) ... my entire point is that normal, well-adjusted wives mothers ... can be raped and their characters smeared regardless of the actual truth.

[etherealtruth]

25. Responded early and too quickly ...

... by the time I had time editing period was over.

The greater point to this is that victims of rape (unlike most other crimes) are often discredited by the insinuation and innuendo ... often being patently untrue, presented out of context or irrelevant.

This should concern you about the women you love.

in several high profile cases the female victims were reported to have histories of depression ???? What possible relevance does this have? I know of no studies that indicate that depression sufferers are liars.

Your response sought to personalize my history and experiences : I have worked in 2 careers, both of which tend to score very highly on public surveys of "respect" and "prestige" (Nursing, and now engineering), for all intents and purposes I live my life as the typical "soccer mom" of a few years back ... most of society views my personal lifestyle choices as conservative...

This does not mean that I am any better than anyone else ... or less "deserving" of being raped ... NOR does it mean that I would be any less likely of being vilified (as a victim) than anyone else ... innuendo and inaccuracies seem to be utilized against rape victims if they are accusing someone of wealth, means or status.

I believe it is naive to assume that the women in your life would be safe from this.

[YDogg]

27. I not naive about these issues ...

... but your pronouncement, "Presented in a 'certain light' the details of any woman's life can be construed as suspect."

... struck me the wrong way. Taken alone - even though it was part of a post, it was a separate "paragraph" - it read to me more like a strategic initiative than lamentation.

We're on the same wavelength.

[etherealtruth]

29. Part of the problem with brief written communication

O8)

[YDogg]

30. Agreed.

:pals:

[Spike from MN]

26. I guess I interpreted that statement a little differently.

"Presented in a "certain light" the details of any woman's life can be construed as suspect."

I took this as a general comment on how, regardless of how they live their lifestyle, the victims in sexual assault cases (which are usually women) will be raked over the coals on the stand. As an example, here's a snippet from the Orange County case where an unconscious 16-year-old girl was videotaped while being gang-raped. ("Gang-raped" is a very mild term for what they did to her.)

In just his opening statement, a pacing, finger-pointing Cavallo told the jury that the girl—next to the tape itself, the prosecution’s star witness--is "a nut," "a pathological liar," "a cheater," an "out-of-control girl," "the aggressor," a wanna-be "porn star," "a troubled young lady," "a tease--that’s what she is!" "a mess," a "master manipulator," a "little opportunist," "a compulsive liar," "a cheat--that’s what she is" and a "callous" drug addict and alcoholic who trimmed her pubic hair, bragged about liking group sex and once drank a beer in a car.

Here's a link to the full article. WARNING: Not for the squeemish.

http://www.ocweekly.com/news/news/haidl-your-daughters/20008/

If that was just in his opening statement, I hate to think of what the victim went through on the stand but that's an example of what a victim can expect in court. YDogg, I am NOT saying that any of the above applies to the women in your family. NOT in any way. However, if any of them are ever assualted, this is the kind of treatment they can expect in court. The defense will always find something and if they can't find anything, they'll make it up. In the above case, the defense also apparently used witness-tampering and jury-tampering to discredit the victim. (I haven't had a chance to read through all the articles yet but I believe that's the case.) It just goes to show that the defense will stop at nothing to discredit the victim and the claims don't even have to be true. All they need to do is plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the jurors and the victim in effect becomes the "defendant," defending his/her reputation against whatever claims the defense wants to throw out there. I think that's the point that etherealtruth was trying to make. ANY victim, regardless of how squeaky-clean his/her lifestyle is, can expect similar treatment. It just happens that most of the victims of sexual assault are women, which is probably why etherealtruth worded the statement the way she did. (Etherealtruth, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that.) I expect that a male victim would be treated the same way in court.

[etherealtruth]

28. Actually that is exactly how I had intended it

"Presented in a "certain light" the details of any woman's life can be construed as suspect."

I took this as a general comment on how, regardless of how they live their lifestyle, the victims in sexual assault cases (which are usually women) will be raked over the coals on the stand. As an example, here's a snippet from the Orange County case where an unconscious 16-year-old girl was videotaped while being gang-raped. ("Gang-raped" is a very mild term for what they did to her.)

My further blathering was intended to try to make the point to the other poster in ways that could/would be understood by him.

Even though none of us knows the facts of the case (I have opinions ... but, I do not know) WE all can see that in the DUKE case the young woman is (in a large sense) on trial ... Regardless of our profession or life style ...that could be anyone of us!

Thanks for the very coherent post (in juxtaposition to mine :) )

[Spike from MN]

32. That's what I thought.

You are right that in the Duke case, the young woman will be the one on trial. I expect her to be absolutely run through the mill. If she were a nun, the defense would still find a way to completely trash her reputation. I think that's a common defense tactic in sexual assault cases which is probably why a lot of victims decide not to press charges. And you're right that it could be any one of us up there on the stand. The way the victims in these cases are treated is absolutely appalling and not a single one of us is immune from it. And if the defendant is rich, as was the case with at least one of the defendants in the Orange County case, the the victim can expect a full-blown campaign of intimidation and harrassment both in the courtroom and outside of it.

"Thanks for the very coherent post (in juxtaposition to mine :) )"

No problem. I think that's the first time anyone has said a post of mine was coherent. And with good reason. ;) Looks like you and YDogg have straightened things out. Good to know.

[walkon]

11. Is there a

Skull & Bones chapter at Duke?

[China_cat]

12. Why isn't she getting protection?

The only thing more whitebread and elitist than a lacrosse team would be a polo team.

Daddies' money and the color of her skin are the reason she isn't getting protection and the 'boys' lawyers are asking for her medical, psychiatric and educational records as well as any sexual history they can dig up on her. The only thing they haven't done so far is plaster her name all over the media.

It worked in the Kobe Bryant case so the same tactics are being used here.

[WI_DEM]

18. This is what happens when you accuse athletes of these things

for some reasons many schools and the public think just because your an athlete you can get away with almost anything. Add to it that it is also a bunch of White Athletes with the accuser being a young black woman and then all hell breaks lose. It's a crime.