Playing The Blame Game

Despite our country's efforts to come off as a progressive nation, it still harbors the kinds of people that give it a backwards impression.

An article released on CNN.com today states that a woman who was victim of a rape is now being blamed by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office and is in part responsible for the crime. The victim, a typist at a state prison, was strangled and raped by an inmate who had a record of sex assault crimes back in 2013. She and her attorney filed lawsuits against the state for lax regulations on inmate access to areas in the prison facility, allowing them to move about unsupervised. The inmate had been sentenced to life in prison, and the superintendent of the prison was removed, so you could say the typist's case was justifiably resolved.

Yet, according to the attorney general's senior deputy statement, the typist was responsible for being raped, saying (as if to cover the government's ass) that "contributory negligence" is a valid defense for the state to have used in the federal lawsuit. In short, the typist knew what she was up against when working in a prison facility. Totally her fault for being raped by an inmate.

Although this is one story from Pennsylvania, who knows how many other cases are being made (or not made) against rapists, and how many of the victims are facing this form of public embarrassment from their own government. It is shameful that high-end officials cannot assume responsibility for their own flaws and misgivings; it's what they knew they would get into when they accepted their position in office. The whole reason behind our governments -- local, state, and national -- is to provide its citizens with protection against injustices and criminals. Then why the hell would the state do something as childish as blame a citizen for a crime they were a victim of?

Also, terribly sick and tired that women are in part responsible for their own rape. They're too weak, too attractive, dress too promiscuously, don't say "no". In lieu of Emma Watson's speech at the U.N., it is time for both men and women to join together to put an end to sexism. In a country where we pride ourselves over our freedoms and liberties, it is terribly ironic that the majority of us have limitations in our own nation. Where's the sense in that? It is time that we, as citizens, make sure that our safety and liberties are protected by reliable officials in government, instead of leaving it to miscreants who can't handle the burden of acknowledging their faults and claiming responsibility.