Aug
28

The Word Allegedly…

filed under sexual assault

Really pisses me off. I don’t know about you, but every time I read an article about sexual assault in one form or another, the word allegedly just pops up like it’s normal. Well I’ve got to tell you–It isn’t. It isn’t normal at all. The word allegedly, specifically in most articles on this topic seem to give me the impression that the entire ordeal is being mocked; that it could have happened, the woman said it happened, but did it really?

But now I think I’ve seen the word allegedly and let it go for the last time after seeing this:

man arrested for raping 4 year old daughter

Blood present in the toilet, hospital, doctors…Doesn’t sound like a time to use the word ‘allegedly.’ Sure, it’s in the context to make you wonder if the father actually did it, but I’m willing to bet that yeah, he’s the one who did it since it’s been said that approximately 80% rape and sexual assault that happens to a child is done by a parent, someone in their family, or someone that is very close to them that they trust. Something tells me that a 4 year old doesn’t have many people in their lives that they are extremely close to and trust other than their own family.

I know that Current simply copied and pasted the story shown on their site about this from the original article, so in that case, you, right here, stop using the word allegedly, it isn’t cool. All you other publications out there doing the same thing–The same goes for you!

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    Good Lord, does this REALLY have to be explained to you?

    The reason that the word "allegedly" turns up is that nothing has been proven in a court of law. The same standard is applied to any other form of crime. If he'd been found sitting in a room with a four year old's head caved in and was coated in blood there would still have to be a trial over the matter assuming that he pleaded innocent.

    The reason for this is that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and if you are declared a thief, a rapist, a murderer or an anything in a newspaper and one of the people in your trial has picked up a newspaper, or spoken with someone who has talked about that topic, then it is going to be very difficult for you to receive a fair trial. In print, after all, you are already a thief, a rapist, a murdered, or an anything.

    This is also why people's criminal records are kept quiet: the job of a court is to work out whether they've done the crime they're accused of, knowing their past record is an irrelevance to that.

    And throwing around 80% is absurd. 20% is substantially more than you need to go "Beyond reasonable doubt".
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    You're totally right. In fact, the state should be able to execute people before they are convicted of a crime. Not guilty? Oh well.
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    While I understand the outrage over the word seemingly discrediting what the victim (and evidence) claim, it's used as more of a legal safeguard. Any major news organization could be sued for libel or slander if somehow, in SOME unlikely way, he turned out not to be the person who had raped that little girl.

    In my opinion, while it is pretty fucked up that even with overwhelming evidence the word 'allegedly' is used, I think actually witnessing the event happening is one of the only few ways you can really use the word with absolute certainty.

    Currently I'm trying to get an individual banned from anime conventions across the country. He sexually assaulted my friend right in front of me, and there have been a few other girls that have come forward to me with tales of their experiences with him. Like I said above, I can totally understand your reaction to the word 'allegedly.' He can't get banned from any conventions until he is actually convicted of sexual assault since the supposed "allegations" are not enough to break off the contractual agreement. They have to be proven in a court of law before he can be banned from the very conventions that give him access to the very women he assaults.

    Unfortunately part of his scheme is getting girls from southern states and bringing them to work for him at conventions in states farther up north. Oftentimes these girls don't come forward because they feel doing so will jeopardize their ability to get home (since he buys the plane tickets).

    So here's some food for thought for the others who've replied: the word allegedly is a safeguard for the accused, but what sort of safeguards are there for the victim? The legal system obviously isn't working in their favor.
 
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