The Terminator is now the Governor of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with or without the help of his Hummer, is now in charge of one of the largest economies in the world. He stood for what he believed in and won a battle that had 135 runners. Unfortunately, during the race, his sexual weaknesses were made public.
The Los Angeles Times reported that six women alleged that Schwarzenegger touched them in a sexual manner. Most of these acts occurred in the 1970s. That was 30 years ago.
They didn't complain then, and over the years, they probably have even proudly discussed the incidents in private, over a case of Miller Lite. Politics brought them into the open, but what did it achieve?
Infosys Technologies Limited is India's leading software company. In 2002, a former employee at the Infosys' U.S. office, Reka Maximovich, filed a sexual assault case against Phaneesh Murthy, one of the company's directors, and against Infosys. Phaneesh left the company and Infosys got a $3 million settlement with Reka against the wishes of Phaneesh. The case disappeared. In October 2003, another lawsuit was filed against Phaneesh and Infosys by Jennifer Griffith, a former employee. Why didn't any of the women complain immediately after the alleged attack? Is money enough to get over the trauma of an assault?
Sexual assaults have become about lawsuits or are being used as examples for character judgment. When victims worry more about the money they can get out of it, or about how it can be used to demean another person, the severity of the attack is lost. When a real crime occurs, people tend to look for ulterior motives in victims' claims. It is a case of crying wolf too many times.
In April 1997, in Chicago, police charged an ex-convict with sexual assault against a nine-year old girl. Her name was kept out of the papers and she was referred to as "Girl-X." She was raped, choked, poisoned and her body left on the seventh floor stairwell of a development project high-rise. The girl remained unconscious for a month. The attack left her permanently crippled, mute and blind. She testified in court using head movements to answer questions from her attorneys. She will spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. In April 2003, in State College, three men raped a Penn State student. She was a 19-year-old woman. How many people know of these as compared to the above cases?
Every two minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted, according to The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization. One out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetime. In 2002, 247,730 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault were reported, according to the 2002 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The Justice Department has estimated that one of six victims is under age 12. According to a Commonwealth Fund Survey, 7 percent of girls in grades five to eight and 12 percent of girls in grades nine through 12 said they had been sexually abused. Three percent of boys in grades five through eight and 5 percent of boys in grades nine through 12 said they had been sexually abused. How many of these are reported? How many get well after the attack?
For those of us who have never been a victim, a simple search on Google will reveal the trauma that these victims go through. Rape Trauma Syndrome is well published and it is always scary to read about.
The victim can experience shock, numbness, embarrassment, guilt, powerlessness, loss of trust, fear, anxiety, anger, disbelief, shame, depression, denial and disorientation. The effects span from immediate impact effects like physical trauma, skeletal muscle tension and gastrointestinal irritability. The short-term effects can range from generalized anxiety and fear, disturbance of eating, sleeping, thoughts, relationships, and the guilt for not preventing assault.
The long-term effects can be disruption and change in lifestyle, nightmares, fear of being alone, the thought of being "damaged" goods, and thinking others know about the assault. The bottom line is victims will have a diminished capacity to enjoy life and that can never be cured, not by politics or by money.
In India, the virginity of a woman was considered so sacred and the concept of one man-one woman was so emphasized, that movies often showed the transformation of a criminal into a good human being and he would be forced to marry the girl he raped. He would repent his sins and become eternally good. If only it were that easy. Stanley Kubrick in "Clockwork Orange" portrayed such a transformation by a rigorous treatment. The protagonist was transformed, but in the end, politics played its wicked card and the hero returned to his evil state.
Sexual assault has serious repercussions. The pain the victim goes through is immense. People who make cases out of these for political or monetary gain are forever making a dent in the credibility that a real case might have. And that is another person who has forever lost the capacity to really enjoy life.
