This may be a controversial post,
but I have just been watching EastEnders (Okay I wrote this post a few weeks
ago, after an emotional episode) – it was a very powerful episode tonight as
Shirley, Linda and Roxy plus their loved ones awaited the outcome of the trail
of Dean Wicks and his attempted rape on Roxy.
During the episode they didn’t
show the trial, instead they focused on the families and the heartache that
rape brings. The victims Roxy and Linda
united together while Dean stood in the dock alone awaiting the news of his
future. The victims had each other, and had their families, Dean had no one.
And what was the outcome of the
trial? Dean got off - he was found not
guilty, which is not what everyone back in Walford wanted, but it happened, and
it happens in real life as well. People
may be outraged and disappointed with the outcome, I knew I was. And the reason
why I was annoyed - because Dean committed the crime, he raped Linda and tried
to rape Roxy as well.
However the unfortunate thing
about this, is that the not guilty verdict reflects reality – people get away
with rape a lot of the time. The justice
system is flawed:
- Women are often accused of being liars if they report the crime of rape
- Women are often told they brought the crime on themselves because of the clothes they wore or because they were drinking
- Women are often scared to report the crime of rape as they are scared of the perpetrator and they are also scared of being called liars and not being believed.
A lot of women are not believed,
and if the police do believe them and the case goes to court it doesn’t mean
the perpetrator will get convicted. Many cases get a not guilty verdict, and
even if a guilty verdict is given then the sentence is only six or seven years
which isn’t much for a crime that can destroy a person’s life.
I knew that this crime happens
not only to women but also to men. And
for men to come forward it must be worse for them than a women. It is a very
hard subject to tackle as a soap/TV programme but I think that EastEnders did
very well.
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