Law & Order: SVU doesn’t handle rape well at all
Title says it all. So does this:
these professionals who should theoretically be extremely well trained in dealing with survivors don’t seem to know a damn thing about it. They regularly do any or all of the following things in a given episode:
- Suggest to the victim or to their fellow detectives that despite witness reports of having seen the victim arguing or fighting with a man prior to her alleged assault, that man may have been her boyfriend or an acquaintance (as if those people are never rapists)
- Disbelieve the victim, invoking such myths as “Maybe she just had one too many and woke up with the wrong guy, so she decided to call it rape in retrospect”.
- Tell a survivor that it’s her responsibility to report the rape to the police in order to protect other women from being assaulted in the future
- Tell the victim’s family, friends or boyfriend about her having been assaulted without that woman’s permission or even knowledge.
Remember to provide your age, gender and the country where you live for demographic purposes. One comment per person; no discussion (feel free to start a thread in the forum if you want to discuss).
ABOUT
4 comments
Strange, because both of the other L&O shows often do a much better job.
34, female, US
I agree….why do they always go around blabbing to the world that so-and-so was raped? Often when the person has refused to report it.
Agreed. There have been enough episodes that some have done a good job of it, but a show that handles this material as its premise needs to do better than “some episodes.”
male, 35, UK
Oh, hey, I wrote that original post quoted here, so I guess I should sign on.
(Female, 27, Canada)
Leave a Comment