When someone comes forward to share an experience of sexual assault, my gut reaction is to believe her or him.
Logistically, it’s the right assumption. It is widely recognized that one in four women will experience some form of sexual assault in her lifetime. Only 8 percent of rape reports are deemed false, a rate that includes not only false reports but also reports taken by police who didn’t believe the victim.
Then there’s the stigma associated with being a sexual assault victim. Who in their right mind would put that label on themselves?
So, I don’t understand the victim-blaming that goes on in the wake of stories like that of Anna Strzempko.
Strezmpko went public with allegations that former Greater Holyoke YMCA Vikings club swim coach Randall Smith beat and raped her starting around 2007, abuse that lasted about two-and-a-half years while she was on his team. After she became depressed and anorexic, Strezmpko’s doctor said she could no longer swim competitively and she left the team. It took two years before Anna brought the full story to her mother and the alleged abuse was reported to the Y, police and USA Swimming, the sport’s governing body. The matter was investigated and Smith was fired from the Y, though the reasons for his dismissal were not made public. Police investigated, but filed no charges against Smith. In a blog post, Anna says USA Swimming paid her $400,000 for pain and suffering, but the organization in January decided not to bar Smith from coaching.
In an interview with the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Strzempko’s mother, Monica Strzempko of Westfield, says the Holyoke police didn’t seem to take her daughter’s allegations seriously enough. She remembers an officer telling her that Anna “didn’t act like a normal victim.” Holyoke PD officers still have the case open and are therefore not commenting on or releasing details about their investigation.
According to the Strzempkos, in the wake of the allegations the local swimming community rallied around Smith and shunned Anna. Strzempko was ostracized by her friends, teammates and neighbors and doubted by a harsh Internet peanut gallery. She’s just doing it for attention, said former teammates.
Sexual assault victims get many messages — some subtle, some blatant — telling them to shut up. When a freshly traumatized victim is doubted by a friend, police officer, family member, or a medical professional or told the abuse was not such a big deal, it has a chilling effect not only on the victim, but on countless others. Rape is one of the most underreported crimes in the U.S. According to the Rape Abuse Incest National Network, 68 percent of rapes go unreported and only three out of every 100 rapists will spend a day in jail.
Victims of sexual crimes need to know that when they report the abuse they will be treated with dignity instead of derision. In just about any other crime, it would be unthinkable to heap so much scorn and blame on the victim while defending the accused.
No one asks someone who has been mugged what she was wearing or about her prior spending habits. No one accuses a mugging victim of just trying to get attention. And there are likely very few times in recorded history in which a mugger successfully argued that the money wasn’t forcefully taken, but rather freely given, albeit with some consensual bruising.
Victims of sexual assault are everywhere and they need support from the community to seek justice and heal. At the very least, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. It’s the logical and decent thing to do.•
