it's get angry or cry. sometimes both!
So I got angry yesterday about hockey and the Patrick Kane case and accidentally ended up venting with an essay.
This is not an episode of "Law and Order" but actual real life. It is also unfortunately, as the victim's lawyer said, a classic example of why rape victims often don't come out with their accusations and seek prosecution, because not only are you subject to criticism, shaming, blaming (and accusations of gold-digging in cases of a well known accused), you also face the challenges of a system working against you.
What kind of incompetence or deliberate corruption is happening with the PD? This PD or myriad others across the country? Have you heard the things coming out of Kane's attorney's mouth? Surely you can be an advocate for your client without implicitly accusing the victim's lawyer of perpetuating a hoax. The NHL's reaction to this serious matter has been practically farcical, to say nothing of their response to Voynov, Varlamov, and Ribeiro. When stats say about 1 in every 5 women in America experiences sexual assault in her lifetime, and the response seems to be studied ignorance while proceeding to let the accused carry on with his multi-million dollar career, we get the message. The message is you don't care: about the victims, about the potential victims, about the people, male and female, aligned in support of the victims and hoping to change the current realities.
It's not only the NHL, or the NFL, that confronts these problems, but they certainly highlight them when it comes to incidents that involve faces of the franchise, those with the ability to "damage the brand", so the speak. It highlights how much more the brand matters than the crime, and yet the ability and persistent choice to refuse to listen to the victim or give her credibility trumps even the brand. Surely having Kane continue as if untouched by scandal is foolhardy to the brand (as evidenced by how many fans and professional sports writers are baffled and incensed right now), and yet... And yet here we are. "NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says Patrick Kane's playing status remains unchanged. He's still in camp with the Blackhawks." Greeted by roaring cheers of fans, no less.
Miss me with the people now accusing the victim/her lawyer of planting a hoax, or doing it all for a publicity stunt. Or nattering about how we'll never know the truth. No, we won't, because that's often what rape cases mean: it's an issue of consent between two people, and DNA evidence is not definitive. Rape cases are rarely easy, or clear cut. But it is clear in this case something happened, to the point she was upset, went to the hospital immediately afterward for a rape kit, and went to the police. Unless you believe she 100% made it all up and got a rape kit for no reason whatsoever, then Patrick Kane can never be 100% innocent. He may never be found criminally liable, but that is because of how our justice system operates (and with the obstacles that obviously exist within it). That is not real life.
This is real life: Patrick Kane is not worth it -- the defamation, the degradation, of rape and assault victims, now, before, in the future. Give them a little dignity. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Because 92% (92%!!) of reported cases are not false and that is only those that are ever reported to begin with. Imagine how many more people are hurting and hiding because of consequences like this.
The update now that Erie County PD is claiming all evidence in the case is in their custody and untampered with: First, proof. What's the chain of custody before Erie PD handled the evidence? Second, I stand by my thoughts. If the evidence bag with the rape kit was a hoax, that's sickening. So is the leap to assuming the victim had any hand in it. But it certainly does implicate someone privy to enough details to fake an evidence bag that could be passed off for the original. This case is a mess and people certainly are showing where their loyalties lie.
Aaand I'm done now. Probably forever.
I want hockey, the sport back, but it's so difficult to separate from the brand, the league. Frankly since the Blues have become my diehard Western conference team (look, when are the Canes ever going to make the playoffs again?), I haven't been too invested in the Hawks, but goddamn, Hawks. Even you can do better than this.
This is not an episode of "Law and Order" but actual real life. It is also unfortunately, as the victim's lawyer said, a classic example of why rape victims often don't come out with their accusations and seek prosecution, because not only are you subject to criticism, shaming, blaming (and accusations of gold-digging in cases of a well known accused), you also face the challenges of a system working against you.
What kind of incompetence or deliberate corruption is happening with the PD? This PD or myriad others across the country? Have you heard the things coming out of Kane's attorney's mouth? Surely you can be an advocate for your client without implicitly accusing the victim's lawyer of perpetuating a hoax. The NHL's reaction to this serious matter has been practically farcical, to say nothing of their response to Voynov, Varlamov, and Ribeiro. When stats say about 1 in every 5 women in America experiences sexual assault in her lifetime, and the response seems to be studied ignorance while proceeding to let the accused carry on with his multi-million dollar career, we get the message. The message is you don't care: about the victims, about the potential victims, about the people, male and female, aligned in support of the victims and hoping to change the current realities.
It's not only the NHL, or the NFL, that confronts these problems, but they certainly highlight them when it comes to incidents that involve faces of the franchise, those with the ability to "damage the brand", so the speak. It highlights how much more the brand matters than the crime, and yet the ability and persistent choice to refuse to listen to the victim or give her credibility trumps even the brand. Surely having Kane continue as if untouched by scandal is foolhardy to the brand (as evidenced by how many fans and professional sports writers are baffled and incensed right now), and yet... And yet here we are. "NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says Patrick Kane's playing status remains unchanged. He's still in camp with the Blackhawks." Greeted by roaring cheers of fans, no less.
Miss me with the people now accusing the victim/her lawyer of planting a hoax, or doing it all for a publicity stunt. Or nattering about how we'll never know the truth. No, we won't, because that's often what rape cases mean: it's an issue of consent between two people, and DNA evidence is not definitive. Rape cases are rarely easy, or clear cut. But it is clear in this case something happened, to the point she was upset, went to the hospital immediately afterward for a rape kit, and went to the police. Unless you believe she 100% made it all up and got a rape kit for no reason whatsoever, then Patrick Kane can never be 100% innocent. He may never be found criminally liable, but that is because of how our justice system operates (and with the obstacles that obviously exist within it). That is not real life.
This is real life: Patrick Kane is not worth it -- the defamation, the degradation, of rape and assault victims, now, before, in the future. Give them a little dignity. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Because 92% (92%!!) of reported cases are not false and that is only those that are ever reported to begin with. Imagine how many more people are hurting and hiding because of consequences like this.
The update now that Erie County PD is claiming all evidence in the case is in their custody and untampered with: First, proof. What's the chain of custody before Erie PD handled the evidence? Second, I stand by my thoughts. If the evidence bag with the rape kit was a hoax, that's sickening. So is the leap to assuming the victim had any hand in it. But it certainly does implicate someone privy to enough details to fake an evidence bag that could be passed off for the original. This case is a mess and people certainly are showing where their loyalties lie.
Aaand I'm done now. Probably forever.
I want hockey, the sport back, but it's so difficult to separate from the brand, the league. Frankly since the Blues have become my diehard Western conference team (look, when are the Canes ever going to make the playoffs again?), I haven't been too invested in the Hawks, but goddamn, Hawks. Even you can do better than this.