WHEN one of my work associates alerted me of the news flash, a debilitating chill shot through my body - and it wasn't because of the overzealous air-conditioning system. Fresh off the Associated Press wire, the breaking item read: Not only the Cowboys
merit an apologyDALLAS (AP) - The woman who accused Dallas Cowboys star Erik Williams of sexually assaulting her while teammate Michael Irvin videotaped the scene has recanted her allegation, according to two broadcast reports Friday.
No, no, no, I repeated while thumping my forehead on the desk in cartoon-like fashion.
This was the best possible pronouncement for any staunch Dallas Cowboy fan, like the Star-Bulletin reporter who gleefully brought the story to my attention. It was the absolute worst possible news for anyone who cares about how wahine are treated in this world.
Every time a female publicly recants her charge of rape, whether she was truly assaulted or not, the incident fuels an already rampant suspicion that the crime of sexual violence against women has an excuse, is a ruse or is not even common at all.
It's common, all right. At least one national study cites the statistic that up to one in every two women will be the target of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. We're talking hundreds of thousands of cases, in the U.S. alone, of sexual assault annually.
Yet rape has the lowest rates of conviction and reporting of all violent crimes, partly because it is based on long-held myths including, "She must have asked for it," "She must have changed her mind," and the ultimate insult, "All women secretly want to be raped."
It used to be said that the only way to obtain an iron-clad rape conviction was if the assailant were some unsavory stranger and the victim were a chaste virgin, a senior citizen or a child.
Not anymore. In one notorious mainland trial, a 24-year-old man was sentenced to a work release program because the Wisconsin judge deemed the 5-year-old who was sexually assaulted to be an "unusually promiscuous young lady." Can you believe it?
Believe it. It happens all the time. Which is why most women are doubly afraid of being raped - because they know that they may end up being raped all over again by the system.
Therefore, apprehension permeates their daily lives. They don't go to certain places at certain times, don't wear certain clothes, don't even live in certain neighborhoods to avoid putting themselves in so-called risky situations. In Hawaii, they are prisoners in paradise.
What's worse than being raped? When members of one's support group - friends, family, cops, prosecutors, the courts, etc. - say or think, after the fact, "Well, why did you put yourself in such a predicament in the first place?" Translation: Somehow, she must have brought this woe upon herself.
IF that woman who filed charges against those Dallas football players had in fact been telling the truth, she still would have been put through the wringer. But now that she has recanted, it's even worse - because she'll be used as an example of how women routinely and flagrantly lie about rape.
Yes, maybe Erik Williams and Michael Irvin deserve some kind of apology or remuneration from that lady. But even more deserving of an "I'm sorry" are her fellow females, especially those who have been real victims of rape and then revictimized by skeptics, jokers and disbelievers.
You won't see a news flash about that.