Allegations of rape have made headline news recently. Men who have been held in high esteem for decades and given the title of national treasure have now fallen from a great height in disgrace regardless of the outcome. William Roache who famously walks the cobbled streets of Coronation Street has been charged with two counts of rape and will be next in line for severe scrutiny by his peers and fans in the coming months. So how does a man who boasts sleeping with 1000 women think it OK to rape someone? Did he think it was rape at the time? And what constitutes as rape?
Shamefully there are women who will cry rape and the accused will go through a living hell trying to plead and prove his innocence. Not only will his name be dragged through the mud but his family will feel suffocated by a swamp of lies that will choke and ultimately destroy their once seemingly solid unit. But the majority of women who have claimed to be raped are being truthful and the fact that they have the courage to come forward speaks volumes about how strong they are mentally even though they will have been overpowered by physical strength at the time.
Reliving the entire sordid and degrading experience again and again with the police and then the courts is a mark of how determined they are to get justice. A woman or girl that has been through this nightmare will not be seeking revenge; no amount of getting back at a person will ever make them feel better or take the psychological bruises away. The respect that should be shown to the victims of this kind of abuse can’t be measured, imagine there are just two people in a room with no cameras or witness’s her word against his but this doesn’t deter her from doing the right thing.
Right because it is a crime that should be reported, right because in her mind she will be thinking that maybe he could do it again to someone else; the thought of another going through this because she kept quiet and worse still having to live with it would make her feel like his accomplice. It would be hard enough to report anyone but how do you go about reporting someone who is high profile, famous or a pillar of the community? If recent events have proved one thing it is that they are not untouchable no matter how long it takes for the truth to find its way.
If these men say it was consensual at the time they are either deluded or so wrapped up in their bubble of fame that they truly believe getting away with it will be a breeze. So who can you trust? The fact that they are well known doesn’t make them trust worthy, there are an abundance of men out there that can be trusted men you have never heard of before. There are so many decent men who will find these stories of rape and violence as abhorrent as women do, this may be hard for a woman who has gone through the worst to believe. I hope one day that they do and find just a little more courage to take a chance on someone; one bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch.