Response to the 4 rape cases

In class we talked about four highly publicized rape cases. In each case, there seemed to be a trend of the media placing blame in different directions than toward the accused or even the convicted rapists.

In the recent Richmond High School rape case, a fifteen year old female student was sexually assaulted outside of a homecoming dance. She had drank and there were bystanders watching, yet the crime was still committed. Her group of perpetrators was mostly Hispanic and within five years of her age range. Although this serious crime stirred up a lot of controversy in the media, the blame was not necessarily focused on the accused criminals. A lot of the focus was placed on the neighborhood of Richmond, which has generally had a high crime rate and is inhabited by the lower class. The culture of Richmond and its "ghetto" standards became a central focus the media portrayed for the case. Yes, the neighborhood could use some improvements, but culture cannot force a group of boys to sexually assault a young girl.

In the Greg Haidl case, three 17 year old boys raped a 17 year old girl while she was intoxicated. The incident occurred at the Haidl household, while the parents were there. This crime caused a lot of media coverage because Don Haidl, the father, was involved in politics and the family was very wealthy and involved in the Newport Beach community. The teenage boys committed the crime, but the blame was again not placed on them as much as the focus was on Don Haidl, the father, and also the girl who was assaulted. The father was looked down upon for allowing drinking to occur at his home and not really know that a rape was occurring so closeby. The victim was also looked down upon because of her decisions to drink and also because she had sex not long after the incident. Although both of these people may have made some type of mistake, the boys were the ones who actually committed the crime.

In the Kobe Bryant case, the famous basketball player allegedly raped a hotel employee who was 4 years his junior. The women consented to some amount of the acts, but then refused consent later. After the media found out, a lot of the focus went towards the victim, who was later discovered to have a lot of mental issues and even a suicide attempt in her history. Bryant was already a sports hero at the time, and many people did not want to believe that the crime was entirely his fault. It may not have been, but the media placed so much blame on the accuser that it became more of an investigation into her past and her issues than into the actual act of the rape.

In the Roman Polanski case, more blame was placed on the accused than in the other cases, but the media still focused on other aspects outside of the victim and the perpetrator. Polanski was a well-known director at the time and the victim was a thirteen year old model. He took photos of her and then that led to rape in which the victim was drinking champagne and had taken qualludes. A lot of the focus soon turned to the model culture, which typically allows very young girls to grow up much more quickly than they normally would. The mother also was given some of the blame by the media because she allowed her daughter to participate in such activities involved in the modeling culture.