"The Rape" of Mr. Smith

by Anonymous
found in "Readings for Diversity and Social Justice" Adams, et. al.

"Mr. Smith, you were held up at gunpoint on the corner of 16th and Locust?"
"Yes."
"Did you struggle with the robber?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"He was armed."
"Then you made a conscious decision to comply with his demands rather than to resist?"
"Yes."
"Did you scream? Cry out?"
"No. I was afraid."
"I see. Have you ever been held up before?"
"No."
"Have you ever given money away?"
"Yes, of course -- "
"And did you do so willingly?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Well, let's put it like this, Mr. Smith. You've given away money in the past -- in fact, you have quite a reputation for philanthropy. How can we be sure that you weren't contriving to have your money taken away from you by force?"
"Listen, if I wanted --"
"Never mind. What time did this holdup take place, Mr. Smith?"
"About 11 pm."
"You were out on the streets at 11 pm? Doing what?"
"Just walking."
"Just walking? You know that it's dangerous being out on the street that late at night. Weren't you aware that you could have been held up?"
"I hadn't thought about it."
"What were you wearing at the time, Mr. Smith?"
"Let's see. A suit. Yes, a suit."
"An expensive suit?"
"Well-- yes."
"In other words, Mr. Smith, you were walking around the streets late at night in a suit that practically advertised the fact that you might be a good target for some easy money, isn't that so? I mean, if we didn't know better, Mr. Smith, we might even think you were asking for this to happen, mightn't we?"
"Look, can't we talk about the past history of the guy who did this to me?"
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Smith. I don't think you would want to violate his rights, now would you?"


Now, this isn't perfect. Actually, some of the questions of what he was wearing are the same sort of recommendations one would tell someone to avoid when walking around late at night, which can really bring up interesting parallels of itself. While in the case of robbery, people would not typically say one was "asking for it," they still might question someone's judgment to be out late at night and possibly not paying attention to their surroundings.
I find the greater point being that this line of questioning would never happen after a crime happened, as it might in the case of rape (though the part about the person's past is now inadmissible) .