The great hypocrisy of “believe all women” who have been victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) or sexual assault is that we do NOT believe nary ANY MAN who is the victim of IPV or sexual assault perpetrated by a female. Certainly, if we are to skew due process to believe the victim then are not men entitled to the same equal protection? The focus on women alone shows the blatant sexual bias in this “believe” movement, a gynocentric focus on female victims only. It is a fact, if we “believe all women” we then inversely NEVER believe a man.
To believe all women is the slippery slope to the denial of due process in our justice system. Under the U.S. Constitution we stand innocent until proven guilty in stark contrast to blind acceptance of an allegation. Lady justice is the allegory passed down to us from Roman times representing the morality which should be in justice systems. She is shown with a scale designed to show that evidence of an offense is present, measured, and balanced. The blindfold is there to show impartiality in the application of the law. The sword is for swift justice for justice delayed is justice denied. If Lady Justice “believes all women” then she removes the blindfold, tips the scales, and strikes any man with the sword at the behest of any woman. She is then hardly an allegory for justice and equal protection under the law.
At what point do we believe all MALE victims also? Right now the system dismisses male victims. How many men’s domestic violence shelters are there? What government programs are available for male victims of IPV or sexual assault? Hotlines? The “Violence Against Women Act” by name and in practice excludes male victims. Indeed, to admit that one is a male victim of IPV or sexual assault is to subject oneself to ridicule starting with the police and continuing ridicule through the legal system. If lacking a voice and ignored what is a man to do to get justice?
In a world which believes all women the victimized male is undermined by the counter claim of the female. Instances of mutual aggression result in the male being prosecuted. Male victims of female violence are twice persecuted, once by the violence they endure and a second time by the institutional violence of a system which discounts their victimization. As they are doing now, men will push to be believed and receive equal treatment. Are we to then morph into a system which believes all “victims” with no measure of the evidence?
Our current system has gotten so gynocentrically focused that we argue about intrusions into protection for the falsely accused as if all false allegations are made by females and all falsely accused are males. While statistically it may lean in that direction, it is a simple fact of life that both men and women are capable of violence and sexual assault against the other sex, and both men and women lie and are capable of using the relational violence of the false allegation to trigger institutional violence, the prosecution based upon false allegation. While the institutions are now gynocentrically focused causing more false female allegations then male, we can expect men to push back and gain equality. Do we want the “equality” of a system which persecutes all falsely accused, both men and women?
The fact that an individual does NOT have to prove their innocence and the onus is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt protects the innocent from the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, to protect the innocent there are many guilty parties who are not prosecuted due to a lack of evidence. This is the price we pay to ensure that no innocent person is prosecuted, for to be innocent and prosecuted is to be persecuted. Indeed, enough men are already falsely convicted for crimes they did not commit. Are we ready to persecute and incarcerate more men AND women as we undermine due process to “believe all victims”?
For those men and women not prosecuted for whatever reason are we then to resort to a system of public majority rule and social destruction of character? Two parties both claiming status as victim and perpetrator with high allegations and rhetoric replacing evidence? The loser being the one who can’t muster as many counter allegations nor sway the majority opinion to their side? What happens when both sides meet with their mobs with no process to contain them? Are we not then returning to tribal trial by combat?
Both males and females can be the victim of IPV or sexual assault. And both males and females can be the victim of false allegations and slanderous character assassination. Individual victims of violence and victims of false allegations who are not served by the criminal justice system need to be served by our civil and social systems without regard to their sex. The modern day social and media mob rule lynchings need to cease and we need to return to due process for all. Impartial balanced swift justice serves us all and anything else is anarchy and mob rule.
