Not a priority....Ummm.... WHAT?

I have never heard of a more outrageous comment to address a human crisis like this in my life. It's ignorant and insensitive as fuck comments like these that so many rape victims don't come forward. I am outraged that anyone representing any country could make such a comment.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100316/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_earthquake

Forgiveness

People often say to me, knowing how devout I am in my faith, but you are a Catholic, can’t you forgive the people who harmed you?

Such questions I am peppered with by not only people of my own fellow faith, but by people of other Christian faiths. I refuse to answer. Such a question is between me and my God.

My personal stance is that forgiveness of the heinous crime of sexual assault is one’s own personal decision; no one should judge if they haven't been there. I often hear survivors say, I forgave my rapist. Again, their choice. Everyone's healing journey must run their own individual course.

With the recent news that Mr. Rapelanski’s ruling determined he must remain in a Swiss jail, I say, this is progress.

Should a sexual assault survivor choose to forgive their assailant, more power to them. I am not certain that will ever be me.

But all that aside, if you come forward and say, yeah, I raped a child, but cut me some slack because I am famous, have $ and been through shit… well, here is my answer to him.

Dear Mr. Rapelanski:

I am sorry your mother died in a concentration camp.

I am sorry your late wife and her unborn child were brutally murdered. It’s not fair.

I’ve been through trauma too. Trauma that was unfair, cruel, and heartless.

The difference that separates us is that people like myself do not inflict our brutal experience of violence on others, and you should not be able to either, using your celebrity status and personal tragedies as a pathetic excuse to pardon you for forcibly raping, drugging and sodomizing a helpless child. I do not feel an ounce of sympathy for your arrogance and your gross sabotage of our legal system.

Sincerely,

Michele Pardon

PS- no pun intended with my last name, but it is my legal one and in this case, could not be better suited to enforce my point.

I don't like August 30th

Today just Royally sucks. And I mean it as it in today- now 12:01 August 30th, 2009. Yes- I know my blog clock is off and I have no desire to fix it, nor do I posses the technical skill to know how to or care.

The summer season is just the worst for me to cope with. There’s body image and lighter clothes, then there’s the two days from June-September where two separate unrelated incidents of Sexual Assault sent my world spinning inside out and upside down.

All the bad news this week with child abduction/rape cases has not sat well with me. It makes me sick to my stomach, especially when today is such a hard day for me.

But I will try to breathe- and imagine pleasant things.

Not Staying Silent

People may kick my ass on this one, but this is how I feel on the Ben Roethlisberger rape case. A friend of mine brought my attention to this article on the statistics of rapes that go un-reported- particularly when the accused is a high profile celebrity.

http://www.rgj.com/article/20090722/NEWS/90722035/1321/NEWS


I believe this girl. I totally believe she is telling the truth. I completely understand what it is like for victims not wanting to report their assaults out of fear of not being believed and being made out to be the bad one, the guilty one, the liar, the slut, the you were asking for it based on what you drank or what you wore, you little whore.

I went through 18 months of defense lawyers and cops, and sometimes even prosecutors- the people who were supposed to be on my side, treating me like this. It sucked- even gave me a nervous breakdown, and my rapist was not famous. Nearly every rape victim who comes forward to report it has to go through this process- remember the Central Park Jogger Tricia Meili who was left for dead and what everyone said about her…. She was jogging late at night…. It’s her fault.

My point is, if I had to do it over again just to have my say in court, I would- regardless of the outcome. While it is true that this victim was not obligated to file a criminal complaint for probably all of the above justifiable reasons I mentioned, in the eyes of the people defending him, only filing a civil complaint makes her look like she wants $, not justice. I am not calling her a gold digger… I am not saying that is her motivation…. I am saying that is what will be the perception, and this comes from my own experience.

I remember when I was going through the criminal investigation in my case, and my family decided to hire a civil attorney just to advise me. When the DA found out I had one, she called me up rip roaring pissed. YOU HAVE A CIVIL ATTORNEY? I’M YOUR ATTORNEY. What’s wrong with some independent counsel looking out for my own best interest? You don’t work for me, you work for the state. Because if you have a civil attorney and this goes to trial, I can’t keep that from the defense and it makes you look like you want money and weakens our case. I thought that was ridiculous but it is unfortunately true and I understood her point.

It is my belief that the only way things in this country can change when it comes to sexual assault is for the victims of this awful act to come forward and report it to authorities so there is a record of a complaint. I’m not gonna lie- it’s not a trip to Disney Land and no, you may not always get the outcome you want. But the only way to raise awareness to the problem is to continue to report it- no matter how famous they are, no matter how drunk you were or what you wore. I don’t want to judge people who don’t come forward, but staying silent enables the problem.

Oscar Award winner indicted for rape

I absolutely hate reading stories like this.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/06/23/2009-06-23_oscarwinning_songwriter_joseph_brooks_indicted_on_sex_assault_charges.html


They make my stomach lurch. And yes, I know my shrink tells me all the time not to read them, tells me not to watch news stories about rape, not to watch Law and Order Special Victims Unit and movies about rape or anything in the rape family on the Man Hater channel. (AKA Lifetime Television for Women)

The problem is that I feel so strongly about the issue that I can’t help but speak out about it, particularly as it relates to my own experience with rape and our legal system.

It needs to change. YESTERDAY. Craigslist needs some serious ass regulations in place so pigs like this scumbag can’t prey upon young impressionable and aspiring actresses. I think that cops need to be posing as people responding to craiglists ads the same way they do in chat rooms to bust child molesters.

First Phillip Markoff- the infamous craigslist killer, then the other sick fuck who hired a guy he met on craigslist to rape his wife while he watched. NOW THIS. What’s next? This craigslist shit is out of control.