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Written by Amie Newman for RHRealityCheck.org – News, commentary and community for reproductive health and justice.
Apparently, in Georgia, it’s not enough that women aren’t to be trusted to make our own medical and health decisions without government intrusion. Now, we’re not to be trusted when it comes to reporting crimes, either.
Republican State Rep. Bobby Franklin, of Georgia, has introduced H.B. 14 which mandates that rape victims, victims of stalking or harassment, or victims of family violence may no longer be classified as “victims” but as “accusers.” According to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Franklin’s bill would,
change the state’s criminal codes so that in “criminal law and criminal procedure” (read: in court), victims of rape, stalking, and family violence could only be referred to as “accusers” until the defendant has been convicted.
To read the bill itself is like one long assault on women’s autonomy and capacity as thinking human beings. Each time the word “victim” is crossed out in favor of “accuser,” it’s another slap in the face to justice. Franklin’s utterly misogynistic, hateful bill tells victims that regardless of what they’ve experienced, those experiences aren’t valid and they’re not to be believed until our justice system deems it so. Read more
2 Comments
This legislation is extremely offensive. This reads as a slight of hand for the sex slave industry.
What a sick man.
Please front page this post on FDL
Probably the next step is to say that accusers should be named publicly before anything, including trial, happens. What is so stupid is that so many of the teabag types see women in exactly the same way as the taliban does. In fact, the teabaggers want to control everyone in the same way that the taliban does.