COLUMN: Walk down the aisle with your rapist

From Davina Figeroux's, "Say It Ain't So," Fall '97 From Davina Figeroux's, "Say It Ain't So," Fall '97Imagine you are walking home from class and are approached by a group of drunken men. The men forcibly take you to a secluded area -- be it a park, alley, or van -- and proceed to gang-rape you. There is no doubt in your mind these men deserved to be punished and you intend to report them all. Sound ridiculous? In many Latin American countries, rapists are permitted to escape penalty by marrying their victims. Even co-perpetrators (as in cases of gang-rape) walk free if one of them marries the woman. For example, in Costa Rica, all it takes is an offer -- the answer can be yes or no -- and the rapist is not charged. It may seem as though the policy would never yield a marriage. Who would marry someone who forcible raped them? But in a society that curses women who are sexually active before marriage, both parties may have something to gain in such a union. The man avoids punishment, and the injured woman, now unlikely to find a husband, can preserve her family's honor by becoming a bride -- the ultimate female accomplishment in traditional families. In the scene described above, a 17-year-old girl was forced to marry a criminal -- by her rapist as well as her family. Shortly thereafter, her new husband abandoned her. How can this be justice? I was shocked to find out that so many governments -- 14 in Latin America -- entertain this idea and I tried rationalize why countries would enforce such a law. Could it be that if a woman would consent to marriage, then she probably would consent to sex and was therefore not raped? Or, perhaps, the government is helping the raped woman find a husband, disregarding the fact that he is a violent felon, since she would be unlikely to find a husband following the incident. Earlier this week, I talked to a friend about this outrageous law and she sarcastically replied "So, if I were a man and wanted to marry someone, all I'd have to do is rape her?" Believe it or not, that is the mentality of many people in societies advocating this law. I was appalled when reading a report in Ms. magazine in which a Peruvian legislator was quoted, "Men wait for women in the countryside and take them by surprise, and rape is the beginning of a generally stable relationship." It almost sounds satirical. As crazy as this appears, it is not surprising to see where this law came from. Women have historically been valued for their ability to marry. Obtaining the best spouse was achieved by maintaining purity in the minds of the public. I was astonished to learn that in the Middle Ages, rape was a crime against the victim's father. Rapists could be punished by death if and only if the victim was a virgin. Fathers would then have a hard time finding potential son-in-laws, and in the meantime would have to support their daughters, making the fathers the "true" victims. Colonial America also maintained this policy. Today in the United States, many don't believe our system of justice is effective in prosecuting sex offenders. In particular, many feminists are dissatisfied with the way that rape victims are often put on trial. But even as we ourselves need reform, I can only be thankful that we have made some progress. In thinking about this law, I was reminded of a proverb my fifth-grade teacher told me that I will never forget: I cried when I had no shoes, and then I saw someone who had no feet. If we take a look at some other countries in the world, we would realize we've come a long way. And hopefully, we can help other nations, as well as ourselves, to reach a state of equality.