The Truth about Rape & Revenge

FEMINISM - The following video ("Man Down" by Rihanna) has raised some interesting controversy about the topic of revenge on rapists.



Naysayers of the video state things like "Promoting violence as a solution to violence is wrong" and "Think of the children!" and so forth.

Except children has nothing to do with this.

And violence, sadly, is often the only answer to violence. Its the reason police carry guns and batons. Its the reason why we have freedom fighters and defensive forces. Often violence is the only response that makes any sense.

And when it comes to rape the courts are often unable to pronounce guilt due to lack of evidence.

But the victim of the rape knows with absolute certainty. The victim becomes judge, jury and executioner if they feel revenge is the only way to achieve some semblance of justice.

And to some extent, prevention. Rapists typically don't stop at one rape. They keep raping. Once they've crossed that line they lose all respect for their victims.

And rape victims sometimes commit suicide. Even if they don't their lives will be irrevocably changed. How many lives can a rapist ruin if they go unpunished?

Speaking for myself I am an advocate of using a more thorough way of wringing the truth from the rapist (someone really needs to invent a better lie detector) and either castrating rapists or at very least sending them to a penal colony.

But for some women such punishments may not be enough. Their minds won't rest until they've sought their own personal revenge.

And for those of us who are naysayers I say to them: How do you know for certain you wouldn't do the same thing if you were raped and brutalized? How can you judge something when you've never experienced it yourself?

The truth is you don't know. You will never know unless it someday happens to you, at which point you will have to decide for yourself. Do you hide what happened? Do you go to the police in hopes that you might get justice? Or do you seek justice with your own hands?

And where is the line between justice and revenge? Are you doing it for your peace of mind or to protect the lives of other women who could become future victims of the rapist?

An analogy I would give is that of Batman.

Batman's parents were murdered. Batman's revenge was not to just hunt down the criminal, but all criminals. It takes a special kind of person to seek that kind of vigilante justice.

It would be exceptionally rare to find a person who looks beyond their own personal revenge and seek justice on behalf of all victims. But they're out there. They're not doing it with a mask or a cape either. They're doing it by raising awareness. They're doing it by teaching self defense classes. They're doing it by teaching women to stand up for their rights.

I would argue that is the true feminist way, using knowledge and experience to uplift and protect the lives of other women. Violence can be understandable when used for personal revenge, but true justice has be found in other ways.