The Mike Tyson Case – Blaming the Victim
The Mike Tyson Case is one of the most controversial and public criminal cases. Under the influence of media, society divided into two groups: the group of those, who assigned blame to Tyson as a clear perpetrator, and the group of those, who assigned some degree of blame to Desiree Washington due to her actions during the crime. However, I agree more with the prosecuting attorney’s arguments, mostly because any woman has a legal right to enter a men’s room, and wear what she wants without risk of being raped. Any behavior or event cannot justify sexual aggression against a person.
Generally, defense line in Mike Tyson’s case was built around the “facts” aimed to prove that the victim had sex with the boxer voluntary. To support this position, Garrison, the defense attorney, proved that Washington went to
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In this case, the defense attorney used the victim’s dress and behavior as the main arguments, aimed to change the public’s opinion in favor of Tyson and to make society blame the victim for what has happened to her. However, the prosecutors provided the factual evidence of violence: the physician who examined the victim confirmed the presence of abrasions. Furthermore, prosecutors emphasized that Washington was a naive 18-year old woman, who could not expect the rape entering Tyson’s hotel room. But even these facts, taken into consideration by those, who blamed Washington, did not change their opinion. That, in turn, proves the strength of the rape myth, because the part of the society still considers that if the 18-year old woman enters male’s room at night, she is definitely going to have sex with