Ridiculous
Disclaimer: It all belongs to... whoever owns Law and Order: SVU.
Summary: Different characters' thoughts during the episode "Ridicule."
Chapter 1: Olivia
Takes place right after she and Stabler meet Pete Smith. Spoilers for "Inheritance."
Wow. This is different.
I have seen rape cases before where the victim is male, but never where the alleged attackers were female.
Elliot was rather insensitive. I suppose he deals with enough serious cases that he doesn't want to waste his time with people whom he thinks are making false claims. Granted, too, that this is one doozy of a claim. I also suppose he still feels guilty about that guy who was killed in prison after being falsely accused. Nonetheless, I can't help but be angry at him. He was outright dismissive of a young man who was obviously in pain.
Of course, I don't want to believe it myself. Just like that case with the rapes in Chinatown a few weeks back. I didn't want to believe the "genetic" defense, because if having a parent who was a rapist made one violent, what did that say about me? Could I have inherited my father's violence? Now, if there are women who are actually psychologically capable of violent rape, then - could I be one? Could I be a potential rapist? But for the grace of God, would Sydney Green have been me?
But then again, by helping Mr. Smith, don't I prove that I'm not like my father? That I'm not like Sydney Green?
Of course, there is something refreshing about this case. I hate to say it, but in some ways, finally getting a case where an adult male is sexually victimized by females may have some positive consequences. help to de-politicize rape and to get more people interested in preventing it. I mean, so often now, rape is seen in the context of a battle-between-the-sexes that it divides men and women. And of course, turning it into such a sexually divisive issue only harms the victims and helps the perps. No one thinks about the violence against the victim, just about a power struggle between men and women. However unusual this case may be, at least it would help people to see rape as an issue of violence, not as an issue to use as a political tool.
But none of that matters. What matters is that someone is in pain, and claims they were violated, and we owe it to them and to the city of New York and to the state of New York to find out what happened, and if he was raped, to bring the perpetrators to justice. At the very least, he needs to know that someone takes him seriously, that someone cares, and that someone is willing to follow up on his complaint. If this were my mother, I'd want it taken seriously.
So I am taking the case to the Captain and to Cabot. And if they act like Elliot, I will bully them, shame them, do everything in my power to make certain that they take this case seriously.