Concerning philosophies of morality, rape is no doubt abhorred. However, what is debatable is whether or not it is one’s duty to ensure that a rape is reported. In a particular case, one hotline operator finds herself in a dilemma that challenges her duties as a licensed social worker, with the obligation of ensuring that victims report their rape. As a part of the twenty-four-hour hotline staff at a local rape crisis center, the duty of the hotline operator is to provide the support and counseling necessary to protect the victim’s identity.
As a part of the advocacy services the hotline provides, the crisis center is dedicated to aiding victims both in reporting their crimes, and in the process such an action entails. Some people call the crisis center with the intention of reporting their rapes because they feel empowered to do so. Other callers do not wish to report their rapes for personal reasons, and still other individuals are undecided as to a proper course of action. Phone operators are responsible for taking calls for the crisis center’s advocacy program, and they must also take into account the purpose of the center’s companion program.
The companion program empowers the social worker answering emergency calls to obtain an understanding of the difficulties victims encounter in the process of reporting their rapes. Thus, the social worker must face the fact that women who have suffered as a result of their rape have a right to be notified of the potential traumas involved in reporting the crime. A lot of times rape victims are unprepared for the insensitive and harsh treatment they may receive from the police, hospitals, and legal system.
If the hotline operator warns her of such difficulties, chances are the victim will be discouraged to report the crime. On the other hand, encouragement to report may not be in the best interest of the victim, particularly if she is too physically and emotionally weak to bear the processes because of the trauma already endured from the rape (Rothman 205-208). Statement of Moral Dilemmas The two sides of this situation present general ethical conflicts of interest. That is, should the hotline operator value her professional commitment, as a social worker, to justice more than her obligation the client’s best interest?
Furthermore, this case poses the important underlying question as to whether or not it is ever okay for a social worker to misrepresent information to her client regardless if her intent is to protect society. The case of the hotline operator represents an important conflict that occurs regularly between individual values and societal values. At first glance, one could argue that John Stuart Mills would support the utilitarian approach to such a situation and be in favor of ensuring that victims report their crimes in order to value the benefit of society as whole.
However, such superficial examinations fail to take in all the underlying issues related to rape cases. These are the issues that create a dilemma for the victim in deciding whether or not it would be beneficial to report her rape. For the purpose of this discussion, it is necessary to look not only at basic ethical theories of philosophers and the NASW Code of Ethics for social workers, but also it is of the utmost importance to consider specific characteristics of rape and the underlying issue of female oppression as having a negative effect on rape victims.
This essay is also intending to prove that it would be the hotline operators’ obligation to her trusting relationship with the caller that supersedes a duty she feels towards justice in society. Theoretical Analysis and Detailed Application The NASW Code of Ethics is an option the phone line operator would need to explore when deciding how to approach her caller. According to section 1. 01, she has a commitment to the client’s well being as her primary responsibility. However, the worker’s responsibility in this case to society may supersede this commitment.
Also, if there is a perceived possibility that someone else would be hurt as a result of not reporting a rape, then perhaps the phone operator would need to avoid potential harm and dangers to others in society. Another important NASW Code of Ethic for a licensed social worker that applies in this case is section 4. 04, which states that social workers must be truthful and provide complete information. Specifically, this code makes it clear to the phone operator that she is not to lie, regardless of the positive intentions she may have.
Conceivably, the hotline operator would need to be truthful in doing all she can to ensure that the victim will report her crime. Regardless of the caller’s hesitation to report her rape, all the operator can do is her best to truthfully present the facts surrounding the difficulties in convicting their rapists. The social worker’s duty to her job as a hotline operator means that she must do what she can to convince the caller that reporting her crime and convicting the rapist would be the best choice to ensure her own justice, as well as society’s.
As far as deciding to report the rape or not, the victim may be guided solely by reason, by emotions, or perhaps by both. The same goes for the hotline operator who hopes the caller will report her rape, and is deciding whether or not to provide her client with complete and factual information that may or may not dissuade her to report. Whether the decision’s outcome would lead to satisfaction of justice to the individual, or to society, depends on the source of one’s actions. Due to the nature of the phone operator’s case, it is equally important to note at this point evidence Held provides concerning women and morality.
As a whole, she feels as though women are seen as people who may aspire to morality, but will always be viewed as lesser of a moral person because people feel as though they are distracted by their feelings. Held brings to one’s attention the notion of women being perceived by society as the passive sex who just want to talk about their feelings concerning a situation (Arthur 55). When it comes to this case, I feel that the difficulties women face as victims of rape could operate as blockades, and often render them unable to talk about their feelings.
This inability to express herself leads to the victim’s inability to successfully prosecute her offender, assuming she chooses to do so. The specific difficulties women face in these situations are to be discussed later in the essay, and will include the struggles of rape victims in proving their cases when faced with a he said, she said’ situation. However, it is important to notice for now that the start of a woman’s victimization may be in the rape itself, but it continues to manifest into the stereotypes concerning a woman’s actions and motivations.
In regards to reporting the crime, Hume would argue that moral values are derived from the feelings, emotions, and passions that guide one’s actions. Reason being secondary to Hume’s theory, the emotions of both the caller and the operator should be used to conclude the moral course of action for the victim. Hume advocates that people want to avoid pain. As “moral judgments are an expression of one’s feelings,” there is never a time when universal morality is applicable in every situation (Rachels 60). Hume also suggests that morality is determined by sentiment. Therefore, the moral thing to do would be that which makes one feel good.
In addition, Hume states that reason examines the moral relations of actions (Rachels 62, 63). Accordingly, one would do what one could to keep others from being put in a situation where pain and suffering was previously endured. However, the fact remains that if the both the social worker and the caller were guided purely by emotions, then the victim may not report her crime because she is so emotionally distressed, that rational action is difficult. If the hotline operator is guided by an emotional pull towards her passionate desire for justice, then she may even lie to the victim so that she prosecutes her offender.
On the other hand, the course of action determined by the victim and the social worker may be guided primarily by reason. Following Kant’s theory, moral values are derived solely from reason, free from emotion, and follow universal law. The Kantian method of morality would suggest that the hotline operator remain honest, because any rational being would have reasoned lying to be ethically wrong in a just society. But, what if lying to the victim means that the caller is convinced to prosecute her rapist?
According to Kant, it would be the victims right as a person to act free, so long as she uses reason to follow universal law concerning the report of her crime. The victim’s good will requires her to fulfill her duty to follow the categorical imperative, to maintain justice, because it is a rational person’s duty to do so. The act of reporting the crime is what Kant’s philosophy would prove to be good in itself because the end result is ensuring justice and protection of a just society, regardless of the means or hardships the victim may face (Rachels 77-81).
It seems as though the categorical imperative, not to lie, in regards to the hotline operator’s moral obligations to her client and society, may potentially clash. There is extreme complexity involved when determining the moral course of action for both the phone operator, as well as for the victim. To base the decisions that the social worker and the victim face on general moral principles is tricky at best. This is especially complicated considering the immorality of the source that necessitates these decisions, which is rape.
Focus must now be shifted away from making moral decisions based on theories, and must be placed on the underlying issues of rape and rape victims, so that one has a thorough understanding of the case at hand. The Facts Behind the Rape Reports Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every two minutes, according to the U. S. Department of Justice (paralumun. com). One of the most startling aspects of sex crimes is how many go unreported. The F. B. I. estimates that only 37% of all rapes are reported to the police.
The most common reasons given by women for not reporting these crimes are the belief that it is a private or personal matter, and the fear of reprisal from the assailant” (paralumn. com). One may understand how difficult it can be for victims of rape to report their crimes because even giving a word for word account of what happened to the police can be torturous on a victim who has already endured pain and suffering. The best way to address this issue of reporting is to understand the victims’ motives behind reporting their crime, without focusing entirely on statistical generalizations.
Take for example a woman who calls herself a “self-identified radical lesbian feminist” (eserver. org). This woman is a victim of rape, and immediately following the rape had no hesitation to pick up the phone and dial 911 due to the fact she was unimaginably harmed physically by her attacker. She states that, “on that night, I simply assumed that justice as well as help was available to me” (eserver. org). However, she quickly caught on to the fact that the system’s method of justice, or revenge,’ was very different from her own outlook of justice. In essence, justice did not matter in regards to the victim’s needs.
She felt as though, “It was as if this horrible experience was held hostage to the legal system,” and she was just an object to be investigated (eserver. org). In this case, the victim has a hard time understanding how her right to speak out turned into the expectation and eventual demand that she report and press charges. The only advantaged to system offered was free medical attention, and because she had no insurance, she agreed to press charges. Important to note at this point is that this woman does not advocate silence, but instead insists that contacting the justice system and reporting are two different things.
To her, it is important that people continue to educate the public about the realities of rape, and to be able to share experiences with other victims to satisfy those needs the system often overlooks. She proclaims that, “I may never report again, but I will never be silent” (eserver. org). This poses the question as to why a woman would choose not to report. Despite statistics that show relatively low rates of convictions, the fact remains that zero percent of unreported rapists will be prosecuted. Prosecution is not even a factor of concern for the victim in this instance.
She claims that she has become evidence, of no intrinsic value beyond her body’s ability to tell an evidentiary story that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrator. Although this woman believes that the local rape crisis center wants to her to revel in her victim status to gain empowerment, she feels as though such a system can only serve the purpose of keeping her in line and control her actions to ensure that she reports the crime. Ultimately, this survivor feels as though it does not matter what happens to her assailant because nothing can change what happened to her.
She feels as if the justice system is supporting itself at her own expense. This notion of a woman feeling used by the justice system would support one lesbian feminist’s’ claim that she was “raped by a man, then raped by the system, and continues to be raped by a social structure that insists her rape is their property” (eserver. com). In 1974, Pamela Haag of the National League stated that rape sensitivity and the legal reform demands of rape victims have convinced them to take an active interest in reporting rape to authorities.
In other words, it has been made the priority of the criminal justice system to encourage women to report their assaults (eserver. com). But the question remains if it should be the priority of a crisis operator to encourage the same even though she is an independent actor. Respectively, this discussion must continue into examination of the system itself to gain more understanding of the underlying issues involved in reporting rape. The Process of Reporting in the U. S. Justice System
Assuming that the victim wants justice in the sense of prosecuting her offender, she must intend to follow through with her report, press charges, and testify in court. However, these tasks may be particularly traumatic for survivors of rape, and that is assuming the victim welcomes a conviction as a part of her healing process and determination for justice. Collecting evidence of a rape is not done just to a crime scene, but is also performed on the woman herself and can be quite painful. This interaction with police and hospital staff to gather evidence can often times be highly impersonal and may further alienate the victim.
Not only is the process itself harsh, but the victim must also force herself to be subjected to officers’, doctors’, lawyers’, judges’, and a jury’s personal biases about rape and rape victims. A rape victim is not safe from the pretentious notions of the defense attorney attempting to make her out as the guilty one. Ultimately, these biases are revealed “through their contact with the survivor,” which can be grueling to someone who has already once been physically victimized (Rothman 207).
If a rape victim proves strong enough to endure initial examinations, she must then testify in court, where she is often made to answer questions the prosecutor asks in an attempt to blame her for the rape. In court, the burden of proof is on the victim both physically and verbally. In effect, “she is put on trial” (Rothman 207). This leads to the fears victims face that the system may not believe them. Furthermore, they are forced to lose privacy by disclosing their sexual history.
These fears may lead one to question why women would not be believed and why their sexual history would need to be a factor in the conviction of rapist. Unlike the victims, a rapist is believed when proclaims he did not do it because he is innocent until proven guilty. Perhaps the only relevant sexual history in a rape case is the sexual assault history of the perpetrator, because his reputation should be put on trial, not the victim’s. Making assumptions as to why the system is set up this way can be hard to prove with substantial evidence.
For the purpose of this essay, the opinions of feminist essayists, from the moderate to the extremely radical, offer interesting insight into the possibility of women’s oppression in society as well as in the justice system. Feminist Reasoning on Oppression Although many are ashamed to admit it, the atmosphere of society is one dominated by men. Marilyn Frye, in her essay “Oppression,” offers an analysis of women’s oppression and focuses specifically on the restriction of the female body, as well as violence against women. Imagine a rape victim being put on the stand and forced to reveal her sexual history.
The purpose of this would be to prove that the victim wanted to have sex with her rapist because she has had sex before. Frye suggests that, “women are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is right because if she’s heterosexually active she is open to censure and punishment for being loose, and unprincipled as being a whore” (Frye 120). Women are also punished by their assumed vulnerability by the thinking that just because a woman is sexually active, then she is automatically an “easy lay by men” (Frye 120).
Ultimately, Frye draws the connection between a heterosexually active female and her role in society, which would assume that she liked having sex with her rapist. On the other hand, even if she is sexually inactive, she is still subject to the presumption that she liked it because the victim was “repressed and frustrated” by not being sexual active (Frye120). Double standards of morality characterize the arena of human sexuality. What is legitimate for one sex is not legitimate for the other.
Sexual promiscuity in men is encouraged as a sign of macho-ness, and one sees it everyday when a man gives another man a high five because he scored’ with the hot’ girl. Frye’s essay not only provides perceptive assumptions that are often times overlooked, but it also identifies with a system filled with forces and barriers that women are exposed to. She also claims that such barriers “protect men’s classification and status as a male, as superior, as having a right to sexual access to a female because it protects a kind of citizenship which is superior to that of females” (Frye 125).
If these barriers exist in the system, then American government would be guilty of protecting the citizenship of rapists based on the fact that they are of the superior gender. In order to illustrate how women are oppressed, Frye describes the criteria of an oppressive structure in which a category of people are immobilized by a barrier that works for the benefit of men and the detriment of women. The system rape victims face gives the advantages to the perpetrators, at the cost of women being victimized beyond the rape.
Even if a woman is not raped, she remains a likely victim of sexual assault or harassment. This notion is what Frye attributes to the part of being a woman that “reduces the power of her anger to a proof of her insanity” (126). Although such a claim appears radical, it makes since to the extent that women have a right to be upset about the fact they can feel threatened by outside forces simply because she is female. Unfortunately, if a woman lives her life constantly paranoid,’ one may construe her paranoia as insanity, particularly when displayed in court and on the stand.
For example of a radical notion, the New York Radical Feminists constructed a Manifesto of Shared Rape in 1971 which states, “Man has invented standards of superiority and inferiority (female) and man is always uneasy and threatened by the possibility that the woman will one day claim her full right to human existence, so he has found ways to enslave her” (americancivilrightsreview. com). These same radicals claim that by the 1980’s, rape was politicized as a major weapon by which patriarchy kept women in their place.
Although this is a bold claim to swallow, such extremes may still serve as important illustrations towards the understanding how to one day reach a true state of sexual equality, when a rape victim’s needs come before attempts to disprove her case. Conclusion Rapists are frequently repeat offenders. Capturing rapists may remove them from the chance of harming others, as well as their previous victims. Research has led to the conclusion that it is important for a hotline operator to encourage a rape victim to report her rape.
In addition to this encouragement, honesty must come into play when it comes to the interactions of a licensed social worker and the client. A student’s publication at the University of Southern California researched the issue of reporting rape. These studies concluded that people who do report the assault are known to do much better physically and emotionally. Surely there are some exceptions, but is seems to makes since because going to the hospital when physically harmed will aid in one’s recovery.
In addition, when people keep things inside, or express their fury negatively, they are often times more unhappy than if they were to trust someone enough to share their experiences and how they feel. This is the ultimate purpose of the hotline operator. Going back to the radical lesbian feminists’ case of rape, she concluded that, “sexual assault is becoming a universal language for women in the sense that no matter how little we know each other, we have a common experience” (eserver. com). It is appalling that women find it necessary to connect with each other based on the commonality of sexual assault.
Although sharing experiences with fellow rape victims may help in one’s recovery, there are more educational avenues to explore. Support groups, clinics, crisis centers, hotlines, and rape education foundations are all becoming common paths for victims to take, but only so long as they know they exist. These options exist to serve the individual needs of the victim that the system often overlooks. With any luck, even the most radical of feminists can understand that there are options independent of the legal system that can support women, without barriers, and without having to rely on the anecdotal word of mouth interaction.
Therefore, everyone should do all that they can, as soon as possible, to ensure that such violent sex crimes dwindle. Since society and the system cannot change overnight, we must continually work towards full equality. At the same time, people such as victims of rape and their respective counselors should do their best to ensure that those criminals blocking sexual equality are brought to justice in the system they seek to change.
