Strauss-Kahn's Accuser Brave for Coming Forward

Dr. Manny Alvarez

Why can’t women ever catch a break? Especially when they are victims of one of the most inhumane acts a person can experience.

The latest reports coming out regarding the alleged victim of French economist and International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn living in HIV/AIDS housing is truly sickening and immoral. And to tell you the truth, it makes me very angry.

During my years of medical training in city hospitals, I was called upon many times to examine rape victims. And I can tell you, these women are in shock. The pain and brutality that they have been exposed to is difficult to comprehend, and it is something that haunts them for the rest of their lives.

We all know a thorough examination is necessary to prove that a rape occurred – which is perhaps one of the reasons why so many of these crimes go unreported. So when the evidence is obtained, that should be enough for the media to put out for public consumption.

But it seems that’s never enough. The victim's private lives are often exposed unnecessarily.

It’s no one’s business where the alleged victim lives, whether she lives in HIV housing, what her ethnic background is, her socioeconomic status – and especially whether or not she has children.

What we should do is celebrate her bravery for reporting this alleged sex attack.

There are many women out there suffering in silence, who have decided for one reason or another, not to report a similar crime. Statistics show that 60 percent of rape and sexual assault crimes are never reported. And can you blame them?

Many victims fear they could find themselves in a situation where personal matters – that have no relevance to the crimes that have been committed against them – are being speculated about or exposed for no reason other than the likes of a sensational story.

So as Americans who believe in justice for all, we should be focusing on the alleged criminal, and protecting what little privacy his purported victim has left after experiencing the ultimate violation a woman can endure.