When Yes Doesn't Mean Yes -- By Robin D. Stone

[HuckleB]

When Yes Doesn't Mean Yes

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/opinion/16stone.html?pagewanted=print&position=

"...Justice prevailed in this case - though it rarely even gets a chance in most instances of child sexual abuse - primarily because Ms. Letourneau blatantly violated parole after her first conviction and had sex again with Vili, who was then 13.

But if you ask the public's opinion, you will find that few people think that Ms. Letourneau's crime is as serious as that of a man having sex with a girl. Even if you discount the illicit, immoral nature of sexual contact between a 12-year-old and 34-year-old, how could there really be a "relationship," as it's often been described, between them?

The news media fuel the misconceptions. "Mary Kay gets her boy toy back," guffawed The New York Post on its front page. Many articles and TV reports have focused on the salacious specter of abuser and victim reuniting, perhaps with the two children they produced, as one big happy family. A tabloid once described Mr. Fualaau as saying that the two had sex in nearly every room of her house, something you'd never read about a man raping a child. But nobody talks about why Vili Fualaau was vulnerable to Ms. Letourneau in the first place, and the damage that childhood sex with an adult has caused to his psyche. Boys, the assumption goes, can take care of themselves.

Expect another round of books and movies portraying victim and perpetrator as star-crossed lovers. Recognizing the potential damage to child sex abuse awareness campaigns, at least one advocacy organization is gearing up to boycott what may come of any deals. But boycotts may not beat the appeal of the public's interest in the bizarre and taboo.

..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/16/opinion/16stone.html?pagewanted=print&position=

"Robin D. Stone, a journalist, is the author of "No Secrets, No Lies: How Black Families Can Heal From Sexual Abuse.''"