mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP (07/08/85)
Many people have been suggesting many tactics of dealing with the sudden
attacks of rapists, and in amongst these tactics, I've noticed what I regard
as a fatal flaw. It all has to do with the comparison of rapists with
animals. Recall that animals learn slowly (compared to humans), do not plan
as much or as consistently as humans, and are not remarkably intelligent
compared to humans. Animals also kill each other for food.
A rapist is not an animal. A rapist is an intelligent, planning, often
meticulous human with a desire to hurt and kill unrelated to his own survival.
The problem with standard tactics in dealing with rapists is that the rapists
hear of them, and plan accordingly. Several people have proposed methods of
fighting rapists, or that women carry guns. I suspect that the rapist would
then assume that his victim had a gun, and attack using one of the *many*
ways that make a gun ineffective. Similar tactics on the part of the victim
produce similar planning on the part of the rapist.
This also brings up the point of men trying to help women who are facing
things like the long walk home at night. No matter what description or
code-phrases are used, the offer for help can be duplicated by a rapist
to lure a woman into a position of helplessness. This is why I wrote
(a long time ago) that any method proposed by a man for alleviating rape
is suspect. Either the originator of the proposal or some later copycat
could be a rapist.
Thus, the best tactic for any woman is to pick a tactic she reasons will be
as effective as possible, and don't tell any man what it is. Thus, surprise
is a factor.
And on guns, I disagree. A person presented with a sudden attack has little
chance of shooting the attacker unless the gun was already drawn, even given
the best training, or the attacker is a total fool. Aikido would be better,
and it doesn't require nearly as much physical strength as firing a gun during
a hand-to-hand struggle.
The tactics of the situation are up to the woman. The strategy of eliminating
rape will, by necessity, include men.
--fini--
Eric McColm
UCLA (oo' - kluh) Funny Farm for the Criminally Harmless
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