Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Women Already Knew This - By Donald V. Watkins
https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins/posts/10214119475323044
Women Already Knew This
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on September 12, 2017
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on September 12, 2017
I have learned more about the plight of women in society in the last three months than I ever knew prior to my reporting on the Megan Rondini rape case.
I knew that male privilege EXISTS in our society and that males are rarely held accountable for their misconduct toward women. I just did not realize the full nature and scope of this widespread male privilege until Megan's rape was exposed in a June 2017 BuzzFeed News article. Frankly, I was stunned after I read that article. Women already knew about this degree of male privilege.
As a man, I will undoubtedly have many ups and downs in the ordinary course of life, but the likelihood of me getting drugged and raped is not one of them. This crime happens to women all of the time, and most men don't seem to care.
I have never understood why men who profess to love their mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters tolerate the growing abuse of the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of other men and women. In many cases, these same guys are the abusers of other women.
Megan Rondini's rape case has provided me with a much-needed personal education on how most men view rapes and sexual assaults, including those men who hold themselves out as dedicated public officials. In short, too many men have no respect for women or for the sanctity of their bodies. Women already knew this.
Many men simply do not give a damn about rape victims. Many women already knew this. Other women, regardless of their socio-economic status in life, will undoubtedly find this out if they are raped, sexually assaulted, or harassed in the workplace or in a social setting, and report this misconduct.
This is why most rapes are not reported. Even when rapes are reported, law enforcement officials like Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy, Investigators Adam Jones and Josh Hastings, former DA Lyn Head, current DA Hays Webb, and Attorney General Steve Marshall do not take the rape victims seriously, especially when the rapist is a rich and powerful man.
I learned from former federal and state prosecutor Alice Martin's September 7, 2017, Op-Ed article in the Montgomery Advertiser that, without adequate supportive services, many rape victims will turn to self-blame, some to self-medication, and some will try to block out the sexual experience and live with the pain. Ninety-four percent of these women will experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Because of my ignorance about the plight of rape victims, these numbers shocked and saddened me. Women already knew this.
I did not know that 33 percent of sexual assault victims will contemplate suicide and 13 percent will attempt suicide, according to Ms. Martin. She worked at Vanderbilt University Hospital's psychiatric unit as a Registered Nurse before going to law school. She actually cared for patients on suicide watch. Women already knew this.
Megan Rondini was a 20-year-old University of Alabama honors student who immediately reported her rape to hospital staff and law enforcement authorities. She also sought supportive services from the University and law enforcement officials following her rape. Megan failed to receive the support she needed from those who were sworn to protect and serve her. This scenario alarmed and disturbed me. Women already knew this.
Megan committed suicide on February 26, 2016. Her rapist escaped criminal justice because his family had the right connections to The University of Alabama, to Sheriff Abernathy, and to former DA Lyn Head. These relationships, which were nurtured and maintained with Bunn family donor money, paved the way for Megan's rapist to gain his freedom from prosecution, again. In Tuscaloosa, money talks -- big money talks louder than criminal justice. Women already knew this.
I did not think a reported rape case could be "fixed" in Alabama in 2015, especially when a "date rape" drug was used to facilitate the rape. I was wrong. Women already knew this.
Prior to Megan Rondini's rape case, I never thought a "dirt bag" serial rapist could buy his freedom in Alabama. I was wrong. Women already knew this.
I did not believe law enforcement officers, state prosecutors, and University of Alabama officials would go a step further and actually fight the family of a rape victim in order to help a known serial rapist stay on the streets of Tuscaloosa. I was wrong. Women already knew this.
Thanks to Megan Rondini and her family, I am not as naïve about all of these matters anymore. Megan's rape case was my wake-up call. Discovering the truth about Megan's rape investigation and the subsequent police cover up of this crime has been heartbreaking for me. Yet, it has allowed me to learn what women already knew about the dark side of male privilege.
I do not want another family to experience the pain and agony that the Rondini family is dealing with from Megan's rape, the police cover up of her rape, and her suicide. It is time that those of us who admire and respect women put an end to the societal behavior that devalues them.
As a result of my awakening in Megan Rondini's case, I have absolutely no respect for the following tainted and compromised individuals: (a) Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr., the man Megan accused of raping her; (b) Sheriff Ron Abernathy, the "dirty" cop who ordered Megan's rape investigation "scripted" so that her rape charge could be downgraded to a non-prosecutable "Special Inquiry"; (c) Investigators Adam Jones and Josh Hastings, the Sheriff's Department officers who "fixed" Megan's rape case for the benefit of Sweet T; (d) former Tuscaloosa County DA Lyn Head, the greedy prosecutor who took laundered campaign money from the Bunn family and even Sweet T himself; (e) Tuscaloosa County DA Hays Webb, the prosecutor who protects Sheriff Abernathy from obstruction of justice charges and hugs him in Bryant-Denny Stadium skyboxes during UA football games; (f) Steve Marshall, the weak-kneed lawyer Robert Bentley appointed as attorney general who is searching for ways to avoid prosecuting the culprits in Megan's rape case just so he can hustle their financial backers for mega campaign contributions for his IRS 527 "Dark Money" Fund; (g) Dr. Stuart Bell, the man who has asked for the UA presidency; yet, he has failed to ban a known serial rapist from campus; (h) the UA board of trustees, whose members only care about their ceremonial roles, narrow-minded self-interests, and coveted skybox access at Crimson Tide football games; and (i) the fake and phony members of the Tuscaloosa County Legislative delegation who pretend to be tough advocates for "law and order", while failing to stand up for any of Sweet T's multiple rape victims.
Megan Rondini, at 20-years-old, had more class, character, and dignity than all of these individuals combined. These public officials are nothing more than pompous political "whores" who are in constant need of incestuous adulation from each other. They are also failed leaders. Women already knew this.
Megan Rondini is the champion for justice who has inspired a growing grassroots movement that his united to make a positive difference in the way society treats and supports rape victims. Megan's name, fight for justice, and legacy will be around for a very long time because she lives within each one of us.
In the end, the "good" that is within the women and men who are fighting for criminal justice in Megan Rondini's rape case will prevail over the "evil" that lies within the warped-minded individuals who oppose it.
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