At Rape Victim Advocates, a sexual assault counseling center in Chicago, the Kobe Bryant rape case has been a topic of discussion among counselors and the clients they see. As the case unfolded in the public eye, it has raised issues about consent, confidentiality of victims and the scrutiny that women who accuse someone of rape undergo if they decide to go to court.
“The whole Kobe Bryant case is really changing the way that we talk to survivors and the way that survivors are talking to us,” said Vicky DiProva, executive director of the group.
Victims see that the young woman who accused Bryant of sexual assault has had her identity and damaging information about her sexual history and medical history of depression released to the public, said Sasha Walters, who works for Rape Victim Advocates. They’re seeing that rape shield laws don’t always protect the accuser and that claiming the sex was consensual can be a strong argument for the defense.
“So many survivors are seeing what this survivor is going through in a public way,” Walters said.
Watching the case has made some victims more wary about reporting what happened to them, Walters said, though she did not believe that fewer people were reporting the crime because of watching the Bryant case.
The case has been closely watched by those working with sexual assault, said Tennille Power, manager of women’s services at the YWCA Harris Center on the South Side.
The center held a forum on Kobe Bryant in April, and about 30 people talked about the celebrity factor in the case, victim credibility and how race and class play into it.
Power said the clients at Harris Center haven’t talked much about the Bryant case, but it’s helping educators at the center talk about the usually taboo topic of sexual assault. Counselors there let people know that the attention and the scrutiny around the Bryant case are not usual for sexual assault prosecutions, she said.
“The average perpetrator doesn’t have the money to hold a press conference,” Power said. “[Bryant] can hire a dream team. Most perpetrators just have a defense lawyer.”
Power expects future educational sessions at schools or community groups to include questions about why Bryant’s accuser dropped the criminal case.
She says she’ll tell groups that dropping the case doesn’t mean the woman was out for money, but that fighting in a civil court will give her the privacy a criminal court does not have.
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kmasterson@tribune.com
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The accuser
Although Kobe Bryant’s accuser’s identity remains protected, some details of her life have emerged from friends, police reports and court proceedings:
– She is a 20-year-old native of Eagle, Colo., and former high school cheerleader who auditioned for “American Idol.”
– She completed one year at the University of Northern Colorado before dropping out last fall.
– A former friend said she twice tried to kill herself before the alleged sexual assault. Campus police said she was rushed to the hospital when she became a danger to herself.
– Her name has been leaked in several accidental releases of legal documents by the court and has been repeated on talk radio and on the Internet.
– Her attorneys say she fled her hometown after facing “public scorn, hatred and ridicule.” They recently filed a federal lawsuit seeking monetary damages from Bryant.
–ASSOCIATED PRESS
