Charges filed recently against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn have perpetuated a myth: that the U.S. justice system moves swiftly and effectively to resolve allegations of sexual assault.
In the wake of Strauss-Kahn's arrest, the media, particularly in Europe, have highlighted the perceived equality and fairness of a justice system that allows an immigrant single mother with relatively few financial resources to challenge an internationally renowned politician who is able to post a $1-million cash bail. To be sure, this is a remarkable situation, but unfortunately it is not the experience of the vast majority of those who report rapes in this country.
Strauss-Kahn may or may not be guilty, but we do know that every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted in the United States, according to the Department of Justice's Crime Victimization Survey. We also know that an estimated 60% of these assaults go unreported.
So the question is, do the 40% who are not reluctant to contact the authorities for help actually see justice done?
Nationally, police arrest a suspect in only half of the sexual assault complaints they receive. Most of those arrested are prosecuted, but fewer than two-thirds of those prosecuted are convicted. Moreover, not all those convicted are sentenced to incarceration. In the end, an estimated 1 out of 16 rapists spends time in jail.
Some jurisdictions have better records than others. In 2009, Human Rights Watch published a report about the appalling response to sexual violence in Los Angeles County, where arrest figures had been declining and — more to the point — the physical evidence taken from rape victims that might have helped lead to a DNA match and a prosecution was systematically filed away without being sent for testing. The situation in Los Angeles has improved since then, but there are other places where this isn't the case. In 2010, we published a report about Illinois, showing similar problems.
It will be clear that there was no element of forcible compulsion in this case what-so-ever. Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not credible," Brafman told reporters outside the court building Monday.
Thompson said any suggestion that his client was a willing partner was a "smear campaign". However, "she is standing up for her dignity", he said.
The defendant was one of the most influential people in the global economy and widely considered to be a leading contender for the French presidency until his shock arrest on an Air France plane about to depart New York for Paris.
After a humiliating week in police detention and in the city's Rikers Island jail, Strauss-Kahn was released on house arrest after securing a $US6 million ($A5.59 million) bond and bail deal.
The bail allows him to leave the house only to visit his lawyers, pray once a week or go to court. He lives under armed guard and wears an ankle monitoring bracelet, although visits from family and a few friends are permitted.
His arrest and quick resignation from his post as head of the International Monetary Fund threw the global lender and economic policy powerhouse into disarray as it grapples with debt crises in the European Union.
It also caused dismay in France. Many there still believe the Socialist party figure has been mistreated, but the case has also stirred unusually vigorous debate in the country over long-taboo subjects such as sexual harassment.
Strauss-Kahn, whose wife is an American-born art heiress and famous former French television journalist, is spending vast sums on his defence. Just the bill for his home detention costs some $US200,000 ($A186,272) a month, according to prosecutors, while rental for his TriBeCa townhouse is estimated at $US50,000 ($A46,568) a month.
In addition to Brafman, Strauss-Kahn is employing private investigators believed to be digging into the personal life of the maid. Lawyers claim to have information that could "gravely undermine" her position, but they have not given more detail.
The prosecution is also led by big guns Joan Illuzzi-Orbon and Ann Prunty. Illuzzi-Orbon is head of the Manhattan District Attorney's hate crimes unit.
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