Don't judge me too harshly, says rape victim

THE VISIT to the Subic Bay Freeport on Halloween night was supposed to be a family outing -- until it turned into a nightmare.

Two elder brothers had dropped off 22-year-old Nicole -- not her real name -- at a bar. She was accompanied by a sister, aged 12, and an American serviceman, a longtime family friend.

She felt totally at home in the bar with other US servicemen on furlough from a joint RP-US counterterrorism exercise in the Philippines.

She grew up in a naval facility in Zamboanga, where her family runs a canteen frequented by US servicemen.

After finishing her Management Accounting course at the Ateneo de Davao University and starting a nursing course, Nicole had decided to help out in the canteen.

"I'm used to socializing with Americans so I felt safe and comfortable with them," the daughter of a naval officer and a Philippine Navy employee yesterday told the Inquirer.

Before the night was over on Nov. 1 last year, however, Nicole would accuse US Marines of dragging her into a rented van and raping her.

Although four servicemen have been charged with gang rape and are now in the custody of the US Embassy, Nicole's story has been met with general skepticism.

Speculation is rife that she is a "good time girl" out to bleed the Americans for what some detractors described as "consensual sex."

Worse, when the case was pushed into the back burner by more urgent news headlines, radio commentators and columnists went to town with stories that Nicole and her family had been paid off to settle the case.

Not a sex worker

It became just too much for Nicole, who finally spoke to media "to correct impressions that I'm a sex worker who is in it for the money."

She vehemently denied the claims. "I am going to pursue the case until the guilty parties are convicted," she vowed.

It was a decision she had made immediately after the rape.

"I just wanted to teach them a lesson," she said, speaking in Filipino and English. "Not all women they meet are fair game."

It was only later that she realized how the case could hurt her and her family, "especially my mother," she said, her voice breaking.

Since the Nov. 1 incident, she has been staying in Manila. She sorely misses her family of 11 siblings. "This is the first and longest time I've been away from them," she said.

But she has accepted that she might eventually have to relocate to Manila, where her relative anonymity has preserved her privacy.

In Zamboanga, where her family is quite prominent, people know about her case and talk about her. Some of her former classmates at the Ateneo have been interviewed on local radio.

Not after money

"I feel I can no longer walk the streets in Zamboanga," she said. She feels embarrassed. Some friends pity her. "Other people look at me differently -- like they think I'm only after money," she said.

What really hurt, she recounted, was the label "prostitute" that an American had thrown at her on national television during a women's rally at the US Embassy to support her. "I'm the victim here. Why are they blaming me?"

Online blogs about the case are as judgmental. "Even if she comes from a good family and graduated from a good school, she certainly lost her common sense when she stepped out with the six US Marines in that bar," read a typical comment.

"That is so unfair," said Dr. June Pagaduan-Lopez, a psychiatry professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and board member of the Sexual Violence Research Initiatives of the World Health Organization.

"Why are we putting rape victims on trial here? Why are we asking only about their background? Why are we not looking at the record and background of the rapists as well?" she asked.

Misconceptions

Lopez, who has studied 112 rape cases at the Philippine General Hospital, said the Subic rape case again highlighted the common misconceptions that the public has about rape.

"Foremost of these misconceptions is that rape could actually be consensual sex if the woman has no injuries," she said. "But in 75 percent of rape cases, there are little or no signs of physical injuries."

Another myth is that rape only happens to loose women, Lopez said.

"Rape happens across classes and ages." This misconception often worsens the stigma attached to rape survivors, she said, adding:

"That's why most survivors relocate after the rape."

Again, contrary to popular perception, rapes are committed under circumstances where most women would feel safe.

"Women are often raped at home, during dates, in places they would normally feel comfortable in," Lopez said.

Traumatic memory

There is also the misconception that the women's testimony must be "consistent."

"There is such a thing as traumatic memory which is not a chronological nor logical recall," said Lopez.

Fortunately, aside from counseling, there are ways to help rape victims cope, said Lopez.

Together with the Women's Legal Bureau, the Philippine Judicial Academy and the PGH Women's Desk, Lopez is conducting a sensitization program for Regional Trial Court judges and personnel, and police officers.

"First, it is important to reassure survivors about their physical health. That's why rapes are classified as an emergency and survivors are given top priority so they can be screened immediately for injuries, possible infections and sexually transmitted diseases."

Next, she added: "It is important to instill in the woman's mind that it was not her fault. Most survivors think that they brought about the rape because of something they did or did not do. They know that they would get blamed for it. In fact, women are more concerned about what their families or boyfriends or husbands would say so most of them would rather not report the rape itself."

Justice must be served

Helping rape victims recover also requires that justice is served, Lopez said. But care must be taken so that the process is not traumatic, she said. In most cases, the victims feel they're on trial themselves.

Nicole said she was ready for all that. "I am only fighting for my dignity and that of my family," she said. "I just hope people would support me in this struggle. Please don't judge me too harshly. I'm only seeking justice." Asian Journal