Quote Originally Posted by Scienter View Post
I'm not arguing that people think a rape victim is somehow guilty of his/her own rape, it's that the victim's conduct/manner of dress/etc is often used to lessen the guilt of the attacker. There's a difference. For me, it's a legal argument. Defense attorneys will do anything they can to get around the rape shield law of evidence. You don't see that with other crimes. Character evidence is considered prejudicial and is generally prohibited in criminal cases. But, sometimes they get around it by putting the onus on the victim to prove that s/he said "no," sometimes using discussions of her past sexual conduct to raise doubt as to whether she consented. Even if not brought up directly, sometimes it makes it to the jury room.

Re: the part of your quote that I bolded, it's so subjective to say what is dangerous. Especially when talking about rape.
I think rape is alos the only crime that is frenquently reported for vindictive reasons though. To pretend that no woman has ever said "oh he raped me" either to get at a man or because she got drunk and got caught doing something she later regretted is naive. As horrible as it is for for genuine victims you can't criticise the defense or the judge for exploring that possibility, where apropriate.