"Some Girls Rape Easy", the comment that rang around the world.

I have just got done reading a plethora of articles about ONE comment ONE Wisconsin Representative made.  Taken completely out of context (just as our news media likes to do, sound bites, gotta love'em) and twisted to make him sound like someone that does not take victims seriously.

I have not met anyone yet in all my adult years that will not take a victim of any kind of assault seriously.  Mainly because I believe that most people in their lifetime have been subject to some kind of abuse of one kind or another and an usually identify with a victim even if they do not completely understand the gamut of feelings that they could be going through in their own personal situation.

There are a few things that I would like to point out to the masses about assault and abuse.

1. Assault and abuse are not always sexual in nature or even have that component, it is usually about power and control no matter how the abuse is delivered.
2. Assault and abuse is not limited to happening to ONE gender but happens to BOTH, although due to the machismo image that is projected for men we do not hear about the assaults and abuse against them for even the laws themselves are stacked against them.  As you have noticed "The Violence Against Women Act" (VAW) isn't really geared towards 'gender neutral'. 
3. Assault and abuse does not always leave visible scars or bruises but like visible scars and bruises they will heal with enough time and effort.
4. Victims of assault and abuse are predisposed to perpetuating the cycle of assault and abuse in their own futures regardless of their gender. 

I will always feel for the victims of assault and abuse, especially those that are too young to defend themselves, for those teen girls that were being referred to in the comment made by the representative I will always look at their accusations with a grain of salt.  Being a teenage girl some years ago, I know exactly what me and my friends were capable of at the time.  The vindictive nature, the manipulation of others around us, and the sense that we really were ten feet tall and bullet proof, only reinforces my opinion on the validity of many of the Romeo & Juliet cases that have been ensnared in today's laws.  I know that I could have given life sentences to several boys back then, if the laws and attitudes were the same back then as they are today.

With the laws the way they are today in Wisconsin the advise that was given was good advise, because consensual sex can and will turn into rape if either person is under the age of 18.  While it could have been consensual the moment it happened, hindsight is always 20/20 and that consent can be reversed by just saying "I was raped" by either party involved to law enforcement.  At that point officers are required by the VAW to believe and investigate the claim as if it were the only truth out there.  Which means when it comes to anything that falls under the VAW, the accused is Guilty until Proven Innocent.