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Rape !

From: "J G." to <jwfacts@macgregorministries.org>

Subject: RE: Looking for help

Hello,

 

I have been scouring your internet site along with many others to see if I can find anything to help with a case that my son is involved in. He had a sexual affair with a JW girl who at the time was an active participant, but has now had him charged with sexual assault. She has taken it as far as Supreme Court, and has her mother is giving a false testimony saying that she saw bruises upon the arms of her daughter.

All of their allegations are outright lies, I feel that they are trying hard to make it a rape so as to keep the daughter in their organization. Do you have any cases that have similar problems from which we may gain some understanding? Do you think that we are on the right path, and that the family's fear of disfellowship of their daughter or even themselves would motivate them to bring these charges and lie after rumors circulated in a small town?

Thank you in advance for any help that you can give us on the very serious matter.

Your Truly,

J G

My reply to him is below the following article.


Date: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 10:29 AM

Thank You Keith,

We are of course very concerned about the case against my son, I very much apprieciate your input and perspective on this matter. I can see that your organization fills a very critical need, and I can tell that many people receive good advice and support from you and those that you work with.

We are also interested in contacting any ex elders or circuit overseers that you may know of in the Vancouver or BC area, as we may need someone to help the judge understand the severity of the treatment that the family or the girl involved may expect to receive from their JW community. If you know of anyone that may be willing to talk to me or our lawyer would you please forward my e-mail adress or phone number to them, or if it's ok with them would you please give me their names or contact information? We do not intend or wish to bring any problems to the family of the accuser or to her, we only need to establish with the judge a reason as to what would motivate them to say what they are saying about an incident that was honestly an issue of mutual consent.

Thank you very much,

J G


REPLY to JG

-----Original Message----- From: jwfacts@macgregorministries.org]

Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 8:48 AM To: J G

Subject: Re: Looking for help

Hi J........

Re you son. I think you have assesed the situation right on. To protect "her" status and her family name they have to go for blood or be held accountable for her action and not raising her in the "faith" properly. The parents could be held accountable by the JW's in their twisted logic.

Contact Duane Magnanni at 925-672-5979 (SF CA. area) He has been involved with numerous cases in the US and will give you good advice. Your lawyer needs to have the "Battling over the Kids" video and the 2 documentation books to go along with it. (one is by the JWs, it should be called "How to lie under oath and not get caught") It will give him insights into how they think and will lie under oath to protect the org. He has to prove they are lying and catch them under oath. Have the lawyer talk to Duane.

Go to our web and at the bottom of the "JW index" page "Where did they say that" check out the orgs definition of "Truth" be sure the lawyer has these quotes. P/C of original pages is with the documentation books or we have available as well. We have the books here as well. Following are quotes from WT mags which will give you an insight into their thinking on that topic. Pass them on to your lawyer.

The JW's are having quite a problem at the present time with pedophiles in the org. This topic and perhaps other info relating to your case may be available on this web. www.freeminds.org

Keep in touch if we can help further, Details re the video and books are on our web.

Keith


For your "Spiritual" insight ..........

Articles on "Rape" from the WT Society.


*** w64 1/15 63-4 Questions from Readers ***(from WT mags)

Questions from Readers

According to the Bible at Deuteronomy 22:23-27, an Israelite engaged girl threatened with rape was required to scream. What is the position of a Christian woman today if faced with a similar situation? Is she to scream even if an attacker threatens her life with a weapon? - M. U., United States.

According to God's law an Israelite girl was under obligation to scream: "In case there happened to be a virgin girl engaged to a man, and a man actually found her in the city and lay down with her, you must also bring them both out to the gate of that city and pelt them with stones, and they must die, the girl for the reason that she did not scream in the city, and the man for the reason that he humiliated the wife of his fellow man." If, however, the attack took place in a field and the woman screamed and thus tried to get away from the attacker, she was not to be stoned, since she was overpowered and there was no one to rescue her.-Deut. 22:23-27.

But suppose the man had a weapon and threatened to kill the girl if she failed to lie down with him? These scriptures do not weaken the argument or alter the situation by citing any circumstance that would justify her in not screaming. It plainly says she should scream; hence, oppose the attack regardless of the circumstances. If she was overpowered and perhaps knocked unconscious and violated before help came in answer to her screams, she could not be held accountable. The thought of the scriptures apparently is that the girl's screaming, by attracting neighborhood attention, would frighten off her assailant and would save her, even though he threatened her life for not quietly complying with his wishes and passionate desires.

Such Scriptural precedents are applicable to Christians, who are under command, "Flee from fornication." (1 Cor. 6:18) Thus if a Christian woman does not cry out and does not put forth every effort to flee, she would be viewed as consenting to the violation. The Christian woman who wants to keep clean and obey God's commandments, then, if faced with this situation today, needs to be courageous and to act on the suggestion made by the Scriptures and scream. Actually this counsel is for her welfare; for, if she should submit to the man's passionate wishes, she would not only be consenting to fornication or adultery, but be plagued by the shame. There would be shame, not only from the repulsiveness of the experience, but of having been coerced into breaking God's law by having sex connections with one other than a legal marriage mate. Not only that, but she might become an unwed mother, or she may contract a terrible disease from her morally debased attacker.

It is true that a woman faces the possibility her assailant will carry out his threat; but, then, what guarantee does she have that such a desperate criminal would not kill her after satisfying his passion? In fact, such a one, perhaps already hunted by the law, may be more likely to kill her after the attack, since she would then have had a greater opportunity to identify him and would therefore be in a better position to supply a description of him to the authorities. In such case, following the Scriptural counsel of screaming could well save one's life by attracting attention and driving the attacker away at the outset, instead of causing him to feel that he must get rid of his victim for fear of being identified later.

In most instances it is doubtless a matter of calling the assailant's bluff, since the girl's screams could result in his arrest for attempted rape. Also, if he carried out his threat and committed murder, he would face the likelihood of apprehension and conviction for this even more serious offense. Of course, there is the possibility that instead of fleeing immediately, the attacker may strike his victim or inflict a superficial wound to silence the screams, yet would not the endurance of such physical punishment be insignificant compared to the disgrace and shame of submitting to an immoral man?

A Christian woman is entitled to fight for her virginity or marital fidelity to the death. Just how best she can defend herself against anyone who wants to defile her depends upon her courage and quick wits. At least, as has been mentioned, she should first try to frighten off the would-be rapist by screaming and making as loud and noisy a spectacle of the matter as she possibly can, in order to summon any convenient aid. This being unavailing, then she has a right to defend her virtue by whatever means she can.

The morals of this generation have indeed sunk to an unprecedented low, just as Bible prophecy foretold for these last days. The fact that over 15,000 women a year, about one every half hour, are raped in the United States alone emphasizes this fact. It also serves as a warning to women that they should exercise care so as to avoid dangerous situations. Since women are almost always attacked when they are alone, they should arrange to have a companion along, especially when they are out after dark. And in localities where it is considered dangerous for women even during daylight hours, women should not go out alone but should take along a companion. God's Word says: "If somebody could overpower one alone, two together could make a stand against him. And a threefold cord cannot quickly be torn in two." (Eccl. 4:12) For a Christian woman to persist in going out alone in a city or locality where women are frequently attacked is to invite trouble and needlessly endanger life. It is the part of wisdom to give thought to what could happen in a given situation and then take the necessary precautions. The wise person foresees danger and takes steps to avoid it. "The shrewd one considers his steps."-Prov. 14:15.


*** g80 7/8 5-6 The Growing Terror of Rape ***

 

The Growing Terror of Rape

RAPE! Perhaps it frightens you so much, or you find it so distasteful, that you are reluctant to read about it. If so, and if you are a woman, you may be the type of person who especially needs to think about the matter. We say this because of the way rapists go about picking their victims.

"A potential rapist looks for a woman who is vulnerable to attack," explains James Selkin, director of the Center for the Study of Violence at Denver General Hospital. Gene G. Abel, a professor of psychiatry, describes such a vulnerable person: "Most rapists are seeking a startled, stunned, passive woman who submits sexually with minimal resistance."

Threatened by a rapist, would you be that type of woman? How would you react?

How Most Victims React

Understandably, a woman faced with the threat of rape may be terrified. In fact, two Boston College professors, after interviews with 80 rape victims, noted: "The primary reaction of almost all women to the rape was fear." And the problem is that such fear can be paralyzing.

The illustration was given by a rape victim: "Did you ever see a rabbit stuck in the glare of your headlights when you were going down a road at night? Transfixed-like it knew it was going to get it-that's what happened."

Often coupled with the fear is confusion and uncertainty. For example, a 19-year-old explained: "I never physically fought him off in any way, partly because I was frightened, mostly because in my na„vet« I thought a girl has to do what she's told. . . I was overwhelmingly confused and defenseless against the whole suddenness."

She reacted as many others have under similar circumstances. She submitted. Few are prepared to resist-to resist for all they are worth. Elizabeth R. Dobell, writing in the magazine Seventeen, made the surprising revelation: "In only one of the 4,057 rape cases reported in New York City in 1974 was there an act of resistance. . . . Profound terror in the face of physical threats simply renders most women helpless."

Would a rapist be able to intimidate you to submit to him? How would you resist? Do you know?


Need to Learn How to Resist

Some advisers may tell you not to resist, especially if the rapist has a weapon. It is best, they say, to let the man have his way and thus avoid further harm. But is this counsel wise?

"I think that [it] is totally wrong," says Frank Lena, a teacher of Rape Self-Defense courses in American high schools. "I teach these girls that if you let a guy rape you out of fear, he just may kill you when he's done so you can't identify him later."

Other experts say the same thing, urging women to resist. Yet the problem of how to resist is a very real one. "We're afraid," observed one woman, "because we have no confidence in ourselves. . . . We hope it doesn't happen. And when it does, we don't know what to do."

But conditions in many places make it important for you, as a woman, to learn. You need to learn to react to a potential rapist in a way that might be totally different from what you would do under other circumstances.


A Real Threat Today?

"But really," you may ask, "aren't rapes relatively rare? Isn't being raped a rather remote possibility?"

Looking at certain rape statistics, a person could assume so. In 1933 only 4,930 rape cases were reported in the United States. By 1962, although the number had increased to 16,310, not that many women seemed to be affected.

However, in the next 16 years reported rapes leaped more than fourfold, to 67,131 in 1978. And during the first nine months of last year they rose another 9 percent. Rape is the fastest growing crime in America. Yet reported rapes give little idea of the extent of the threat faced by women today.

This is because the vast majority of rapes are not reported to authorities. Many victims are embarrassed to do so. They may fear skepticism and suspicion about their claim of being raped, or just desire to preserve their privacy. Some fear what their family may say or do. Others feel it simply is not worth the bother, since only about 2 percent of all rapists are convicted and jailed.

Investigations indicate a staggering number of rapes. Generally the figure is estimated to be from three to five times the reported number. Time magazine said: "Some analysts claim as many as 500,000 people a year are attacked by rapists." According to the book How to Protect Yourself from Crime, "There are estimates which indicate that as many as 90 per cent of all rapes are not reported."

So more than 1,000 women a day may be the victims of rape in the United States alone! And this number does not include most of the 60,000 children who are sexually abused annually.

Yet rape is by no means an American problem. Sexual violence is also increasing in South America, Africa and Europe.

Why has rape become such a problem today? What causes men to rape.


*** w80 10/15 7 Avoiding the Tragedy of Rape ***

 

THE BEST AND PROPER COURSE

Above all, she should not allow herself to be intimidated. Right at the outset she should let it be known that under no circumstances will she permit intercourse. Representatives of the Toronto Star, after consulting a number of rape crisis centers in the United States and Canada, came up with this common theme:

"The most crucial time in a rape encounter is the first minute. If a woman doesn't physically and mentally fight back at this point, her chances of avoiding sexual attack grow progressively smaller."

The Cleveland Rape Crisis Centre explained:

"The rapist first checks out his victim to see what her attitude is likely to be. He doesn't want trouble; he wants to intimidate the woman quietly. The more afraid the woman appears, the more vulnerable she is to assault. The longer she allows the encounter to go on, the more trouble she's in."

So the young woman mentioned above should have countered the rape threat immediately, in a firm, absolute manner, not as a passive individual groping for a response. She might have said something to this effect: "What would you think if this were happening to your own daughter? You know, some think your daughter and I look much alike."

Even if that approach did not stop the aggression, if she, right from the start, had shown herself to be a difficult, aggressive opponent, the rape no doubt could have been avoided. Susan Brownmiller, a leading spokesperson on the subject of rape, explains:

"Rapists get courage as the encounter proceeds. They really do. In most cases, the assailant starts off with less security than the victim might believe. If he finds that he has thoroughly terrorized his victim, he gains more confidence.

Back in March 1974, Awake! magazine described how a man with a gun had held two of Jehovah's Witnesses prisoner in a hotel room. As he reached for the zipper on one girl's blouse, she exclaimed:

"No! No! Not that!" She told him that if he touched her she would scream as he had never heard anyone scream before. She explained that if she did not she would ruin her relationship with Jehovah God and the Christian congregation. (Compare Deuteronomy 22:22-29.) Her firm demand: "Don't you touch me or come near me" kept the rapist at bay.

This woman did the Scripturally proper thing, which actually is the best thing to do. A Christian woman is under obligation to resist, for the issue of obedience to God's law to "flee from fornication" is involved. (1 Cor. 6:18) By no means would it be proper for her willingly to submit to being raped.

So about avoiding rape there is much that can be learned from the experiences of both those in ancient Bible times and persons living today. Since rape is the fastest growing crime in certain places, it is indeed wise for women to think about what they can do to resist!

[Footnotes]

For a more detailed discussion of this subject, see the July 8, 1980, issue of Awake!

Hitchhiking can be dangerous [Picture on page 7]

>From the very outset, a woman should firmly resist a rapist, screaming if necessary

 

*** w83 3/15 29-31 Honor Godly Marriage! ***

..........marriage if at all possible, Jesus' words quoted above from Matthew 19:9 indicate that there is a ground for divorce-the only Scriptural ground for a divorce-fornication.

Defining "Fornication"

What do we understand here by "fornication"? The Greek word in this text is porneia. In discussing the matter, The Watchtower of

December 15, 1972, pages 766-768, showed that porneia "comes from a root word meaning 'to sell.'" Thus it is tied in with prostitution, such as that practiced in many pagan temples in the first century and in 'houses of ill fame' today.

True, porneia is sometimes used in a limited sense, as applying to sex relations between unmarried (single) persons. An instance of such a limited usage is 1 Corinthians 6:9, where "fornicators" are mentioned separately and in addition to those who engage in such other sexual vices as adultery and homosexuality. But just before this, at 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul used the same word when counseling Christians not to mix with "fornicators." Is it reasonable to think that here he referred only to immoral unmarried persons? That could not be so, for chapter 6 sets out a broad range of illicit sexual practices that must be shunned, including adultery and homosexuality. Likewise, Jude 7 and Revelation 21:8, which show that God judges unrepentant "fornicators" as worthy of eternal destruction, could hardly be limited only to unmarried persons that have sex relations. And the Jerusalem governing body's edict at Acts 15:29, "to keep abstaining . . . from fornication," must be understood to have the wide field of application.

So, then, "fornication" in the broad sense, and as used at Matthew 5:32 and <G<_>G>Mt <G<ö>G>19:9, evidently refers to a broad range of unlawful or illicit sex relations outside marriage. Porneia involves the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human (whether in a natural or a perverted way); also, there must have been another party to the immorality-a human of either sex, or a beast. Thus, self-abuse (unwise and spiritually dangerous as this may be) is not porneia. But to this day, the term porneia embraces the various kinds of sexual activity that might take place in a house of prostitution, where sexual favors are bought and sold. A person who goes to a male or a female prostitute to buy any kind of sexual favors would be guilty of porneia.-Compare 1 Corinthians 6:18.

Married Christians

How about sexual activity between married couples within the marriage bond? It is not for the elders to pry into the intimate lives of married Christians. However, the Bible certainly enters into their lives. Those who would "keep walking by spirit" should not ignore the Scriptural indications of God's thinking. And they will do well to cultivate a hatred for everything that is unclean before Jehovah, including what are clearly perverted sexual practices. Married couples should act in a way that will leave them with a clean conscience, as they give unimpeded attention to developing "the fruitage of the spirit."-Galatians 5:16, 22, 23; Ephesians 5:3-5.


*** g74 3/8 13-14 Faced with the Threat of Rape ***

Faced with the Threat of Rape

"RAPE: Most Rapidly Increasing Crime." That was the title of an article that appeared in one of America's leading women's magazines in the summer of 1973.

There can be no question about the accuracy of that statement. New York city saw an almost 40-percent increase in 1972 over 1971. Seattle, Washington, has witnessed a 400-percent increase since 1963. And such are the figures in spite of the fact that, according to conservative estimates, 75 to 80 percent of rapes are not reported to the police.

Rape is illicit sexual intercourse without the consent of the woman and is effected by force. Many times it results in venereal disease, unwanted pregnancy or in physical life-long injury.

Moreover, it has been said that "psychologically, rape is the most traumatic of crimes against women, and for many victims, the police investigation that follows is even more shattering"-no doubt one reason why more rapes are not reported to the police.

"It stands first on the list of crimes a woman fears and last on the list of crimes a victim wants to talk about," says one report, and it is "never forgotten by the women involved." As one New York

City police official expressed it: "You have to be a woman to understand the shock a rape victim has experienced."-Time April 23, 1973.

What can a woman do when faced with a rapist? Deputy Superintendent J. M. Jordan of the Boston Police Department stated that "a long, loud scream" can be the woman's best weapon. An article telling women how to ward off such attacks concluded with similar advice: "The technique is simply to surprise your attacker so that you can run away; try to ward off, not incite, a fight to the finish. And scream, scream, scream as loud as you can."-McCall's magazine, July 1973.

Scream! Scream! Scream! Is that good advice? It certainly is. Just how good this advice is can be seen from what happened on November 12, 1973, in one of Brooklyn's largest hotels.

Threatened with Rape

The rapist was a well-dressed man. He had the physique of a football player, being well over six feet tall and weighing about 250 pounds. He took the elevator to the tenth floor of the hotel and there began to molest a middle-aged woman tenant, who managed to escape his clutches by screaming. She at once called the police, who came but were unable to locate him in the building, he having fled to lower floors.

On the second floor he saw two fine young women housekeepers who asked him if they could help him. "Yes, you can," he said, and, pulling out a gun, ordered them into one of the rooms, upon which he double-locked the door. He assured them that they would not get hurt so long as they did not make any noise. He said that he needed a place to hide until things cooled off downstairs and that he would keep them there for an hour.

These two young women happened to be Christian ministers and they began to make conversation so as to release the tension. One of them asked him if they could read while they were waiting. He said Yes, and so she took a Bible study aid that was in reach, handed another to the other woman and started a Bible discussion on the subject of how long Noah had preached before the flood came, it being a subject that had come up the day before in her Christian field ministry. She noted that it must have been about forty years, but the man thought it had been about 200 years. From that discussion they went on to such subjects as the name of God, Jehovah, and the kingdom for which Jesus taught his followers to pray. They also told him that they were Christian witnesses of Jehovah and about the high standards of conduct the Witnesses have. The two women were not particularly frightened, for it seemed much like a typical Bible discussion that these girls often had, especially as the man kept expressing his own opinions on these subjects.


*** g84 2/22 24-5 They Resisted Rapists ***

They Resisted Rapists

GENERALLY rapists try to get a woman in some isolated place where people are not around. At times they have a weapon and threaten to use it if the victim does not cooperate. Should a Christian quietly submit?

No, the situation is not the same as when a man simply is asking for money or other material possessions. A woman wisely would give him these. But the rapist is asking a person to break God's law by committing fornication. Under such circumstances a Christian is obligated to resist.-1 Corinthians 6:18.

'But could not resistance be dangerous?' someone may ask. Yes, it could be. Yet it may well be more dangerous not to resist, as a teacher of rape self-defense notes: "He just may kill you when he's done so you can't identify him later."

The comments of a leading spokeswoman on rape are noteworthy. She said: "Despite the popular myths of male violence and the alleged safety in submission, it has never been demonstrated that resistance on the part of a rape victim in an attempt to escape 'provokes' an assailant to commit an act of murder." The following experience illustrates this.

Two young women were in a Laundromat when a man came in and at gunpoint herded them into a room in the rear of the building. He ordered them to undress. They refused, praying aloud to Jehovah God for help. Finally, they told the now-confused gunman that they were Jehovah's Witnesses and that it was against their religious belief to do what he was demanding; they would not do it even if he shot them. Result? The frustrated gunman fled.

Treat Him Respectfully

The intended victim should remember that the rapist is a human. No doubt there are circumstances in his life that have precipitated his behavior. So although a woman should not cower in fear and permit a rapist to intimidate her, at the same time she should treat him understandingly, as a fellow human. A woman who lived in a housing project in New York City writes:

"I usually am careful when going into elevators. As usual, I checked this one out before entering, and all was OK. However, just before the door closed completely, a big man grabbed the door and opened it to come into the elevator with me. As he entered he threw a six-pack of beer at me, and I caught it. It took me by surprise.

"As the door closed he turned his back to me to do something with his pants. Then he turned around and faced me. I didn't look down at his pants but looked him in the eyes. I threw his six-pack of beer back to him, and said, 'Here is your beer.'

"At this moment, before he could do anything, I started to talk. I said I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses and was going up to the 13th floor to have a Bible study with a family who was waiting for me. I just kept talking and told him about our Bible educational work. We were half way up to the 13th floor by now, and as I kept right on talking I showed no fear, looking him straight in the eyes.

Then a funny thing happened. He began to say that he loved the Bible and that he was from the South and his family loved God too.


*** g84 6/8 28 From Our Readers ***

>From Our Readers

Resisting Rapists

Thank you for the article "They Resisted Rapists." (February 22, 1984) Eleven years ago I was attacked by the son of people I cleaned house for. I was only 16 years old at the time. I remembered that I must scream and not give in to him. I bit his lip and tried to scream but he yanked my hair and put his hand over my mouth. I tried to bite again and I also prayed to Jehovah to help me in my fight. I kept struggling until he suddenly got up and sat in a chair, staring at me. Then he left the house. I feel that it is important to note that he wasn't a total stranger to me. It is good for women to be on their guard and think ahead as to what they would do if such a nightmare should ever befall them.

C. H., Illinois


I was deeply disturbed by the article "They Resisted Rapists." I am very upset that anyone would even consider a victim of rape guilty of fornication. The scripture at Deuteronomy that you quote only requires that the woman scream, not fight to the death!

C. W., Indiana


Thank you for your article "They Resisted Rapists." I really appreciated its fine counsel to "use our lungs," and treat the rapist respectfully. I also found enlightening the experiences of those women who resisted the rapist successfully.

T. C., Florida


Your article "They Resisted Rapists" disturbed me very much. I was raped by a man who attacked me with a knife. I could only scream once because of being choked and having a large hand pressed against my mouth. I fought until I was unconscious. Because I survived, it disturbs me that it is fornication on my part. You say to show a rapist respect. These men show no respect for their victim. They don't care that they are shattering a woman, leaving in her memory horror for the rest of her life. Unless you have personally experienced the horror of this crime, you can never truly understand.

A. G., Massachusetts


For the victim to be considered guilty of fornication there would need to be proof of willing consent. Apparently the requirement of Deuteronomy 22:25-27 for the woman to resist by screaming would clear her from any suspicion of such consent on her part. The value of resisting was emphasized by University of Illinois sociologist Pauline Bart who made a study of women who foiled rapes. In her studies, as reported in "The Edmonton Journal" of Canada (November 10, 1983), she states: "By fighting back, a woman significantly increases her chance of avoiding rape . . . Not resisting is no guarantee of humane treatment." She further stated: "Raped women who used physical strategies were less likely to be depressed than raped women who did not physically resist their assailants." As to showing respect for the potential rapist, it is not that he deserves it, but treating him civilly might help to elicit a considerate response and serve as a means for the potential victim to get out of a very dangerous situation.-ED.


*** g86 5/22 22-4 "Now You Are Going to Die!" ***

He clearly planned to catch me off guard. He must have expected me to freeze and cooperate mindlessly, in a state of shock. Well, I was shocked when he lunged for me, but I did not cower. I didn't stop to think about it either. I just reacted, instantly erupting in a frenzy of yelling and clawing and kicking and biting. It was the best thing I could have done, for my intense counterattack surprised him. It gave me an important psychological lift right from the start to know that he was not in full control of himself or me. It made me more determined to fight and reinforced the hope that I could win.

I regained consciousness in the front seat of a car moving in traffic. The same belt was now yanked tight around my neck, like a dog leash, which he held taut as he drove. As my mind began to clear, the realization of where I was and how I got there flashed through me like a burning fuse that quickly detonated my rage anew.

I elbowed the steering wheel in a desperate effort to force the car off the road. I was convinced that this deranged man now was more concerned with getting rid of me than raping me. He would kill me so that I could not later identify him. Although I was exhausted from nearly an hour's constant jostling, my dogged resistance had taken its toll on him too. Tired and bewildered, he finally pulled to the edge of the road and shoved me out of the car. Another motorist stopped for me and took me to a hospital.

But I had won! I had not been raped! I was the victor, not the victim! My conscience was clean, my self-respect and dignity were intact. And I had kept my integrity to Almighty God, Jehovah!

That is not to say I felt so elated and noble during my hospital stay over the next few days. I was badly shaken, I hurt all over, and I looked terrible. The fear that did not come during the attack now washed over me in great waves. Unproductive thoughts of what could have happened kept crowding into my mind. During this time, I was questioned by police detectives and learned, to my horror, that this monster had been paroled from prison just six weeks previously after serving a sentence for rape!

On the day I was released from the hospital, there was the trauma of going to the police station to identify this man in a police lineup. Yes, I intended to press charges. I felt that to see him punished was something I owed to the other women he might attack, and I owed it to myself as a means of righting the wrong and reassuring myself that I was in control of my life. It was easy to pick him out in the lineup. He was the one with the bandages on his face and the cast on his hand!

At the hospital and at home in the weeks following, I was comforted by the many cards, letters, and visits from my fellow believers in the local congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. Some said they were proud of me. Some did not know what to say, but they showed their concern by coming to see me. Some called me a heroine, which, false modesty aside, I am not. When I could not get out of harm's way, I simply applied what I had learned from my Bible study, and it worked.

Like the ordinary person I am, I needed to be reassured many times during my recovery. I had some very gray days. I did not want to go out in public for a while. While on some days I was able to put up a pretty brave front, my husband can tell you that at times I just shivered and could find no comfort as my mind and heart strained to process this nightmare and put it behind me. Probably the single greatest help to my recovery was knowing that with Jehovah God's help I had done the right thing to the best of my ability. In my brighter moments I even found a little reason to rejoice. Time and again these Bible verses were my soft blanket:

"In case there happened to be a virgin girl engaged to a man, and a man actually found her in the city and lay down with her, you must also bring them both out to the gate of that city and pelt them with stones, and they must die, the girl for the reason that she did not scream in the city, and the man for the reason that he humiliated the wife of his fellow man. So you must clear away what is evil from your midst. If, however, it is in the field that the man found the girl who was engaged, and the man grabbed hold of her and lay down with her, the man who lay down with her must also die by himself, and to the girl you must do nothing. The girl has no sin deserving of death, because just as when a man rises up against his fellow man and indeed murders him, even a soul, so it is with this case. For it was in the field that he found her. The girl who was engaged screamed, but there was no one to rescue her."-Deuteronomy 22:23-27.

I was profoundly thankful to know these simple words. They had taught me my moral duty. They had prevented confusion and uncertainty. Because of them, I had known exactly what to do. I screamed, besides which I also fought back. I had trusted the Bible's instructions and found them to be bedrock. My husband and I prayed often; my strength and stability returned.

I wish that no other woman would ever have to go through an attempted rape-let alone a rape. But a rape takes place every 7 minutes in the United States, according to Uniform Crime Reports-Crime in the United States, 1983 edition, page 5, published by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. In my case, I relied on Jehovah, I remembered his words, I screamed. Besides that, I fought back.

In due course, this paroled rapist that attacked me was brought to trial. On February 7 of this year, he was convicted of the following crimes: attempted murder, second degree; burglary, first degree; attempted rape, first degree; and kidnapping, second degree.

So our courageous trust in God must always prevail over any dread of man. Let the psalm of David be our psalm, too, as we stand by these words unflinchingly: "In God I have put my trust. I shall not be afraid. What can earthling man do to me?"-Psalm 56:11.-Contributed.


[Box on page 23]

Why you should resist an attacker from the first moment:

1. Attacker may be startled and leave you

2. You may incapacitate attacker and be able to flee

3. Attacker may lose sexual urge or tire out and retreat

4. You can attract others to assist you

5. Your conscience will be clear. (Even if you are raped, you will not sacrifice your self-respect or cleanness before God)

6. Injuries you inflict on an attacker will help police identify him later (for example, bits of his skin under your fingernails)


Resisting Rape

Thank you for your article "Now You Are Going to Die!" (May 22, 1986) I might note some concerns about the advice given, however. Some rapists are very angry and sadistic in their approach and come armed with weapons and the intent to use them if there is the least provocation. Our Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault suggests resistance, but if the woman is paralyzed by fear or her instincts tell her not to resist, we recognize that as appropriate. We would rather have someone live through the experience than be killed or seriously mutilated.

P. R., United States

The Bible does support the thought that a woman attacked by a rapist should scream and resist. True, the woman has to respond according to her assessment of the danger to her life, and we believe that is covered in the advice given in the box on page 23 (May 22, 1986). It should be kept in mind that submitting to rape gives no guarantee that the victim will not be beaten or killed afterward. See the article "They Resisted Rapists" in our issue of February 22, 1984.-ED.

The Halifax Story!

Another victim of abuse by the WT

Rape

A victim and explanations from the WT

Speaking out

Victims of WT mentality.

Recent Scandels

Pedophiles among us

Chris Stire story

Life after the WT Society

 

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