On August 23rd Kobe Byrant would have turned 42 years of age and of course plenty of tributes got directed towards him on social media. Still the one question that comes to mind is what if what he did happened to your daughter?
Imagine her coming home from work. Inconsolable! Then heading to a police station to report that she got raped and after telling her story needing to go to the hospital for a rape kit with detectives saying that the evidence shows that what happened was “not consistent with consensual sex.”
She also told him “no” multiple times and his response was to choke your daughter.
Which begs the question does the name of the person responsible for sexually assaulting your daughter matter? Whether it is a star athlete like Kobe, a boss, coworker, family friend, friend or a stranger.
Now imagine the case goes to trial and the defense team leaking information to the press including the name of the accuser. Then slut shaming her for being human. Young women do have sex. Of course with those tactics the case got dropped. No conviction. Still a civil trial though with a settlement.
Then imagine seeing this quote from Kobe that says “Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”
There’s also what happened with Jameis Winston at Florida State. Where the police responsible for the university did their best job to hinder the investigation in to the sexual assault allegation leveled against him.
Examples like this showcase why women don’t report. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center in 2018 only 25 percent of rapes got reported to police. Still what’s worse was the immediate aftermath of the report against Kobe. The prosecutor from Eagle County, Colorado Mark Hurlbert said “In Eagle County, we saw a huge decrease in sex assault reporting. And when victims would talk to advocates, they would say that it was because they were afraid they’re going to be treated like the victim in Kobe Bryant’s [case.]”
From the apology from Kobe men need to learn that consent requires two people. If she says “no” at any point during a sexual encounter it means to stop immediately. It doesn’t mean to continue the act or acts.
Also we got to see the direct result of what happened afer. Sexual assaults are not being reported thanks in part to how Kobe’s defense team treated the victim. Meaning that all these tributes are ridiculous.