Canada’s Debate

I’ve spent fifteen minutes trying to come up with a title for this post, and I’ve got nothing.

The Balcony Rapist is going to be released this week, and as such his story (as well as the circumstances of his arrest and incarceration) are being retread in the news.

I’ve been following the story closely, not out of a personal interest, but for the way that it exposes our own attitudes about crime and punishment. While paedophilia tends to bring out the desire for vengeance in us (understandable given our instinctual need to protect the young), rape always has a different effect. Rape inspires not a knee-jerk reaction (in general) but rather hand-wringing and our own personal misgivings about various aspects of both the law and the way our society interacts.

Naturally, these reactions manifest differently for men and women. I’ve yet to see a man formally ask, “Why do men rape?” The purpose of this question escapes me. Men do not rape, rapists rape, the vast majority of whom are men. The question is asking “men” something they cannot answer; but provides an answer in the asking.

Perhaps even more confusing is the way that we as a society measure “justice” for these crimes. Recidivism amongst sexual predators and rapists (who are not necessarily sexual predators but experience similar levels of recidivism) is substantially higher than that of the general criminal population; but there is a curious softening of the “they should be shot and pissed on” attitude that is attached to murderers and paedophiles. While nobody asks the question “why do we lock people up, to punish them or to protect society?” specifically when the subject of rape is approached, it is evinced by the debate that always surrounds a high-profile rapist’s release.

Now, I believe this sort of dialogue is incredibly healthy and I am not objecting to it, or criticizing it. I just find it fascinating the way that we as a society tend to sublimate our emotions at a time when you’d expect them to be at the forefront.