If we consider them vulnerable populations, then why does our legal system fail them when it comes to sexual assault? Obviously this was what Benedet was trying to argue in her article, that no matter who you are, the legal system fails when it comes to instances of sexual violence. Yet I do not understand how a population who has continually had their sexaulity policed or has had it denied, can still receive the same injustice when it comes to sexual assault. Alberta had one of the largest eugenics movement in Canadian history, aimed at the sterilization of individuals with disabilities. Even with this, and the institutional policing of sexuality, the hypersexualization of ‘deviant’ bodies is continually the source of violence.
What I find even more heartbreaking is that while sexual assault happens because of a power imbalance the patriarch has created, but in the instance of those with disabilities, it comes from an ableist society as well. The cases we read were from individuals who had been abused by their caregivers, people who are suppose to help them manage day-to-day life, and instead abused this power dynamic in the worst way possible. Even in cases where the law is suppose to prevent this, somehow these offenders manage to still slip by.
It is becoming more apparent to me that there needs to be a desperate re-working of society. It’s easy to blame the justice system for failing, or the actions of individuals, but honestly, our society is setting everyone up to fail. As Benedet states “rape, as a relatively common practice, is rooted in, and reinforces, sex inequality” (Benedet, 136), showing that our society is built for rape to occur. Our society is built on inequalities and injustices. I am not saying that people aren’t to blame for their actions, and that they shouldn’t be held accountable, but we do need to fix the way our society is structured. I know that there is not a simple solution, as nothing about this is simple, but it does need to change.
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