A Woman's Own: Vindication for rape victims

When "Aleph," one of the rape victims of then Israeli president Moshe Katzav, went on national television during prime time last year and told her story about how Katzav forced himself on her in his office, the nation was riveted. It was the first time many Israelis heard a graphic first hand account of how rape happens. This was not in some alleyway with a street criminal on drugs. Katzav did not hold a gun or a knife to her head. His main weapon was his position of power, and with that he had the incredible ability to control the world around him and destroy her life.

But Aleph's testimony at the time was marred by its bitter conclusion. The bitterness was not only in the state's crushing failure to convict Katzav who had skillfully squirmed his way through the legal process. It was also in the sad conclusion that Aleph reached herself. "The advice I have to rape victims everywhere," she said tragically, with a pain that stabbed viewers straight through the screen into our hearts, "is do not go to the police. It's not worth it. Go back to your lives, heal yourselves, get therapy, but do not go public. You cannot win, and the one who will suffer from it is you."

Aleph is certainly justified in this determination. She suffered pain, humiliation, and the end of her professional life in the President's mansion, not because she did anything wrong, but because she was raped and had the courage to step forward. Nobody can blame her for regretting coming forward. At the time, it did not seem to have any benefit. Indeed, her life is ruined while Katzav is looking at an eternal taxpayer-funded future of luxury.

But last week, Aleph may have had some vindication. Hanan Goldblatt, the well-known Israeli celebrity actor, was sentenced to seven years for raping five women, most of whom were his students, some of them minors. Another handful of women complained but the statute of limitations prevented them from filing charges.

"It just shows that it pays to speak out," said one of the rape victims. "Women everywhere should know that rape does not always happen with brute force, but sometimes all it takes is power, control and manipulation."

The women who Goldblatt raped trusted him. He was their teacher, he was famous, he could make or break their careers, and the women were vulnerable. The dynamics of power create a setting that makes women particularly vulnerable.

Goldblatt's sentence is considered particularly severe, and the judge said it was because, Goldblatt "showed no remorse". In an interview last night on Channel 2, Goldblatt said, "I didn't rape anyone. Maybe some of the girls were unhappy, but I'm not a rapist." Thankfully, the judge - and presumably other viewers like myself - was not convinced.

The difference between the victims of Goldblatt and the victims of Katzav is in the turn of justice. When the rapist is told by judges and society that he is wrong, that offers real relief to rape victims. Aleph may spend the rest of her life in therapy, but the lack of justice leaves her wounds to fester.

But I hope that Aleph has at least some consolation from this. I hope she believes that her brave testimony provided the courage these other women needed to tell their stories. I also hope that other women watching will have less fear about coming forward and pursuing justice, not just for themselves but for rape victims everywhere. And I hope that Aleph and all the other women out there do indeed find inner peace.