Misogyny and ‘locker room’ talk do not make a man a rapist
■ The public outcry at the outcome of the rape trial in Belfast is symptomatic of a duplicitous and à la carte attitude to the judicial system.
Those demonstrating on the streets and remonstrating on social media are right to call for women to be protected in all senses.
However, their febrile and visceral reaction to a judgment they simply do not like shows they are happy to pay lip-service to the concept of due process, but when it delivers an outcome contrary to their own agenda or received wisdom, they are outraged that any organ of the State would dissent from their world view.
It is true we live in a society that harbours strata of misogyny at every level.
Undoubtedly this needs to be addressed.
But being misogynistic or using “locker room” language does not make you a rapist.
Can we please introduce another completely under-used word into the discourse: misandry.
This is a word that describes prejudice against men – less popular to discuss and even less regularly mentioned.
So the male majority jury prejudiced the verdict, or men do not have a right to an opinion on women’s reproductive rights. We’ve all heard it.
Isn’t it interesting we are still referring to this as ‘the Belfast rape trial’?
What rape? No rape was found to have occurred. Why can’t we accept this?
Without being flippant or facetious, I can honestly say that I hope that the woman in this case and the ‘Belfast Four’ all manage to find a path back to normality after the trauma they have all gone through.
Kevin Dowling Kildare Town, Co Kildare