Nafissatou Diallo, a New York hotel maid, accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attacking her after emerging from the bathroom naked while she cleaned his room. In her story, he ripped her pantyhose, raped her, and forced her to perform oral sex. During the investigation, however, Diallo's story fell apart when she met with a prison inmate to discuss the possible benefits of pressing charges against him. As investigators looked further into Diallo's past, many secrets were revealed that greatly reduced her credibility in the case. Because of this, police are considering dropping the criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn altogether. .
Strauss-Kahn, who was a strong contender for the French presidency before the allegations were brought against him, denies all the charges but admits to consensual relations with the maid (BBC).
Diallo stepped forward to give her first interview to Newsweek magazine, where she adamantly stood behind her original claims. "I want him to go to jail. I want him to know there are some places you cannot use your power, you cannot use your money. God is my witness. I'm telling the truth. From my heart. God knows that. And he knows that," she said (BBC). .
Linda Fairstein, a crime writer, questions Diallo's motives were agreeing to interviews during this stage of the investigation. "As a prosecutor, the rule is you want your witness to speak in the courtroom, and not to the media," she said. "Interviews raise problems for prosecutors - even if the story is consistent, each interview gives the defense more possible details to cross examine her with. A mistake or a slip of the tongue becomes 20 minutes of cross examination in a courtroom" (Trevelyan). .
Bradley Simon, a Manhattan criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor agreed that Diallo's breaking the silence is a risky move. "On the one hand, her lawyers felt they needed to up the ante because they feared the DA had lost his resolve.
Is it someone who is poor? ... Diallo too was a victim in that he was a suspicious looking man who was black and he was not compensated for his unjustified death. ... (TKAM 204) Tom was charged by white trash on the account of rape. ... The Ewells who accused Tom of rape were not respectable people, as well as alcoholics. ... Ewell was witness to the tempting and he let her have it. ...
The next morning the villagers who searched the girls found their bodies hanging from a tree. ... The men have been accused for allegedly raping the young girls. ... Media has accused the police of saying so in an attempt to ward of the responsibility of the rape case from their shoulders. ... While her father had 3 brothers thus indicting that there are limited resources and hence her death could benefit others. ... Both the constable present at the police station on the night before the girls were killed have been arrested along with the 3 other who have been accused. ...
The names of rape victims traditionally have been withheld by the news media, in order to protect them. ... Women under 18 are often too terrified to tell their parents because they were either drinking or hanging out with the wrong crowd, when they were attacked. The top concerns expressed by rape victims were; their families finding out they had been raped, people believing the rapes were their fault, people outside the family learning that they had been raped, and their names being made public by the news media. ... Statistics state that ninety one percent of victims are females. (2...
The deaths of Amadou Diallo and a black sheriff in the south are cited as example of this. ... Halle Berry won best actress for her performance in Monster's Ball as a woman who begins dating a white man who was indirectly responsible for her husband's death. He compares this to Hattie McDaniel's" Gone With the Wind character as both being examples of blacks as sub servants to whites, claiming that there is nothing more subservient than a woman who sleeps with the man who killed her husband. ... As for Halle Berry, the main argument made is that she is subservient for sleeping wi...
In the early 1900's, a woman's race and social standing determined her experience as a victim of rape in the south. ... One made especially clear in the documents from this time period was how a white woman who was a victim of rape was treated, and the response that her raping received from the public. For instance, a woman in Texarkana in the early 1890's accused Edward Coy of rape, and he was killed while claiming he was innocent. ... In addition, a white woman who claimed to fall victim to rape received the communities' support. This white woman's rape inspired wh...
It is no secret that this film is a playoff of the Cinderella story; now if Marisa was white it would just be the same old Cinderella story. ... I believe that if Latinas were to watch this movie it tells them that they can reach social mobility as a minority, person of color and female. ... Indeed, Maid in Manhattan is a Cinderella story like I earlier depicted, so the role surrounding Marisa's gender is to be expected. ... Before this reading, I had never taken a moment to truly see the racism that is in media all around society. ... I know it is mentioned that Chris, the man who fell i...
There is no blatant abuse of power by law enforcement exposed by the media until the shooting of Amadou Diallo on February 4, 1999. ... The officers fired 41 bullets and 19 hit Diallo outside of his apartment in The Bronx because, according to the officers, Diallo matched the description of an armed serial rapist who had been involved in the rape of 29 victims. Diallo was unarmed, but reached for his wallet and triggered the officers to open fire. ... The plaintiffs also sought for the removal of the NYPD Street Crimes Unit, the unit that the four officers who killed Diallo were in. ... Altho...
Although the purpose of these laws is to protect women, they are actually giving automatic credibility to women who come forward with accusations of rape. ... Excluding evidence of previous false rape charges by the accuser denies the accused a fair trial. ... Being raped is a tragic ordeal, but so is being falsely accused. People who are accused of rape often have their names plastered all over the media. ... Americans are afforded the liberty of being innocent until proven guilty, so it is unfair that people who have been accused of rape are open to public scrutiny while their accusers r...
In the early 70's a comedy TV series called Maude portrayed a wisecracking maid Florida Evans. ... This cartoon show depicted the Sapphire character as a bossy, headstrong woman who was engaged in an ongoing verbal battle with her husband, Kingfish. ... Jezebel was normally represented as a light-skinned, biracial woman, who normally looked European. ... This stereotype was created to excuse white males of liability in the sexual abuse and rape of African American women. ... Tracy Morgan and Martin Lawrence have been accused of taking roles that demean Black males or infuse Black stereoty...
