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BRAVERY
Susan Estrich speaks out

BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

Syndicated columnist Susan Estrich ranks high among high-powered women. She was the first woman to run a US presidential campaign. And the first woman to receive tenure from Harvard Law School. Estrich also survived a rape. This Thursday, May 24, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) — whose volunteers aided Estrich after she was raped in the Back Bay 27 years ago — will celebrate her tireless advocacy of victims’ rights by granting her the first Susan Estrich Courage Award. She will then give a talk about her experience and the state of rape law. The Phoenix spoke with her recently.

Q: Give us a preview of your speech Thursday.

A: I will speak [about how] I feel a lifetime of debt to the crisis center. I learned about the BARCC in an examining room at Boston City Hospital in 1974, the bad old days [for victims]. I had been raped in the parking lot behind my apartment building.... I was unbelievably uncomfortable. The police just said, “Next stop, Boston City.” The doctor couldn’t believe such a thing would happen in Back Bay. This woman entered the room. She was from BARCC.... I remember her looking at the doctor, saying, “I believe it. Why don’t you just do your examination?” I thought, “My God, I have a friend.” The one group that understood what I was going through was the BARCC.

Q: You didn’t speak about your assault for years. What finally prompted you to do it?

A: I got stronger. I’ve always said [survivors] should speak out when they’re ready. The first time I taught a rape-law class at Harvard, I told my students, “I will try to be fair, but I’m not objective on this subject.” I got late-night calls from someone claiming to be one of my students who said, “It sounds like you enjoyed [being raped], and would enjoy it again.” I thought, “Is this the price of speaking out?” I get enormous satisfaction from speaking out.... But it has its costs.

Q: How have we changed in how we treat rape victims?

A: There have been major changes in the law. Virtually every state has enacted rape-shield legislation. Most have gotten rid of definitions for resistance and force. Our procedures for treating rape victims have changed. But it’s still tough. No one out loud argues that no means yes. But talk to a woman who is raped by a man today. You still hear about the DA not wanting to prosecute, the man hiring an investigator to look into her past, the questions of whether she invited the rape or asked for it.

Q: Where is the legal debate around rape headed?

A: We’re going through another critical time in rape-law reform. The conflict between the defendant’s desire to secure information about the victim and the victim’s desire to maintain her privacy is the next frontier. Massachusetts is very protective of defendants’ rights. I have nothing against this. But we must remember why we needed to pass rape-shield laws in the first place. In protecting the rights of defendants, we must make sure we don’t declare open season on victims again.

Estrich will speak at the BARCC annual fundraiser at 6 p.m. this Thursday, May 24, at MIT’s Walker Hall, 142 Memorial Drive, Cambridge. Tickets for the fundraiser — which features a buffet dinner and a silent auction — are $100. Call BARCC at (617) 492-8306.

Issue Date: May 24 - 31, 2001