Raped Women Should Be Euthanised

I am in thett3’s debt for accepting this most important debate. Strategy I intend to show that on balance it would generally be better for society if we euthanized rape victims, not only does rape induce long-term negative well-being on the victim, but negatively affects society on a whole with the woman’s maintainance. Euthanizing rape victims would effectively free the state’s financial and medical resources and provide a net positive effect on society. Negative Effects of Rape Physical The negative physical and mental effects of rape cannot be understated, they are both broad and diverse. The physical effects of rape frequently include, and are not limited to vaginal bleeding, dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse), hypoactive sexual desire disorder, vaginal inflammation, urinary tract infections, chronic pelvic pain as well as sexually transmitted diseases especially HIV/AIDS.[1] Many of these physical consequences inevitably leads to a lower quality of life, and lower well-being, since the female generally experiences reduced sexual satisfaction within her life (due the related mental and physical effects) which is extenuated by infections that occur at a significantly increased rate due to the lower use of contraception amongst rapists. From physical effects alone it is clear that women generally lead lifes of reduced well-being but these are but a fraction of the issues that result from rape. Another serious physical consideration is of course, rape induced pregnancy in female victims, which is undetectable for several weeks after rape has occurred and leads to serious ethical, and legal dilemmas of choices between aborting the child or giving birth to a baby with the rapist’s genes and the social stigma attached. On one hand a baby may be aborted, but often leads to long-term emotional side-effects of the mother, who willingly killed her foetus, as well as the community that are aware of this, or the other hand with the mother having to raise her rapist’s child, an obvious long term physical and emotional burden. Then there is the social stigma associated with such a pregnancy/abortion/birth. “Women who raise their rape-conceived children depart from the prototype and are, as a result, viewed with suspicion” Moreover, special cases end up being needed to be made in law if the mother chooses to raise such a child, since not only must the mother tolerate her bastard child, but also the father’s custodial rights “Without such laws, in most states, a man who fathers through rape has the same custody and visitation privileges to that child as does any other father of a child. M”[2] Mental The mental effects of rape also cannot be understated, a review of several studies on rape preclude: “Rape victims were found to be significantly more depressed, generally anxious, and fearful than control subjects.”[3] Of course this is over simplistic, other effects include self-blame complexes, increased suicide, depression, anxiety, PTSD, increased shame, lack of motivation, empathy, self-harm, anger, aggression and increased suicide rates. All of these negatively impact the person’s well-being, but just as importantly affects their ability to work, and be productive for the economy. Anxiety and depression for example demands extensive accommodation, and hence directly reduces the productivity per capita (more on this later).[4,6] Self-blame and anger are directly related, Tagney states: “"In day-to-day life, when people are shamed and angry they tend to be motivated to get back at a person and get revenge."[5] Moreover, self-blame (‘shame’) leads to increase isolation (akin to the effects of anxiety), and generally victims cannot be convinced emotionally that it’s “not their fault”. Generally self-blame complexes need to be treated with cognitive restructuring therapy, which itself is costly and of limited availability.[6] Self blame (‘shame’) is also connected to eating disorders, substance abuse, and other moral complexes. Indeed the latter leads to increased legal trouble for the victim.[6] Several studies also conclude that the victims are significantly more prone to committing suicide, which raises the question, if they are going to kill themselves anyway, then why not in a hospitable and sterile environment and manner?[7,8] To quote Jonathan Davidson: “Subjects reporting a history of sexual assault were more likely to be female, younger, and to report higher rates of lifetime suicide attempt and posttraumatic stress symptoms; no differences were found in the number of chronic medical disorders, major depression, substance abuse or substance dependence, or panic attacks. Nine (14.9%) of the 67 index group subjects reported a suicide attempt, 4 of whom reported their first sexual assault as occurring before age 16 years.”[8] Furthermore, as alluded to earlier, rape causes significant stigmatization in several cultures, including highly developed western cultures, especially in cultures of high religiosity (known as secondary victimization). The victim is frequently seen as ‘damaged goods’, for good reason considering the aforementioned physical & mental health effects, but also because of:[9] 1. ‘Unclean’ Loss of virginity 2. Sex outside of wedlock 3. Taboos Such victims may suffer isolation and disownment from friends & family, and may have known-on effects for marriage, especially in Islamic societies including within Western countries.[10] Financial Cost Several studies have concluded the tremendous financial burden that rape victgims have on the united stated, the figures given below neglect a few considerations, but speak for themselves regardless “The National Institute of Justice estimates that rape and other sexual assaults of adults cause an annual minimum loss of 127 billion dollars, or about $508 per U.S. resident. This includes tangible losses such as initial police response, medical care, mental health services, property damage or loss, and loss of productivity; and intangible losses, such as loss of quality of life, pain, and suffering. These costs do not include the costs of investigation, prosecution or incarceration of offenders. This figure makes sexual assault the costliest crime; even higher than murder.” http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org... “The acute, immediate outcomes of a rape include non-genital trauma for 25-45% of survivors, genital trauma in 19-22%, sexually transmitted diseases in up to 40% and pregnancy in 1-5% that’s an estimated 32,000 rape-related pregnancies a year among adult women in the U.S. (Holmes). These and other ongoing medical concerns mean that, compared to before the assault, survivors' visits to physicians increase 18% in the year of the assault, 56% in the year following, and 31% in the second year following the assault (Koss, 1993). Average medical costs for an assault survivor during a one year period average $89 to $239 higher than those of non-victims” Reasons for Euthanization By euthanizing women who have been raped, we avoid virtually all of these consequences of rape on both the victim and society. We both reduce the resource footprint the rape victims have, which allows for more healthy, non-raped children to be born and thrive, also it frees up resources spent on medical care for more economical allocation. New nurseries, healthcare, etc can be provided with the money saves, which would positively affect the well-being of more people than would be the case for mitigating rape, which is of limited efficacy anyway. The victims of rape consequentially contribute significantly less to society as a result of the mental health effects, and as such by allocating the recourses that person would have consumed on to potentially healthy individuals, we provide a more economical environment, with higher productivity per capita. The case for euthanasia is multiple-fronted and as I see it, not insignificant. I wish Con best of luck in his opening round. References 1. http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. [ http://georgetownlawjournal.org... 3. http://www.svfreenyc.org... 4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... 5. Tangney, June Price and Dearing, Ronda L., Shame and Guilt, The Guilford Press, 2002 6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... 7. http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com... 8. http://www.jstor.org... 9. http://www.svfreenyc.org... 10. http://www.aina.org... 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...