The Accused

“A person is guilty of criminal solicitation if he commands, induces, entreats or otherwise persuades another person to commit a felony." In my opinion, this is what the general message of the movie was trying to get across. The second trial for the men who were encouraging the rape is the central matter of the film. It points out that criminal solicitation is just as wrong as the crime itself. The film did a good quality job in portraying the reality of a rape crime for a woman in a lower social-class. Whether a person is in low-class or high-class socially, does not make them more indecent. It also showed the difficulty of being heard when the woman is not so innocent in her past experiences even when there is a well practiced prosecutor working with them. In the criminal justice system the victim was treated unfairly. Based on her past with drugs and alcohol, and social-class, she was judged. They almost regarded her as the criminal rather than the victim in the situation. As well, the society viewed her in the same way. The witnesses of the crime and the people she knew just determined it was her own fault. They stereotyped her and blamed her for the fact that she was the one who instigated it with her flirting and provocative attire. And because of that, it did not matter as much that she was rapped. For Sarah, she felt confidence in herself. She knew that even though she was intoxicated and stoned, what happened was undeserved and appalling. No matter what type of person this happened to, it was wrong. And she had the right to speak for herself when it came time to judging the men who had done the crime towards her. Once Sarah was given the chance, she proved to those who doubted her wrong. Overall, I found that Kathryn Murphy showed great integrity by the middle of the movie. It was obvious that she was a part of the criminal justice system when it came to assuming her situation and eagerness to get retribution for the crime the men in