Rape culture past and present...The Story of Dinah and Beyond

Several weeks ago, we had a lunch and learn speaker who came and spoke about rape culture in the Torah.  We took a look at the story of Dinah which is found in today’s Torah portion.  “Now Dina, the daughter whom Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.  Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, chief of the country, saw her, and took her and lay with her by force. “ (the meaning of the last word in the text is sometimes translated as humiliated her)

It is a no-brainer when the Torah says he “took her and lay with her by force,” (or even lay with her and humiliated her) that it means Shechem raped her. Dinah might have gone out to visit the daughters of the land, but she in no way invited such an act of violence to be taken against her.  Did Shechem think that he had the right to act in such a manner because of his privileged position within the community?  Did he prey upon her because of her young age?

We know that Jacob, Dina’s father knew that his daughter had been “defiled,”(according to the text) but that he remained silent.  Why? Was it because he was not in his own homeland and didn’t want to rock the boat in a neighborhood that was not his, accusing the son of a prominent man of harming his daughter? It would seem to me that he should have spoken out or at the very least been available to his daughter to let her speak out about the trauma she had suffered by being violated against her will.  But Dina’s voice is silent as well in the story.  Was she expected to merely “slough off” the rape while her brother’s took justice into their own hands?  How must she have felt when her rapist then announces that he wants to marry her, thus putting    her in his presence for the rest of her life? (Midrash even goes so far as to say that she gave birth to a daughter by Shechem, a girl named Asenath who later becomes the wife of Joseph and gives birth to Ephraim and Menashe).  How did she feel when she was finally rescued by her brothers who did not want her to be treated like a “whore.” Dina’s voice is never heard in this entire story and she is never part of the Torah’s narrative again after this scene.

We know from the end of this story that Shimon and Levi end up slaying all the men of the town in response to the violence perpetrated against their sister.

Maimonides commented on their response by saying: Sh’khem abducted (and raped Dinah); the people of Sh’khem saw, and they knew and… they did not bring them to justice… it is for this reason that all the householders of Sh’khem were guilty of death. (Mishneh Torah. Laws of Kings 9:14.)

“For Maimonides, the entire townsfolk are culpable. After all, they were complicit in their silence, and demonstrate unwillingness to condemn, judge and punish the rapist. Can a man of power be allowed to rape and get away with it?” (Alex Israel)

We are now living at a time when women’s voices are beginning to be heard when incidents of sexual abuse such as harassment and/or rape, occur. We have witnessed many courageous women stepping forward with their stories of having been violated by men of power.  Yet raising one’s voice even now takes extreme courage.  Until recently it has been assumed by society that when a woman is sexually assaulted, she has somehow invited the violence against her to occur.  She has “gone out” (as did Dina) when she should not have done so; she has been dressed immodestly; or she has perhaps had too much to drink. 

What does sexual assault look like in the U.S.?

·  On average, there are 321,500 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States.¹

·         Ages 12-34 are the highest risk years for rape and sexual assault.^{3 Accounting for 69% of all rapes.}  

·         Those age 65 and older are 92% less likely than 12-24 year olds to be a victim of rape or sexual assault, and 83% less likely than 25-49 year olds.⁴

The statistics are appalling.  Young girls and women are being violated in a very personal and traumatic way.  One out of every 6 women in America has been the victim of an attempted rape or completed rape in her lifetime.

The likelihood that a person suffers suicidal or depressive thoughts increases after sexual violence.

·         94% of women who are raped experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during the two weeks following the rape.⁹

·         30% of women report symptoms of PTSD 9 months after the rape.¹⁰

·         33% of women who are raped contemplate suicide.¹¹

·         13% of women who are raped attempt suicide.¹¹

·         Approximately 70% of rape or sexual assault victims experience moderate to severe distress, a larger percentage than for any other violent crime.¹²

The implications for our society are mind-boggling.  The implications for families is that they must not remain silent as did Jacob.  They must let the victim of the assault know that they are not at fault.  They must be present to listen without judging, offer support when needed, and realize that there is no time-table for overcoming trauma. They must also let the victim know that they are safe and that all human beings are resilient and can regain control over their lives. Victims should not feel that their voices need to be silent for fear of being shamed that the responsibility for being raped will be placed on them.  Reporting incidents to the police and medical professionals is important so that the wheels of justice can proceed with investigations and the perpetrators of such crimes can be handled by the proper authorities, not by family members as was done in today’s parasha.

What can we learn from this story in today’s parasha?  Why does the Torah present us with such an uncomfortable narrative?  Perhaps it is so we will think critically about the occurrences which have taken place in the past and are still taking place in the present time.  Perhaps it is so we will learn to identify patterns in society or in families facing trauma which are not healthy. Perhaps it is so we can learn to feel compassion for individuals such as Dinah rather than victimizing them a second time.  Perhaps it is because as a society we should be advancing in our understanding of crimes of violence against women and the Torah wants us to finally figure this out.

 

This story was never read during my youthful years in Hebrew school, but to be honest, when I see the statistics put out by RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, I know that we should be talking to our children about this problem.  We should be teaching the ethics of never violating another human being…of never using power to overcome another individual.  These are not easy topics to address with teens or young adults, but they are in the Torah not because they are easy, but because they need to be discussed.