I'm not sure why I'm posting this, or what I want from replies (if there are any).
I work in the field of criminal justice - I chose this before recovering memories and it has certainly been challenging to start remembering, healing and having therapy for what happened to me, while working in an environment that brings me into contact with offenders and offender management. The personal contact is -thankfully - limited, but it's there. Work on policy and written complaints/comments is occasional, but when it happens it's a big problem for me.
I have a lot of conflict over this. I think everyone should have human rights.
I'm from the UK and we don't have a constitution. Apart from the magna carta which isn't relevant to what I mean here, for hundreds of years our legal system was based on having no rights but particular legal decisions setting a precedent which gave some. (Compared to a constitution giving fundamental rights which legal precedents modified.) More recently we've had legislation that does give us enshrined rights, notably the European Human Rights Act. When I first read this, I cried because of all the legal rights in it that I've lost in some way because of what happened to me:
Right to life
Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Right to liberty and security
Freedom from slavery and forced labour
No punishment without law
Right to marry and start a family
Right to peaceful enjoyment of your property
So, I read complaints from sex offender prisoners about their treatment in prison. They complain, for example, that they can't exercise for the stated half hour per day because exercise is in an area with general prisoners and general prisoners... let's just say they don't like sex offenders.
I believe that every human being has the right to be treated decently and fairly. But I find it very hard to apply this, because a sex offender could actually be one of my attackers and, if not, they are someone else's. I think my problem is that I don't see them as human. I feel that they chose not to be. If it didn't suit them to be human then, why should they suddenly be allowed to be human now?
And I can't help thinking - not having 30 minutes exercise a day is nothing compared to what the people you affected are going through.
But I'm not the judge or jury. I don't know their case or anything about them. No punishment without law, right?
By the way, the decision to find a different job is about to be made for me since I'm probably about to be made redundant. I'm quite anxious about how I'll manage, but I suppose at least I won't have this in front of me on a regular basis.
I work in the field of criminal justice - I chose this before recovering memories and it has certainly been challenging to start remembering, healing and having therapy for what happened to me, while working in an environment that brings me into contact with offenders and offender management. The personal contact is -thankfully - limited, but it's there. Work on policy and written complaints/comments is occasional, but when it happens it's a big problem for me.
I have a lot of conflict over this. I think everyone should have human rights.
I'm from the UK and we don't have a constitution. Apart from the magna carta which isn't relevant to what I mean here, for hundreds of years our legal system was based on having no rights but particular legal decisions setting a precedent which gave some. (Compared to a constitution giving fundamental rights which legal precedents modified.) More recently we've had legislation that does give us enshrined rights, notably the European Human Rights Act. When I first read this, I cried because of all the legal rights in it that I've lost in some way because of what happened to me:
Right to life
Freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment
Right to liberty and security
Freedom from slavery and forced labour
No punishment without law
Right to marry and start a family
Right to peaceful enjoyment of your property
So, I read complaints from sex offender prisoners about their treatment in prison. They complain, for example, that they can't exercise for the stated half hour per day because exercise is in an area with general prisoners and general prisoners... let's just say they don't like sex offenders.
I believe that every human being has the right to be treated decently and fairly. But I find it very hard to apply this, because a sex offender could actually be one of my attackers and, if not, they are someone else's. I think my problem is that I don't see them as human. I feel that they chose not to be. If it didn't suit them to be human then, why should they suddenly be allowed to be human now?
And I can't help thinking - not having 30 minutes exercise a day is nothing compared to what the people you affected are going through.
But I'm not the judge or jury. I don't know their case or anything about them. No punishment without law, right?
By the way, the decision to find a different job is about to be made for me since I'm probably about to be made redundant. I'm quite anxious about how I'll manage, but I suppose at least I won't have this in front of me on a regular basis.