Should it Be Public

OK. I have gotten about a hundred hits today because people are looking for the name of Kobe Bryant's accuser. I just happen to show up in the Google rankings for it. I actually do have the information but have felt conflicted about actually trying to figure it out and further conflicted about posting the info. If you search hard enough on Google you will be able to find it.

Since I am so conflicted I will err on the side of caution and not post the site where you can find the information. However I tend to think that the information should be public. I at first agreed with the mainstream media, her information should be kept private. But after thinking about it I have jumped the fence and am now straddling the other side. Here is my reasoning. For every other crime the victim's name is public record and freely available. It doesn't matter if its a mugging, murder, whatever. Yet with rape they hide the name. The thing is, I think this just further perpetuates the stigma of rape. By hiding the name you are basically saying that the victim needs protection, that it is something they need to hide from.

I just don't see it that way. Rape shouldn't be stigmatized. The victim did nothing wrong yet by hiding her name and "respecting" her privacy you are basically saying she should hide the heinous act that happened to her.

If you are gonig to hide the name of the victim then you really should hide the name of the alleged perpetrator. If the accusations are false, how fair was that to Kobe?