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Florence Holway lives in the most lovely of settings, a rustic New Hampshire farm that has been her family's home for years. She is a great-grandmother, a much-loved neighbor and a painter of some renown, whose work, often featuring her family, lines the walls of her home. At the age of 76, she became a rape survivor.
The 25-year-old intruder, who broke into her home and choked, beat and raped her was captured in Florence's own bed. The court, citing a lack of physical evidence, offered him a plea bargain, and Florence was never consulted about the 12 year sentence he agreed to.
"In New Hampshire at that time, you would actually serve more time for stealing a stereo than you would for raping a woman! Can you imagine that? I could not stand for this. Something terrible had happened to me, and I wanted as many people as possible - everybody - to know about it, and to know that the men who do this are being let back on the street. My rapist will be in his thirties when he gets out, free to rape again. The idealist in me is gone forever, but he will get a second chance? What kind of people make the laws that allow this?"
Florence's anger fueled a crusade for victims rights that took her all the way to the statehouse, and in late 1991 New Hampshire passed the Victims Bill of Rights, which gave rape victims the right to be consulted about plea bargains. It is a start, but in a society where very few rapists serve any time at all - and those who do serve on average less than six years - it is not enough. "Those in power, the people making the laws, need to understand how much is taken from women who are raped. If they did, the sentences for these criminals would be tougher."
"Someone told me once that change comes slowly. 'Look how much has changed for women in thirty years' they say, or 'Be patient.' Well, patience is not one of my virtues and I don't have another thirty years. So I am dedicating the rest of my time to telling the truth: Until enough men decide to make other men stop abusing women, until the laws are tougher and we take these violent criminals off the streets, the situation will go on."
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