Letter: ID'ing rape victims is cruel

I read with total disbelief and amazement your editorial of July 26, "ID most accusers in rape cases." It is clear that your editorial board has never personally known a rape victim or has no grasp of the true depth of the trauma most women experience being raped.

The cold reality is, most women who survive being raped do so because they are wise enough to cooperate with their attacker to avoid being seriously injured or killed. A rape victim who walks away alive to tell the police needs a lot of protection as well as support from family and friends. She is also very scared of her attacker and does not want to see him again under any circumstances, even in a police station.

Making the accuser's name public would, I believe in many cases, bring pressure on her past the breaking point, and many rape cases would never make it to trial. A suspected attacker's name should also not be made public until proven guilty.

Thomas Pumo, Port Jefferson