Using rape to justify behavior? Not ok.

Scandal is a newer show on ABC. Its about a woman who is a "fixer" of problems in the political community. She had an affair with the president, and there have been points of the show where they focus on the president wife and somewhat present her in a way that she is the one we should hate after all of this. 

In last weeks episode, there was a series of flashbacks on the president and his wife's journey to becoming president. We saw the Mellie, the wife was raped by the presidents father. I guess it was to "justify" her behavior and help us understand why she is the way she is. 

At first, I felt sympathetic for her. Having to be married to a man who's father sexually assaulted her, and not ever feel like she could tell her husband. Thats horrible and heart wrenching. It did help me "understand" why she was such a nasty character about everything, not just the affair her husband had. 

But... after surfing through Cosmo I found an article that made a really strong point. Yes- the episode does point out that we shouldn't jump to judge people because we don't know their past, but it's also claiming that being sexually assaulted justifies a women being "tough" and being able to stand up for herself. Thats not okay.The article pointed out how this has happened on multiple shows. 

I mean sure, it's great that these women are able to be strong after everything that has happened to them, but why is it that so many "strong" and "tough" women on TV are sexually assaulted? 

(On a side note, the show posted a warning before an episode where a male character was going to be tortured, but not before the episode where Mellie was going to be raped.) (And yes, it showed no skin, but we watched her get raped.)