Sunday rape linkspam
There's been some discussion on metafandom about the age-old, "Why didn't she go to the police?" question. Never mind about the metafandom thing, because this is a common question posed to rape survivors, and many people in fandom have explained why. But I want to point out a link I had handy to drive the point home.
This is why women often don't go to the police after being raped. It's a website. There's a lot to read. You're not gonna get it all in a 15-second soundbite. Yes, this involves investing some time to educate yourself. I like to think it would be worth it.
The heart of the site is in the Introduction:
"We focus on the criminal justice system because the criminal justice system is the only institution in our society that's vested with the powers and authority to intervene and stop the violence, to carry out a criminal investigation, to protect the victim, to put the perpetrator under control, and to prosecute and provide justice. At the same time that the criminal justice system is vested with these exclusive powers, too many criminal justice officials remain deeply resistant to implementing these powers on behalf of women. Despite advances, victims of rape, domestic violence, and child abuse all too frequently continue to encounter denials of their rights to equal protection and equal justice in the criminal justice system.
Officer discrimination against and mistreatment of victims, failures to write reports, half hearted investigations, failure to collect evidence, prosecutorial refusals to file charges despite sufficient evidence, give-away plea bargains, slap-on-the wrist sentencing, and overall disregard continue despite well tailored laws and policies that provide officers with ample powers to intervene effectively. When your clients encounter these obstacles, your skillful advocacy is essential to making the system work for women."
Also, while you are reading through the site, make sure to check out the page on the Fourteenth Amendment (Yes, this is a US-centric site):
"The fourteenth amendment was ratified in 1868 soon after the emancipation of the slaves. With the dissolution of the legal bonds of slavery, southern whites resorted to widespread racist violence against blacks as a means of regaining control over the freed slaves. Southern law enforcement responded to this epidemic violence at best by folding their arms and looking the other way. It was this deliberate and systematic refusal by law enforcement to intervene in the racist violence that the 14th amendment was designed to remedy. And when the amendment was written, it was done so with the lofty, expanded ideal of guaranteeing all persons equal protection of the laws.
But there was a terrible deal cut by the northern politicians in hopes of appeasing southern politicians for whom the thought of black male equality was pill enough. Set into the 2nd article of the 14th amendment, penalties were laid out to any state that denied these protections to their "MALE" citizens. Women fought fiercely to defeat this devious trick, and lost. It was the first time a distinction on the basis of sex appeared in the constitution, and women today are not out from under it yet."
And now, the regular links. Disclaimers:
1. Trigger Warning! Links deal with rape. Click with care.
2. I don't always agree with everything in the links.
3. If there are comments, give them a read-through.
Rape culture:
Feministe's The Roman Polanski Humanitarian Award: Ilya Trushevsky & other recipients - Relevant Source
"Just as our headline states, the fall-out from the Trushevsky case has been epic. This is because Nikolai Nikifirov, a poet who was staying over at Ilya's place, claims to have heard Ilya and an as-of-yet-unnamed friend of his assaulting the girl in the next room, and posted an account of what he says went down on LiveJournal. Most of it is so graphic that we couldn't print the details.
Ilya initially retaliated with an LJ post that was more graphic - and more horrifying - because he laughed about the entire thing, made fun of the victim's injuries (which, RIA Novosti reported, were extensive), gloated about how everyone down at the prosecutor's office just thought the entire thing was hilarious, and that he will get off scot-free. He has since changed his tune somewhat - now he has tender concern for this girl, who was clearly "influenced" to press charges - though there are screencaps of his supporters threatening people who have written about the situation. "
Alas' Right-Wing Blogger Says Feminist Should Be "Fixed" By Being Raped
"And it's worth noting that there's nothing unusual about James' and Heine's remarks. It's not uncommon for female bloggers, especially feminist bloggers, to have to deal with such oh-so-hilarious rape threat jokes. The purpose of these "jokes" is to remind uppity women (especially poor women and women of color) of their place. (The pathetic nature of men who feel driven to put uppity women in their place is, I trust, obvious.)"
The American Prospect's Willful Ignorance
"The lack of public, comprehensive, and complex sex education in this country contributes to this toxic sexual culture on most college campuses. The abstinence-only sex education that most young men and women receive does not teach them how to articulate their own sexual needs and respect those articulated by their partners. Teens who are merely told "Just don't do it" are lacking more than an anatomy lesson or information on contraceptive choices. They are also missing out on essential communication skills and life-saving knowledge about sex and power. Which is bad news for teenagers in our paradoxically hyper-sexual and hyper-conservative contemporary America who are in desperate need of wise mentorship."
Trans issues:
The Curvature's 59% of Transgender Inmates Report Sexual Assault While In Prison - Relevant Source
"There are a couple major reasons for the astounding and devastating figures. The first is simple transphobia, and thus the already greater likelihood of rape against transgender people. The second is a really big, and vitally important one - the fact that transgender inmates are routinely misgendered and put in the incorrect prisons. This means that trans women are placed in men's prisons, and vice versa. For women especially, this means rape at the hands of her male fellow inmates:"
Polanski:
kerrikins' Roman Polanski wants clemency - Relevant Source
"Some people have said that since the victim doesn't want to pursue this, the police shouldn't. Others have said that he's old, so the police shouldn't pursue this. Personally, I think that's a load of garbage. Setting aside the issue of whether or not the police are obligated to follow through on prosecution - and I believe that in certain cases, they are obligated - there are enough men walking around out there thinking that women's bodies are theirs to use and abuse without Polanski being in the media as getting away with it."
I don't even know how to categorize this:
The Guardian's Modern chastity belts won't stop rape
"Advocating placing a foreign object inside your body as a matter of course places the prevention of rape, once again, squarely with women. Tips on walking home at night are circulated among female friends and colleagues with the same tired routine as the latest YouTube meme. Women are berated for wearing revealing clothes and blamed for their attacks, whether for getting into an unlicensed cab or for flirting. The responsibility for stopping rape is aimed singularly at women. With all the effort exerted instructing women on how not to get raped, shouldn't an equal amount of ardour be directed at educating men to, well, not rape?"
The Problem:
"Men do not cry rape whenever we wake up and wonder what the hell we were up to last night. For some reason, some segments of society want women to do so. Ms Macdonald rails against these segments. QED.
Why complicate matters further? I can definitely agree that college or uni students are young, beered-up and stupid creatures. I know, and God knows, I was. I'm still a virgin, though - kept myself in my pants, no matter how beered-up I was. I don't think it's wrong or hypocritical of me to demand young women to do the same and save all of us some trouble." - (link)
"The concept of rape culture is new to me. Kobe Bryant was accused of rape by a women that would not testify against him in court. Ben has been accused of rape by a woman a year after the alleged rape, she is not supporting a crimnal charge, and she is partially blaming her employers.
I do not believe her claim because she has not done what crime victims do. I am not a participant in rape culture. Her rape story at this time is not credible, based on the facts at hand." - (link)
"I just have one question… Where was the girl´s mother?
What sane woman would let her 13 yr. old daughter spend an evening with an older man in the Hollywood hills or anywhere for that matter.
Seems the poor child was being offered in exchange for money and fame." - (link)
This is why women often don't go to the police after being raped. It's a website. There's a lot to read. You're not gonna get it all in a 15-second soundbite. Yes, this involves investing some time to educate yourself. I like to think it would be worth it.
The heart of the site is in the Introduction:
"We focus on the criminal justice system because the criminal justice system is the only institution in our society that's vested with the powers and authority to intervene and stop the violence, to carry out a criminal investigation, to protect the victim, to put the perpetrator under control, and to prosecute and provide justice. At the same time that the criminal justice system is vested with these exclusive powers, too many criminal justice officials remain deeply resistant to implementing these powers on behalf of women. Despite advances, victims of rape, domestic violence, and child abuse all too frequently continue to encounter denials of their rights to equal protection and equal justice in the criminal justice system.
Officer discrimination against and mistreatment of victims, failures to write reports, half hearted investigations, failure to collect evidence, prosecutorial refusals to file charges despite sufficient evidence, give-away plea bargains, slap-on-the wrist sentencing, and overall disregard continue despite well tailored laws and policies that provide officers with ample powers to intervene effectively. When your clients encounter these obstacles, your skillful advocacy is essential to making the system work for women."
Also, while you are reading through the site, make sure to check out the page on the Fourteenth Amendment (Yes, this is a US-centric site):
"The fourteenth amendment was ratified in 1868 soon after the emancipation of the slaves. With the dissolution of the legal bonds of slavery, southern whites resorted to widespread racist violence against blacks as a means of regaining control over the freed slaves. Southern law enforcement responded to this epidemic violence at best by folding their arms and looking the other way. It was this deliberate and systematic refusal by law enforcement to intervene in the racist violence that the 14th amendment was designed to remedy. And when the amendment was written, it was done so with the lofty, expanded ideal of guaranteeing all persons equal protection of the laws.
But there was a terrible deal cut by the northern politicians in hopes of appeasing southern politicians for whom the thought of black male equality was pill enough. Set into the 2nd article of the 14th amendment, penalties were laid out to any state that denied these protections to their "MALE" citizens. Women fought fiercely to defeat this devious trick, and lost. It was the first time a distinction on the basis of sex appeared in the constitution, and women today are not out from under it yet."
And now, the regular links. Disclaimers:
1. Trigger Warning! Links deal with rape. Click with care.
2. I don't always agree with everything in the links.
3. If there are comments, give them a read-through.
Rape culture:
Feministe's The Roman Polanski Humanitarian Award: Ilya Trushevsky & other recipients - Relevant Source
"Just as our headline states, the fall-out from the Trushevsky case has been epic. This is because Nikolai Nikifirov, a poet who was staying over at Ilya's place, claims to have heard Ilya and an as-of-yet-unnamed friend of his assaulting the girl in the next room, and posted an account of what he says went down on LiveJournal. Most of it is so graphic that we couldn't print the details.
Ilya initially retaliated with an LJ post that was more graphic - and more horrifying - because he laughed about the entire thing, made fun of the victim's injuries (which, RIA Novosti reported, were extensive), gloated about how everyone down at the prosecutor's office just thought the entire thing was hilarious, and that he will get off scot-free. He has since changed his tune somewhat - now he has tender concern for this girl, who was clearly "influenced" to press charges - though there are screencaps of his supporters threatening people who have written about the situation. "
Alas' Right-Wing Blogger Says Feminist Should Be "Fixed" By Being Raped
"And it's worth noting that there's nothing unusual about James' and Heine's remarks. It's not uncommon for female bloggers, especially feminist bloggers, to have to deal with such oh-so-hilarious rape threat jokes. The purpose of these "jokes" is to remind uppity women (especially poor women and women of color) of their place. (The pathetic nature of men who feel driven to put uppity women in their place is, I trust, obvious.)"
The American Prospect's Willful Ignorance
"The lack of public, comprehensive, and complex sex education in this country contributes to this toxic sexual culture on most college campuses. The abstinence-only sex education that most young men and women receive does not teach them how to articulate their own sexual needs and respect those articulated by their partners. Teens who are merely told "Just don't do it" are lacking more than an anatomy lesson or information on contraceptive choices. They are also missing out on essential communication skills and life-saving knowledge about sex and power. Which is bad news for teenagers in our paradoxically hyper-sexual and hyper-conservative contemporary America who are in desperate need of wise mentorship."
Trans issues:
The Curvature's 59% of Transgender Inmates Report Sexual Assault While In Prison - Relevant Source
"There are a couple major reasons for the astounding and devastating figures. The first is simple transphobia, and thus the already greater likelihood of rape against transgender people. The second is a really big, and vitally important one - the fact that transgender inmates are routinely misgendered and put in the incorrect prisons. This means that trans women are placed in men's prisons, and vice versa. For women especially, this means rape at the hands of her male fellow inmates:"
Polanski:
kerrikins' Roman Polanski wants clemency - Relevant Source
"Some people have said that since the victim doesn't want to pursue this, the police shouldn't. Others have said that he's old, so the police shouldn't pursue this. Personally, I think that's a load of garbage. Setting aside the issue of whether or not the police are obligated to follow through on prosecution - and I believe that in certain cases, they are obligated - there are enough men walking around out there thinking that women's bodies are theirs to use and abuse without Polanski being in the media as getting away with it."
I don't even know how to categorize this:
The Guardian's Modern chastity belts won't stop rape
"Advocating placing a foreign object inside your body as a matter of course places the prevention of rape, once again, squarely with women. Tips on walking home at night are circulated among female friends and colleagues with the same tired routine as the latest YouTube meme. Women are berated for wearing revealing clothes and blamed for their attacks, whether for getting into an unlicensed cab or for flirting. The responsibility for stopping rape is aimed singularly at women. With all the effort exerted instructing women on how not to get raped, shouldn't an equal amount of ardour be directed at educating men to, well, not rape?"
The Problem:
"Men do not cry rape whenever we wake up and wonder what the hell we were up to last night. For some reason, some segments of society want women to do so. Ms Macdonald rails against these segments. QED.
Why complicate matters further? I can definitely agree that college or uni students are young, beered-up and stupid creatures. I know, and God knows, I was. I'm still a virgin, though - kept myself in my pants, no matter how beered-up I was. I don't think it's wrong or hypocritical of me to demand young women to do the same and save all of us some trouble." - (link)
"The concept of rape culture is new to me. Kobe Bryant was accused of rape by a women that would not testify against him in court. Ben has been accused of rape by a woman a year after the alleged rape, she is not supporting a crimnal charge, and she is partially blaming her employers.
I do not believe her claim because she has not done what crime victims do. I am not a participant in rape culture. Her rape story at this time is not credible, based on the facts at hand." - (link)
"I just have one question… Where was the girl´s mother?
What sane woman would let her 13 yr. old daughter spend an evening with an older man in the Hollywood hills or anywhere for that matter.
Seems the poor child was being offered in exchange for money and fame." - (link)