Sunday rape linkspam
Yep. I actually have links this week. :)
Also, can we put a moratorium on detective shows using the threat of prison rape to intimidate suspects? In a funny way? Why is prison rape seen as so funny to us, as a society? It's not. It shouldn't be. And a protagonist threatening a suspect with rape should be a lot darker than it's often portrayed. *looks in Castle's general direction*
Disclaimers!
1. Trigger Warning! Links deal with rape; click with care.
2. I don't always agree with everything contained in the links.
3. Sometimes there will be comments on the linked articles. Give them a read-through if you have the chance.
Assange:
Kate Harding's Some Shit I’m Sick of Hearing Regarding Rape and Assange - 12/2010
"But, but, but… broken condom! This would be a big deal, too, actually! No, not the broken condom itself, but the refusal to stop putting your penis inside someone who’s told you to stop.
Consenting to sex with a condom and consenting to sex without are two entirely different things, as it turns out. A little vocabulary lesson: It’s not rape because you weren’t attracted to the guy or didn’t feel like fucking at all that night or were saving yourself for marriage. It’s rape because at some point, a rapist completely ignored your lack of consent. And yes, it is actually possible to both consent to sex and not consent to sex in the same night, with the same person! For any number of reasons, including that you are willing to have sex with a condom, but not willing to have sex that carries a far greater risk of your becoming pregnant and/or contracting an STI. Oddly enough, those risks can have a serious impact on one’s willingness to fuck! Like, enough to make a hypothetical woman say, “Stop!” when she becomes aware that a condom has broken.
And what do we call “continuing to put your penis inside a woman who’s told you to stop,” boys and girls?
Hint: The answer is not “the best known cure for blue balls.“"
Millicent and Carla Fran's How #MooreandMe Worked - 12/2010
"Despite the derision that Twitter-based campaigns tend to attract (chiefly as a lazy and ineffective form of activism), #MooreandMe has been a remarkably effective and steadfast protest (thanks largely to the dogged persistence of Sady Doyle and Kate Harding, whose prolific Twitterfeeds will quickly dispense with any and all accusations of laziness). It’s been an astoundingly efficient recruitment tool, it has raised funds, it has been covered everywhere from Salon to Mediaite to The Atlantic, and it has succeeded (as of this writing) in getting at least partial acknowledgment from Keith Olbermann.
Why?
Well, Twitter is, quite possibly, the best available medium for this particular kind of protest. The format has a number of features that level a playing field that tends to push women into the outfield."
The legal system:
NY Times' Panel Seeks More Police Training on Sex Crimes - 6/2010
"At the same time, there has been a sharp increase in the rate at which complaints of forcible rape have been dismissed by the police as false or lacking enough evidence to take to court.
“This was just an accumulation of stories: five boroughs, over and over again,” said Harriet Lessel, executive director of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, an advocacy group for rape crisis programs. “It was just sort of like, ‘Wow, something different is going on here.’ In terms of not taking reports, I’d have to say that this seems like the highest number that I’ve ever heard.”
One common theme among women who have come forward, according to counselors and victims interviewed by The New York Times, is that too many inquiries are being handled by inexperienced patrol officers, not detectives from the Special Victims Division, who have had specialized training in dealing with sex crime cases. "
Rape culture:
The Funny Feminist's No Means No, Mr. Collins - 1/2011
"In other words? Elizabeth tells Mr. Collins “no,” and he doesn’t think she means it. He thinks she’s playing hard to get, because that’s something all women do - at least, all properly modest women, or good girls, play hard to get. When she refuses him again, and tells them that she finds his proposal impossible to accept, he merely comments on how charming she is, but not before a) reminding her that he’s a catch with a decent income, and b) warning her that she might not receive any other marriage proposals. Eventually, Elizabeth has to leave to appeal to her father, because she knows the only way Mr. Collins will understand that “no means no” is if he hears it from a man."
The Daily Tar Heel's Hockey team's cube sparks discussion about 'rape culture'Heel - 11/2010
"Thursday, the group took to the cubes, painting the adjoining side. With giant orange arrows, they directed attention to “sexism around the corner” and declared that “this is what rape culture looks like.”
Kyle Salvadore learned from a friend what the feminist group was painting. Salvadore, a junior and an ice hockey team vice president, rushed to the Pit to see it for himself.
Within minutes, he painted over the busty woman and sent an e-mail apologizing to leaders of Feminist Students United."
Shakesville's Gray Rape is Bullshit, and Saying You Were Raped is Brave - 8/2007
"There's no such thing as gray rape. Period.
1. Waking up "to find him sticking it in" after having said no "a bunch of times" is rape. It is not "fuck[ing] that guy you didn't really want to fuck." It is not "gray rape." It is rape, which is defined by a lack of consent.
2. It doesn't matter if the situation wherein a dude "sticks it in" without consent is "nonviolent" and/or "collegiate." Rape is not determined by the existence of force, but the nonexistence of consent."
Zimbabwe:
BBC News' Eyewitness: Raped for opposing Mugabe - 6/2008
"Twenty three-year-old Zimbabwean Maidei [not her real name] struggled to talk about her ordeal at the hands of Zimbabwe's ruling party youths who were keeping her captive."
Kenya:
Salon's Rape on the rise in Kenya - 6/2008
"Ongoing violence in Kenya, sparked by last month's disputed elections, includes a "spiraling number of sexual attacks," the BBC and Reuters report.
"Since the beginning of [January], we have had 140 cases of rape and defilement," said Rahab Ngugi, patient services manager at the Nairobi Women's Hospital, a leading rape treatment center. (Defilement!) "We were used to seeing an average of about four cases a day. Now there is an average of between eight and 10." Half are girls under 18.
And those are just the people who show up for treatment (which includes drugs that could help prevent HIV transmission). "If there is a woman who probably saw her relatives killed, she might push her own issues of violence to the periphery," said Hadley Muchela, a rape counselor in Nairobi. "There will be worries about property and the death of children. Their immediate needs are temporary shelter, safety and food." "
The Problem:
"Be realistic, the stipper/escort lacks character. Her profession is notorious for selling their bodies. She has a criminal history of grand theft auto and violence. She's an unwed mother of 2 children. As to the students credibility. They are students at one of the most prestigious colleges in America. There's too much to lose if found to have committed a serious crime. Before this incident, a few have had minor citations for drinking. This is expected behavior from most college students. Notice how I made no mention of anyone's color in my descriptions of their character. Why is it surprising that she would file a false claim rape? She probably sells her body and using it in this fashion is not uncommon. Simply put, this case reeks of a stripper trying to get even for a dispute over getting paid. In a case of she said he said, when you have no other evidence of a crime, all you have left is character. Sans evidence, the prosecutor has a huge mountain to climb to prove a sexual assualt occured beyond a reasonable doubt. " - (link)
"How many times does it have to be pointed out that these women failed to complain until they learned he had slept with both of them? And if he and Woman B had consensual sex with a condom in the evening, and consensual sex without a condom in the morning, it was still consensual sex. To take up the cause of these women, if the circumstances outlined are accurate, is to dilute the cause of sexual assault advocacy everywhere. Give me a break. This gives nothing but credibility to the whole "woman scorned" cliche. I'm not saying he's not a bastard, but to call this sexual assault of any degree is insulting to true victims everywhere." - (link)
Also, can we put a moratorium on detective shows using the threat of prison rape to intimidate suspects? In a funny way? Why is prison rape seen as so funny to us, as a society? It's not. It shouldn't be. And a protagonist threatening a suspect with rape should be a lot darker than it's often portrayed. *looks in Castle's general direction*
Disclaimers!
1. Trigger Warning! Links deal with rape; click with care.
2. I don't always agree with everything contained in the links.
3. Sometimes there will be comments on the linked articles. Give them a read-through if you have the chance.
Assange:
Kate Harding's Some Shit I’m Sick of Hearing Regarding Rape and Assange - 12/2010
"But, but, but… broken condom! This would be a big deal, too, actually! No, not the broken condom itself, but the refusal to stop putting your penis inside someone who’s told you to stop.
Consenting to sex with a condom and consenting to sex without are two entirely different things, as it turns out. A little vocabulary lesson: It’s not rape because you weren’t attracted to the guy or didn’t feel like fucking at all that night or were saving yourself for marriage. It’s rape because at some point, a rapist completely ignored your lack of consent. And yes, it is actually possible to both consent to sex and not consent to sex in the same night, with the same person! For any number of reasons, including that you are willing to have sex with a condom, but not willing to have sex that carries a far greater risk of your becoming pregnant and/or contracting an STI. Oddly enough, those risks can have a serious impact on one’s willingness to fuck! Like, enough to make a hypothetical woman say, “Stop!” when she becomes aware that a condom has broken.
And what do we call “continuing to put your penis inside a woman who’s told you to stop,” boys and girls?
Hint: The answer is not “the best known cure for blue balls.“"
Millicent and Carla Fran's How #MooreandMe Worked - 12/2010
"Despite the derision that Twitter-based campaigns tend to attract (chiefly as a lazy and ineffective form of activism), #MooreandMe has been a remarkably effective and steadfast protest (thanks largely to the dogged persistence of Sady Doyle and Kate Harding, whose prolific Twitterfeeds will quickly dispense with any and all accusations of laziness). It’s been an astoundingly efficient recruitment tool, it has raised funds, it has been covered everywhere from Salon to Mediaite to The Atlantic, and it has succeeded (as of this writing) in getting at least partial acknowledgment from Keith Olbermann.
Why?
Well, Twitter is, quite possibly, the best available medium for this particular kind of protest. The format has a number of features that level a playing field that tends to push women into the outfield."
The legal system:
NY Times' Panel Seeks More Police Training on Sex Crimes - 6/2010
"At the same time, there has been a sharp increase in the rate at which complaints of forcible rape have been dismissed by the police as false or lacking enough evidence to take to court.
“This was just an accumulation of stories: five boroughs, over and over again,” said Harriet Lessel, executive director of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, an advocacy group for rape crisis programs. “It was just sort of like, ‘Wow, something different is going on here.’ In terms of not taking reports, I’d have to say that this seems like the highest number that I’ve ever heard.”
One common theme among women who have come forward, according to counselors and victims interviewed by The New York Times, is that too many inquiries are being handled by inexperienced patrol officers, not detectives from the Special Victims Division, who have had specialized training in dealing with sex crime cases. "
Rape culture:
The Funny Feminist's No Means No, Mr. Collins - 1/2011
"In other words? Elizabeth tells Mr. Collins “no,” and he doesn’t think she means it. He thinks she’s playing hard to get, because that’s something all women do - at least, all properly modest women, or good girls, play hard to get. When she refuses him again, and tells them that she finds his proposal impossible to accept, he merely comments on how charming she is, but not before a) reminding her that he’s a catch with a decent income, and b) warning her that she might not receive any other marriage proposals. Eventually, Elizabeth has to leave to appeal to her father, because she knows the only way Mr. Collins will understand that “no means no” is if he hears it from a man."
The Daily Tar Heel's Hockey team's cube sparks discussion about 'rape culture'Heel - 11/2010
"Thursday, the group took to the cubes, painting the adjoining side. With giant orange arrows, they directed attention to “sexism around the corner” and declared that “this is what rape culture looks like.”
Kyle Salvadore learned from a friend what the feminist group was painting. Salvadore, a junior and an ice hockey team vice president, rushed to the Pit to see it for himself.
Within minutes, he painted over the busty woman and sent an e-mail apologizing to leaders of Feminist Students United."
Shakesville's Gray Rape is Bullshit, and Saying You Were Raped is Brave - 8/2007
"There's no such thing as gray rape. Period.
1. Waking up "to find him sticking it in" after having said no "a bunch of times" is rape. It is not "fuck[ing] that guy you didn't really want to fuck." It is not "gray rape." It is rape, which is defined by a lack of consent.
2. It doesn't matter if the situation wherein a dude "sticks it in" without consent is "nonviolent" and/or "collegiate." Rape is not determined by the existence of force, but the nonexistence of consent."
Zimbabwe:
BBC News' Eyewitness: Raped for opposing Mugabe - 6/2008
"Twenty three-year-old Zimbabwean Maidei [not her real name] struggled to talk about her ordeal at the hands of Zimbabwe's ruling party youths who were keeping her captive."
Kenya:
Salon's Rape on the rise in Kenya - 6/2008
"Ongoing violence in Kenya, sparked by last month's disputed elections, includes a "spiraling number of sexual attacks," the BBC and Reuters report.
"Since the beginning of [January], we have had 140 cases of rape and defilement," said Rahab Ngugi, patient services manager at the Nairobi Women's Hospital, a leading rape treatment center. (Defilement!) "We were used to seeing an average of about four cases a day. Now there is an average of between eight and 10." Half are girls under 18.
And those are just the people who show up for treatment (which includes drugs that could help prevent HIV transmission). "If there is a woman who probably saw her relatives killed, she might push her own issues of violence to the periphery," said Hadley Muchela, a rape counselor in Nairobi. "There will be worries about property and the death of children. Their immediate needs are temporary shelter, safety and food." "
The Problem:
"Be realistic, the stipper/escort lacks character. Her profession is notorious for selling their bodies. She has a criminal history of grand theft auto and violence. She's an unwed mother of 2 children. As to the students credibility. They are students at one of the most prestigious colleges in America. There's too much to lose if found to have committed a serious crime. Before this incident, a few have had minor citations for drinking. This is expected behavior from most college students. Notice how I made no mention of anyone's color in my descriptions of their character. Why is it surprising that she would file a false claim rape? She probably sells her body and using it in this fashion is not uncommon. Simply put, this case reeks of a stripper trying to get even for a dispute over getting paid. In a case of she said he said, when you have no other evidence of a crime, all you have left is character. Sans evidence, the prosecutor has a huge mountain to climb to prove a sexual assualt occured beyond a reasonable doubt. " - (link)
"How many times does it have to be pointed out that these women failed to complain until they learned he had slept with both of them? And if he and Woman B had consensual sex with a condom in the evening, and consensual sex without a condom in the morning, it was still consensual sex. To take up the cause of these women, if the circumstances outlined are accurate, is to dilute the cause of sexual assault advocacy everywhere. Give me a break. This gives nothing but credibility to the whole "woman scorned" cliche. I'm not saying he's not a bastard, but to call this sexual assault of any degree is insulting to true victims everywhere." - (link)