Schoolgirl Gang-Raped, Community Blames Victim
Got this from marikunin.
An 11 year-olg girl was gang raped in Texas around Thanksgiving this year. Police have naturally been investigating this horrid crime. As if the crime itself wasn't bad enough, many in the local community are blaming the victim and giving sympathy to the suspects:
The video led the police to an abandoned trailer, more evidence and, eventually, to a roundup over the last month of 18 young men and teenage boys on charges of participating in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl in the abandoned trailer home, the authorities said.
Five suspects are students at Cleveland High School, including two members of the basketball team. Another is the 21-year-old son of a school board member. A few of the others have criminal records, from selling drugs to robbery and, in one case, manslaughter. The suspects range in age from middle schoolers to a 27-year-old.
The case has rocked this East Texas community to its core and left many residents in the working-class neighborhood where the attack took place with unanswered questions. Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their young men have been drawn into such an act?
“It’s just destroyed our community,” said Sheila Harrison, 48, a hospital worker who says she knows several of the defendants. “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.”
How could the young men have been drawn into such an act? As if a schoolgirl somehow hypnotized them into raping her. And these boys have to live with this the rest of their lives, eh? Well, what about the girl? And also, living with allegations of rape is what can happen to you if you rape someone. DUHHH!!!
Also, a lot of LJ users are pissed off at the NYT for reporting this aspect of the story. I personally think this side of the community stance is newsworthy. But if I were reporting the story, I would've gotten some talking heads to speak about the negative effects of victim blaming in rape cases.
You know what it is? The mothers of these boys are bad parents. These young men probably never had a a dad around either to set them straight. So the moms can't accept the fact that their precious little angels will probably go to prison and experience some gang rape of their own. This leads them to say something along the lines of, "she was asking for it with the way she was dressed." True, the victim's own mom should've been watching her more closely and not letting her run the streets or dress in a suggestive manner. I'm not going to excuse that. She sounds like a bad mom too.
But that doesn't change a very important fact: rape by definition is never "asked for". Another important fact? An 11 year-old is legally capable of giving consent even if she says "yes"...which I doubt is the case.
Somebody's going to prison over this. First, it'll be gang rapes in the shower. After the other inmates tire of that, some of these guys will get shanked in the stomach while the guard is either distracted or even winks and turns a blind eye. You see, even hardcore thugs and murderers have children of their own outside the joint. And it's well known what happens to child sex offenders in the American prison system.
An 11 year-olg girl was gang raped in Texas around Thanksgiving this year. Police have naturally been investigating this horrid crime. As if the crime itself wasn't bad enough, many in the local community are blaming the victim and giving sympathy to the suspects:
The video led the police to an abandoned trailer, more evidence and, eventually, to a roundup over the last month of 18 young men and teenage boys on charges of participating in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl in the abandoned trailer home, the authorities said.
Five suspects are students at Cleveland High School, including two members of the basketball team. Another is the 21-year-old son of a school board member. A few of the others have criminal records, from selling drugs to robbery and, in one case, manslaughter. The suspects range in age from middle schoolers to a 27-year-old.
The case has rocked this East Texas community to its core and left many residents in the working-class neighborhood where the attack took place with unanswered questions. Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their young men have been drawn into such an act?
“It’s just destroyed our community,” said Sheila Harrison, 48, a hospital worker who says she knows several of the defendants. “These boys have to live with this the rest of their lives.”
How could the young men have been drawn into such an act? As if a schoolgirl somehow hypnotized them into raping her. And these boys have to live with this the rest of their lives, eh? Well, what about the girl? And also, living with allegations of rape is what can happen to you if you rape someone. DUHHH!!!
Also, a lot of LJ users are pissed off at the NYT for reporting this aspect of the story. I personally think this side of the community stance is newsworthy. But if I were reporting the story, I would've gotten some talking heads to speak about the negative effects of victim blaming in rape cases.
You know what it is? The mothers of these boys are bad parents. These young men probably never had a a dad around either to set them straight. So the moms can't accept the fact that their precious little angels will probably go to prison and experience some gang rape of their own. This leads them to say something along the lines of, "she was asking for it with the way she was dressed." True, the victim's own mom should've been watching her more closely and not letting her run the streets or dress in a suggestive manner. I'm not going to excuse that. She sounds like a bad mom too.
But that doesn't change a very important fact: rape by definition is never "asked for". Another important fact? An 11 year-old is legally capable of giving consent even if she says "yes"...which I doubt is the case.
Somebody's going to prison over this. First, it'll be gang rapes in the shower. After the other inmates tire of that, some of these guys will get shanked in the stomach while the guard is either distracted or even winks and turns a blind eye. You see, even hardcore thugs and murderers have children of their own outside the joint. And it's well known what happens to child sex offenders in the American prison system.