One of the things I find most disturbing about the Steubenville rape

[cali]

is that I don't believe for a nanosecond that it's a unique crime. My guess, and yes, it's only a guess, is that this kind of vile sex crime occurs with alarming frequency. And what does that say about our culture?

There was something almost casual about this crime and about the group acceptance of it, both during the actual night of the crime and subsequently. There was a strong element of blame for the victim that demonstrates the contempt directed toward girls by the high school football culture.

There's a clear danger in wrapping up so much of a town's identity with a high school game. Adults, perhaps even more than the kids, become so invested in football that they are willing and even eager to excuse the players of just about anything and that most certainly gives license to those players and those who are in their orbit.

We need to address Steubenville not just as a discrete event but as a leading indicator of a dangerous culture.

[PeaceNikki]

1. I totally agree. This went through my mind as well.

I posted this the other day before I'd even heard of this terrible case: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022091142

[Richardo]

5. ...and Eric Cantor and the House GOP see no reason to authorize VAWA.

Assholes every one.

[PeaceNikki]

11. natch. gays and illegals are in it.

Assholes.

[dballance]

2. Well Put. Seems to be a theme doesn't it? Like with Penn State

We raise up sports teams to be idols in many, many places. The players become "gods" who can do no wrong. But they do wrong and their coaches hide it or participate. In the case of Penn State the coaches were the problem. This does seem to be more prevalent in football more than any other sport. Football is the most war-like sport we have in the US. Players knocking one another over on the field of battle going after the football. Even hockey with players "checking" one another against the wall doesn't seem to rise to the same level of violence as football.

[Doc Holliday]

3. It's our own fault, you know.

But we can fix it. Just put the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments back into our public schools.

Add a heaping slug of prayer, and presto! All better.

[OldDem2012]

8. Don't forget to ban books like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". nt

[Android3.14]

4. Proof?

What exactly is "alarming frequency"? I'm alarmed that it happened once.
I just have an issue when folks make extreme claims and then protect themselves with the phrase, "it's only a guess".
Just sayin'.
We should pragmatically ask the question, "How often does this happen?", investigate to answer the question, and then decide whether we should tear our shirts over the awfulness of American culture.
Here's a good start
O'Sullivan, C. "Acquaintance Gang Rape on Campus." In A. Parrot and L. Bechhofer (eds.) Acquantaince Rape: The Hidden Crime. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1991.

[cali]

7. well

it's called an educated guess. It's rooted in the scores of sex crimes on the part of high school and college athletes that have been reported over the last decade or so. And sorry, but a book on acquaintance gang rape that's over 20 years old is hardly the most relevant document. You do realize that there have been significant changes- think social media- over the that period of time?

And anyone who doesn't recognize the "awfulness" of some aspects of American culture is not a thinking being. And I certainly made it clear that I was addressing part of the culture, not all of it.

Your post is a piss poor refutation, honey.

[OldDem2012]

12. "Your post is a piss poor refutation, honey"?? Unnecessary response, IMHO. nt.

[cali]

14. yeah? well maybe I found the post I responded too offensive.

[Iggo]

22. Lol...jeez.

[marble falls]

25. Totaly dismissive and out of proportion. Rude, offensive and with no reason.

[alcibiades_mystery]

40. The poster suggested that your initial claim should be substantiated

and pointed you toward a relevant article by experts who have studied the phenomenon (loosely speaking). What, exactly, was so offensive about it that called for your response?

Listen, I don't doubt this happens a lot, and certainly a lot more than even official tabulations would suggest. Most serious studies of any sexual assault phenomena build non-reporting into their models, however.

[PeaceNikki]

9. that is a 22 year old book?

[PeaceNikki]

17. Here you go...

http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/NISVS_Report2010-a.pdf

Sexual Violence by Any
Perpetrator
• Nearly 1 in 5 women (18.3%) and
1 in 71 men (1.4%) in the United
States have been raped at some
time in their lives, including
completed forced penetration,
attempted forced penetration,
or alcohol/drug facilitated
completed penetration.
• More than half (51.1%) of female
victims of rape reported being
raped by an intimate partner
and 40.8% by an acquaintance;
for male victims, more than
half (52.4%) reported being
raped by an acquaintance
and 15.1% by a stranger.
• Approximately 1 in 21 men
(4.8%) reported that they were
made to penetrate someone else
during their lifetime; most men
who were made to penetrate
someone else reported that
the perpetrator was either an
intimate partner (44.8%) or an
acquaintance (44.7%).
• An estimated 13% of
women and 6% of men have
experienced sexual coercion
in their lifetime (i.e., unwanted
sexual penetration after being
pressured in a nonphysical
way); and 27.2% of women and
11.7% of men have experienced
unwanted sexual contact.
• Most female victims of
completed rape (79.6%)
experienced their first rape
before the age of 25; 42.2%
experienced their first completed
rape before the age of 18 years.
• More than one-quarter of male
victims of completed rape
(27.8%) experienced their first
rape when they were 10 years of
age or younger.

[Heidi]

42. Any frequency of rape is alarming frequency.

Next question?

[redgreenandblue]

6. rape culture = jock/frat-boy culture

yes, shut down the system that gives a sense of entitlement to athletes.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

21. shut it down?

[Iggo]

24. Yep, nobody was ever raped before there was football.

[EOTE]

10. Yes, it DOES occur with alarming frequency.

However, the reason that Steubenville stands out is because there was a coverup and that coverup was subsequently exposed. Far more of these coverups are never exposed. Sports culture does an incredible amount of damage, as you say, it needs to be addressed.

[Harriety]

13. ....and it's been happening for a long time. Much too long.

[madrchsod]

15. throw this into the mix...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/09/coach-on-leave-in-soccer-team-sexual-hazing-investigation.html

http://www.suntimes.com/16502790-761/lawsuit-sexual-assaults-part-of-maine-west-soccer-team-hazing-ritual.html

google search has many other examples of high school sexual assaults by teachers and students

[cate94]

16. Something similar happened

right around the corner from us.

The girl went willingly to a party with three boys. She drank. No one knows if she was drugged but I suspect she must have been. She awoke the next morning with the words "slut" and "whore" written in black marker on her body. It was filmed. Still the boys were found "not guilty".

Because you know if you drink and you are a girl, you asked for it. And of course you want people to film it and write nasty words on your body.

One of the boys even ran away to another country for a while, but still found "not guilty" WTF?

[whathehell]

26. The coup de gras: Rape her, "enjoy" her, than denigrate her as a "whore" and "slut".

A true Soul Killer, that Double Standard, something even Thomas Paine commented on.



"Pity the Tender Sex for they must deal with Men who are at once,

their Seducers and their Judges". Thomas Paine.

[Brickbat]

18. When we hear the phrase "boys will be boys," it's important to think of the smirking, drunk young

men on the video that Anonymous released. That's what "boys will be boys" looks like. It's bigger than football or any sport; it's one of the most insidious weaknesses of our culture.

[LiberalLoner]

28. +1

[Jamastiene]

35. ^^^^THIS

I wish this post was an OP so I could Rec it. I could not agree more.

[djean111]

19. I agree.

It seems that the attempted coverup was business as usual, the rape was business as usual, there was, as you say, a frightening casualness and well-oiled coverup procedure in place for the whole thing.
And this was planned carefully over a period of time - get her trust, meet with her, drug her, carry her to different parties. This was no spontaneous act, which is heinous in itself. They will do it again, if they can, and I would bet they have provided a blueprint for others, at this point.

And now I am thinking about the girl who got a restraining order against her parents because they were stalking her at college, afraid harm would come to her.
What is the middle ground?

The crimes at Penn State only came to light because ONE PERSON out of how many, over how many years, refused to play the coverup game, and it seems it might reach as high as the governor, in terms of those believing that college sports is a kingdom unto itself, with almost droit du seigneur-like privileges.
I wish I felt something would be done about it, but I think, like automatic weapons, there will be a lot of lip service and people will just learn to cover up better.

Is the violence against women act completely dead in Congress?

[historylovr]

20. My guess is you are right.

It is very alarming. And as sickening as this whole incident is, it probably happens a lot more, and what we hear about is only a small slice of it.

[limpyhobbler]

27. k/r

I agree 100%.

Also there are some disturbing similarities between this case and the Penn State/Sandusky case. People covering up crimes to protect football. As a society and culture we ought to get our priorities straight.

[rightsideout]

29. So, to the town of Steubenville this was a "legitimate" rape

Or at least they were planning to sweep it under the rug.

If this had been a different crime, say vandalism, the town would have reacted the same, covered for the jocks.

I think it's like our gun culture. Pretty much accept it as the way things are. Boys will be boys whether they vandalize, rape or shoot someone. And it's usually the victim that gets dragged through the mud while the star jocks are protected and the underlying reasons are ignored because people don't want to confront or acknowledge the real problem.

[Odin2005]

30. It says that football players are worshipped like GODS...

...and are allowed to get away with ANYTHING.

[seabeyond]

32. kobi bryant. the rapist for the steelers. they are held up as gods. rapists.... nt

[MKITEM]

33. I think you have a case where many parents are complicit

Go to any high school and you'll hear tales about the student with the parents who will buy beer and kegs for student parties.

[revolution breeze]

36. My oldest daughters are now 23 and 21

but every high school party they went to always seemed to have a keg.

[TwilightGardener]

39. I agree--no parental oversight, but alcohol often provided. Why were

there photos of two teenage boys carrying an unconscious girl around in SOME PARENT'S HOUSE?? Taking her to to several houses? This didn't happen in an off-campus college apartment. Were there NO adults present ANYWHERE?

[Jamastiene]

34. K&R

[yurbud]

37. yep. If OJ Simpson had still been playing pro ball when he was on trial...

he would have been acquitted by a jury of all white males.

[toby jo]

38. Local insights

I moved to this county about 5 years ago, it's a kicker:
- They say it has more unsolved murders than any county in Ohio.
- Nobody will run against the sheriff, Fred Abdulla. The feds tried to get him about 10 years ago on a
corruption charge, he snaked away.
- I haven't met anyone who has a good thing to say about him, always a tale on corruption.
- High school football on TV every Friday night, and again on Saturday or Sunday (Repeats!)
- The local college, Franciscan University, a Catholic school, has alot of influence. They were on record,
quite publiclly, during the election season as being absolutely against letting woman have contraception.
Quite silent on this issue - misogynist bastards.
- Here's my quick story - a small claims case that was all but dismissed against neighboring poacher who
still won't leave my animals alone , judge didn't look at film, or care that a subpoenaed neighbor didn't
show, they were related. A fellow I dated briefly knocked me clean cold out, stitches in my face, stole
my horse and her papers, no charges. There were 5 felonies charges all overlooked. I got the horse
back, back leg destroyed, guy is currently in prison in northern Ohio, where he was charged by their
folks for another domestic violence. Judge would not even give me a restraining order.
- The best, this is going over to anonymous: a sheriff dept employee told me once that the only people that
get protection in Steubenville are those that are in law enforcement, are related or are friends of law en
forcement. He said that the regional FBI agent for the area had a son who killed a drug dealer. The sheriffs
'protected' him. He said that is why nobody can get a federal investigation in Jefferson county. Everytime
someone brings evidence of wrongdoing, the fed will investigate and say nothing happened, eveything's cool.
The guy said Abdulla 'destroyed my life'. He left town.

I thought this area would be a great refuge from the city and a place to farm, but it is a classic good ole boy network with enough crime and corruption to make anyone back off. I've heard, through a military connection, that this time the feds are gonna get em. That even the ATF may get involved because there was an illegal gun that went off somewhere and there is some tax evasion charge they are looking at. Like Capone, he said, that was all they could find to get him on, so that's where they went. We'll see. My money's on anonymous.

[whathehell]

43. Wow....Thanks for your information...Sounds bad, but certainly ripe for investigation!.

I'm intrigued...What is this town like?...Is it rural?...Isolated or close at least

a medium sized city?

[redqueen]

41. No, this is a LAGGING indicator.

People have been blaming women for being raped- saying they brought it on themselves, that they're lying, etc- for millennia.

It's time to stop accepting those narratives, no matter who says it.

[No Compromise]

44. just happened in an alaskan town too, several people supported the act, posted the video

Football players Caught on Video Raping a Drunken Teenage Boy with a Beer Bottle
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022132583#post17