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eridani

(51,907 posts)
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 03:51 AM Aug 2014

We Have More Than Just a Campus Rape Problem. There Is Invisible Rape All Over

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/273-40/25449-we-have-more-than-just-a-campus-rape-problem-there-is-invisible-rape-all-over

But I hope that, as we shake our heads in shame and frustration over student assaults, we don’t forget the scourge of rape that has infiltrated every corner of our country – not just the places that house college campuses.

In Rochester, New York, a 21-year-old man is facing state and federal charges for allegedly raping a 14-year-old girl and then posting a video of the attack to Facebook. The teeanger was unconcious while one man allegedly raped her and another filmed.

A Connecticut man has been arraigned after authorities say he kidnapped, raped and strangled the 19-year-old woman he was dating. A 28-year-old teacher in Oklahoma has been charged with raping her 15-year-old student. A man in Kentucky has been indicted on charges that he raped a child under 12 years old.

The Waupaca County police in Wisconsin are looking for a man they say tried to rape a teenager who accepted a ride home, and a wrestling coach in Eden, New York pleaded guilty to raping two teen girls at the school where he worked.

Oh, and, for a bit of context: All of this has happened in the last 48 hours.

These are just the stories we know about – cases where victims have come forward and the local media is paying attention. But such cases represent just a small percentage of the attacks that happen every day – every two minutes, in fact – across the United States. These largely invisible sexual assaults – the ones we never hear about – are the ones where the most vulnerable are victims: homeless women, prisoners, the mentally ill, the disabled, children, sex workers and those addicted to drugs and alcohol. This is true not just in the US, but globally – where the most disadvantaged are not only the most likely to be attacked, but the least likely to be helped.
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intaglio

(8,170 posts)
2. Just goes to show there is no overall culture of rape
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 06:11 AM
Aug 2014


It's almost like the rapists did not expect any real punishment in the unlikely event they were caught ...

theHandpuppet

(19,964 posts)
3. My question is...
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 08:38 AM
Aug 2014

Where is the outrage? We could shut this freaking country down if there was the national will to stop this shit.

redqueen

(115,096 posts)
4. And those are just a FEW of the rapes and attempted rapes.
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 10:16 AM
Aug 2014

And that represents just a VERY TINY FRACTION of the beatings.

And let's not even talk about the smaller number of women - those who were murdered by their partners or ex partners.


Where is the outrage, indeed.

MadrasT

(7,237 posts)
5. I am becoming more and more convinced that people aren't outraged because they think it is "normal".
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 10:45 AM
Aug 2014

As in: "Just biology, natural behavior for men, y'know?"



It is twisted and sick and very disheartening to realize that many of us are just viewed as natural prey.

redqueen

(115,096 posts)
10. You wouldn't believe how often that reason is cited by girls in school not reporting sexual assault
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 02:48 PM
Aug 2014

and harassment.

It's just how boys are.

Girls just have to accept it and deal with it.

GeoWilliam750

(2,519 posts)
12. Hmmmm.....
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 04:45 PM
Aug 2014

It's just how boys are.

Girls just have to accept it and deal with it.


It is how boys are taught to be. (Or allowed to be)

It is how girls are taught to accept it and deal with it.


I think that my daughter knows not to accept it. Or at least, I hope so.

However, the really odd thing is how many mothers teach their daughters to just endure and accept it because it is all that the mothers have ever known, or been allowed to know.

Ultimately, our society may prosper or fail by how well we develop educated, thinking women - by definition true, I know; I often think that the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun (or a bad guy with a congress, for that matter), is a girl with a book.

 

Triana

(22,666 posts)
6. Part of the issue: Rape and domestic violence mostly (not all but mostly) happens to women
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 11:03 AM
Aug 2014

Women are largely not even considered human. Anywhere. Including in the United States. Female anatomy trumps female humanity. Almost everywhere. Women are incubators. Breeding cattle whose reproductive capacity is to be controlled by someone else. Because: Gawd. Thus, the epidemic of sexual and physical violence and abuse is ignored - invisible. Because women and girls are just not considered human - or are considered somehow lesser humans. Abuse of farm and other animals is largely invisible too (however I think there's probably more outrage about that than about the abuse of women). That's no coincidence. Women are cattle. Property. So are farm animals.

I'm not saying this is the entire issue. But it's a good chunk of it. I know men/boys are victims of violence and rape too - and that there are other factors in play. But this is, IMO one of them.

redqueen

(115,096 posts)
7. Our enforced role as members of the sex class vastly overshadows our role as incubators/cattle.
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 11:11 AM
Aug 2014

At one point in history, women and children were kidnapped with the primary goal of producing offspring, but no more.

Now that there are so many men with disposable cash, renting them out as prostitutes is an incredibly profitable industry. There are the constant reminders that a girl's / woman's worth is primarily in her appearance - her sexual desirability.

The problems caused by objectification and pornification are ubiquitous but most on the left treat them like a big joke.

 

Triana

(22,666 posts)
8. "..constant reminders that a girl's / woman's worth is primarily in her..sexual desirability"
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 11:30 AM
Aug 2014

Bingo. Less than human: decoration. Object of sexual gratification for others but with no human qualities or agency of their own.

I can't disagree w/ your assertion. It's a human rights issue. But since women aren't considered human....it's not an issue. Zero outrage.

Tuesday Afternoon

(56,912 posts)
9. Let this sink in, People ---
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 02:25 PM
Aug 2014

It's a human rights issue. But since women aren't considered human....it's not an issue.

It's a human rights issue. But since women aren't considered human....it's not an issue.

It's a human rights issue. But since women aren't considered human....it's not an issue.

It's a human rights issue. But since women aren't considered human....it's not an issue.

 

Triana

(22,666 posts)
11. Cases in point....
Sat Aug 23, 2014, 04:19 PM
Aug 2014
WARNING - the following post/link could be a trigger for some - if sensitive please do not read. But the stories there perfectly illustrate how women and girls are not even considered human - just objects of sexual gratification....(and reproduction)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125549510
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