The C is for Crank
Happy Day After International Women's Day: Rape Victim Blaming Edition
This is from an actual story in the New York Times,
about the gang-rape of an 11-year-old elementary school girl by a large group of boys and men ranging from middle-school-age to 27:
Well then! She must have been responsible for her brutal rape by 18 older boys and men! I mean, sluts wearing makeup are asking for it, amirite?
The article goes on to question where her mother---not her parents, but specifically her mother---was during the attack, and to ask (in the passive voice, as if to say that men who rape aren't actually committing an act of rape ) "how could [the community's] young men have been drawn into such an act?"
No mention, of course, about the fact that the girl who was victimized by "these boys" will have to live with something much worse for the rest of her life. Because let's face it, she's just an 11-year-old piece of trash, while some of the alleged rapists are basketball stars.
Keep in mind that 11-year-old girls cannot legally consent to sex in any state, and that the way a victim dresses, or the fact that she wears makeup does not in any way make her culpable for being the victim of a crime.
As Echidne notes , if the people writing about and investigating this horrendous crime were interested in finding causes, they would do better to ask the men who allegedly raped the young girl such question as: Why were they hanging out with her? Did they ask how old she was? Where were their fathers and mothers? Were they taught about the age of consent and what happens if you fail to obey it? And, were there warning signs that the accused boys and men might have been potential rapists?
UPDATE: Sign a petition asking the New York Times to apologize for its victim blaming here.
Residents in the neighborhood where the abandoned trailer stands — known as the Quarters — said the victim had been visiting various friends there for months. They said she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground, some said.
Well then! She must have been responsible for her brutal rape by 18 older boys and men! I mean, sluts wearing makeup are asking for it, amirite?
The article goes on to question where her mother---not her parents, but specifically her mother---was during the attack, and to ask (in the passive voice, as if to say that men who rape aren't actually committing an act of rape ) "how could [the community's] 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.”
No mention, of course, about the fact that the girl who was victimized by "these boys" will have to live with something much worse for the rest of her life. Because let's face it, she's just an 11-year-old piece of trash, while some of the alleged rapists are basketball stars.
Keep in mind that 11-year-old girls cannot legally consent to sex in any state, and that the way a victim dresses, or the fact that she wears makeup does not in any way make her culpable for being the victim of a crime.
As Echidne notes , if the people writing about and investigating this horrendous crime were interested in finding causes, they would do better to ask the men who allegedly raped the young girl such question as: Why were they hanging out with her? Did they ask how old she was? Where were their fathers and mothers? Were they taught about the age of consent and what happens if you fail to obey it? And, were there warning signs that the accused boys and men might have been potential rapists?
UPDATE: Sign a petition asking the New York Times to apologize for its victim blaming here.
