MetaFilter posts tagged with rape

Franken's anti-rape amendment

aerotive — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:50:26 -0800

Jamie Leigh Jones alleges she was drugged and gang-raped by co-workers at Camp Harper in Iraq while employed by KBR. As explained by Senator Al Franken in this youtube clip, Ms. Jones had signed a contract requiring binding arbitration of employment related disputes. Sen. Franken introduced Amendment 2588, which would prohibit any use of Federal funds for Federal contractors that require such agreements. The amendment passed 68-30 (roll call). Background on the Jones vs. KBR case.

Hi. Whatcha reading?

kimdog — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 08:06:11 -0800

Schrödinger’s Rapist: or a guy’s guide to approaching strange women without being maced.

Richard Whitehurst's Rape Tunnel

acb — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:30:57 -0800

An article in an art-related blog recently mentioned a new installation by a Columbus, Ohio conceptual artist named Richard Whitehurst: an exhibit reachable only by a tunnel, growing progressively narrower, with the artist waiting to rape anybody who attempted to pass.

I've constructed a 22 ft tunnel out of plywood that leads into the project room. There is no way in or out of the project room except for this tunnel. As you travel through the tunnel, it gets smaller and smaller, making it so that you have to crawl and put yourself in a submissive position in order to reach the tunnel's destination. At the end of the tunnel the subject will find me waiting in the project room and I'll try to the best of my ability to overpower and rape the person who crawls through.

I want to make it clear that I plan to make the experience as unpleasant as I possibly can to anyone who dares to crawl through the tunnel. I will try to the best of my ability to make them regret their decision.

The article, which was picked up by Gawker and spread from there, revealed that the Rape Tunnel was the sequel to an earlier work, the Punch-You-In-The-Face Tunnel, which Whitehurst constructed as a reaction to frustration with the current state of art, and for which he is still involved in a lawsuit with a model over her broken nose (which he seems pleased with, stating that, unlike other artists' work, he "is still making an impact on this young lady's life"). Or would have been, had the story not been a hoax; in reality, neither Richard Whitehurst nor his interviewer actually existed. The blog which posted the original article seems to have been overwhelmed by traffic.

Edmund

Foci for Analysis — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:27:35 -0800

To jump straight into it, what made you decide to make a game involving rape? Inspiration was mostly personal, I’ve known a few girls who have been through similar situations, which sparked the concept. As far as the experience, I wanted to inspire emotion in the player, even if its vile and disgusting.

Edmund is game designer Paul Greasley's contribution to indie PC gaming web site TIGSource's competition's adult section. Gamers react. In 2006 RapeLay became notorious as it simulated the rape of a mother and her two daughters.

Putting a 14-year-old in a "lie detector" - what did you expect would happen?

divabat — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:54:17 -0800

Sydney radio station 2dayFM earned the ire and backlash of the Australian public - rape counsellors, Australian media, and Community Services ministers - after an on-air stunt by morning crew Kyle and Jackie O went horribly wrong. During their regular "lie detector" segment, a 14-year-old girl was interrogated by the hosts and her mother over her sexual history, against her will, and revealed that she had been raped at 12 on air (warning: possibly triggering audio clip embedded in news article). The hosts immediately offered to pay for counselling services, but questions such as "And did you have any other experiences?" led to widespread on Twitter, calls for sackings and shutdowns, and a major PR crisis for radio group Austereo. While the station and its hosts have released an official statement and Kyle Sandilands has stated he was "stunned" by the revelation, authorities are now seeking out the girl's mother for investigation. This is not the first time Kyle and Jackie O (mostly Kyle) have courted controversy.

The People v. Eric Frimpong

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:50:05 -0800

The story of prisoner F95488.

Free at last!

djduckie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:46:54 -0800

The tragic story of Timothy Cole who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit, and died because of inadequate health care in prison. He was recently posthumously exonerated based on confessions of the guilty man and DNA evidence.

Rape and Regret in South Africa

thisperon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:36:05 -0800

Man Who Committed Rape Asks for Victim's Forgiveness Decades Later Dumisani Rebombo and his friend raped a young girl in their village in South Africa when they were teenagers. Years later, he returned to the same village to find the woman he attacked and begged for her forgiveness. A story showing the brutal personal side to the rape culture in South Africa.

Why do we rape, kill, and sleep around?

hippybear — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:28:49 -0800

Back in the late Pleistocene epoch 100,000 years ago, the 2000 book contended, men who carried rape genes had a reproductive and evolutionary edge over men who did not: they sired children not only with willing mates, but also with unwilling ones, allowing them to leave more offspring (also carrying rape genes) who were similarly more likely to survive and reproduce, unto the nth generation. That would be us. And that is why we carry rape genes today. The family trees of prehistoric men lacking rape genes petered out. Newsweek's Sharon Begley examines evolutionary psychology and some of its most controversial theories (and how they are being rethought) in Don't Blame The Caveman.

National Prison Rape Commission releases its final report

Non Prosequitur — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:32:11 -0800

A Prison Nightmare. On June 23, 2009, the National Prison Rape Commission released its final Report and proposed Standards to prevent, detect, respond to and monitor sexual abuse of incarcerated or detained individuals throughout the United States. More prisoners reported abuse by staff than abuse by other prisoners.

Not particularly sensational

Joe Beese — Thu, 28 May 2009 19:58:45 -0800

At least one picture shows an American soldier apparently raping a female prisoner while another is said to show a male translator raping a male detainee. Further photographs are said to depict sexual assaults on prisoners with objects [graphic images] including a truncheon, wire and a phosphorescent tube. Another apparently shows a female prisoner having her clothing forcibly removed to expose her breasts. Detail of the content emerged from Major General Antonio Taguba, the former army officer who conducted an inquiry into the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq. Responding to the report in The Telegraph, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "If I wanted to read a write-up of how Manchester United fared last night in the Champions League Cup, I'd might open up a British newspaper. If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I'm not entirely sure it'd be the first pack of clips I'd pick up."

Intended Consequences: Rwanda's Children of Rape

itchylick — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:28:59 -0800

Intended Consequences. It is estimated that 20,000 children were born as the result of rape during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that claimed the lives of over 800,000 Tutsis. Many of these women also contracted HIV/AIDS as a result. Not only do the mothers have to live with memories of this incredibly horrible event, but they along with their children are shunned by other Tutsi survivors. Photographer Jonathan Torgovnik photographed and documented the stories of several of these women and their children in his new book Intended Consequences. He has also created Foundation Rwanda to help these families pay the $150 annual fee for their children's educations. Disclaimer: The title of this post and some of the content is based on an article in the current issue of American Photo which is currently only in print and not yet online.

Yes Means Yes

emjaybee — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:37:01 -0800

Moving beyond no means no. The anthology Yes Means Yes brings together writers, male and female, to explore the power of enthusiastic consent and to promote female desire free of coercion. The book has spawned a series of readings, live chats, and some interesting blog responses. Meanwhile, Twisty at I Blame the Patriarchy takes a more straightforward approach; consent must be given, but never assumed. The problem with rape, other than the fact that 95% of it is perpetrated by men, always seems to boil down to this asinine controversy over consent. The issue is grossly encumbered with a futile focus on meaningless, temporary instances of the withdrawal of consent, to wit: “she said yes” or “she said yes and then she said no” or “she said yes and waited until two days later to say no” or “she said yes and has been lying about it ever since.” She said, she said, she said. Well, what if lack of consent were the default? What if all prospective objects of dudely predation — by whom I mean all women — are a priori considered to have said “no”? What if women, in other words, were seen by the courts to abide in a persistent legal condition of keep-the-fuck-off-me?

Rape as a War Crime Against Your Own

davidstandaford — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 13:49:16 -0800

Iraq: "A woman suspected of recruiting more than 80 female suicide bombers has confessed to organising their rapes so she could later convince them that martyrdom was the only way to escape the shame."
Algeria: "Evil al-Qaeda chiefs are raping young male converts to shame them into becoming suicide bombers, it emerged yesterday. "

The Not Rape Epidemic

Navelgazer — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:41:03 -0800

My friends and I confided in each other, swapping stories, sharing out pain, while keeping it all hidden from the adults in our lives. After all, who could we tell? This wasn’t rape - it didn’t fit the definitions. This was Not rape. We should have known better. We were the ones who would take the blame. We would be punished, and no one wanted that. So, these actions went on, aided by a cloak of silence. From Racialicious.

Lawless Lands: Justice Denied to Native Communities

fourcheesemac — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:11:50 -0800

"Lawless Lands": Michael Riley, writing in the Denver Post, investigates the dysfunctional state of law enforcement on Native American reservations, and the shocking consequences for crime victims. Bill Moyer's Journal has followed up with an excellent documentary expose entitled "Broken Justice." Amnesty International reports on a particularly heinous aspect of the problem -- one in three Native women will be raped in her lifetime, and the perpetrators are rarely punished. N. Bruce Duthu's Op-Ed on the subject from the NY Times, 8/10.08.

Men Against Rape

lunit — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:47:42 -0800

Men Can Stop Rape is part of a growing movement to stop rape, sexual assault, and sexual violence by focusing on educating men. There are efforts to change the climate on college campuses and curriculum at Haverford, Tulane, Kansas State, Idaho State, University of Wisconsin, University of Texas, University of Minnesota, University of Maine, Portland State, Harvard, University of Rochester, University of Delaware, Franklin and Marshall, and Colorado State, to name a few. Want to start your own? Here's how. Not in college? There's There are regional associations in Atlanta, Pennslyvania, Maine, Madison, Gloucester, Amherst, Washington, and Wyoming and national and international organizations like National Organization for Men Against Sexism, The Safety Net, One in Four, V-Day Men, The White Ribbon, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, Meninist, and A Call to Men. There's also a men against violence Webring. How much do you know about sexual assault? Test Yourself!

ML73-3356, ML73-3378

WolfDaddy — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:01:27 -0800

For many people who lived in Houston in the early 1970s, trick or treat brings up memories of "The Candy Man," serial killer Dean Corll. He, along with accomplices David Brooks and Wayne Henley (YouTube), kidnapped, raped, and tortured to death 27 boys between the ages of thirteen and eighteen between 1970 and 1973. Thirty-seven years after the bodies of their victims were discovered in mass graves in southwest Houston and the Bolivar Peninsula, three still were unidentified until recently when the efforts of forensic anthropologist Sharon Derrick identified victim ML73-3349, now known to be Randall Lee Harvey.

Life and death of a black and white

mrducts — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:47:48 -0800

Texas executes Mexican national who was denied consul visit. Jose Medellin, a Mexican national, was born in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, just across the Rio Grande river from Laredo,TX. Medellín moved to the US when he was 3 years of age, and was 18 years of age in June of 1993 when he participated in the gang rape and murder of Jennifer Ertman, 14 and Elizabeth Pena, 16 in Houston,Texas. He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to death. In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Bush Administration must reconsider the case because Medellin was not informed of his right to contact Mexican consulate officials under the Vienna Convention. After the ruling, President Bush asserted authority under the Constitution and the various laws of the United States to order states to review the convictions and sentences of foreign nationals who had not been advised of their Vienna Convention rights. On March 25, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the arguments of the Bush Administration, and ruled that President Bush can't force Texas to reconsider, even if in violation of the International Court of Justice.[Previously]

Fritzl, all too nonfictional

Kattullus — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:29:25 -0800

The horrifying crimes of Joseph Fritzl shocked Austria and the world. Recently two essays explored Austrian literature in an attempt to understand what cultural conditions could foster such monstrosity. Nicholas Spice, in Up from the Cellar, explores the work of Nobel Prize laureate Elfriede Jelinek and her dissection of male violence. Ritchie Robertson searches for antecedents in Josef Fritzl's fictive forebears. [via The New Yorker's Book Bench]

Beyond Rape: A survivor's journey

Maias — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:13:35 -0800

Joanna Connors, a theatre critic, was raped on an empty stage. She tells her story in vivid, lucid detail-- then traces her rapist's twisted family history. One of the best pieces of journalism-- or writing, for that matter-- I've read for ages. Lots of resources for survivors and their families, as well.

'World Peace' Hitcher Murdered.

semmi — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:25:59 -0800

Performance Artist Killed on Peace Trip. Pippa Bacca, performance artist, and friend wearing white wedding dresses, planned to hitchhike from Italy to the Balkans to the Middle East to send a message of peace and “marriage between different peoples and nations.” After three weeks on the road, Pippa Bacca was killed by a driver who offered her a ride. Her naked body was found and local authorities said Ms. Bacca had been raped and strangled.

"We, having been so nearly destroyed, can use what we've learnt from our destruction to start the world again"

hadjiboy — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:43:14 -0800

Three award-winning photographers come together to photograph wo men from around the world, who have been the victims of war, and survived to tell their tale.

Girls have the right to be safe.

miss lynnster — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:17:42 -0800

Nearly 60,000* American children (mostly girls) are abducted by strangers each year. After seeing a security video documenting a young girl's abduction, 15-year-old Dallas Jessup convinced her Filipino street fighting instructor to work with her on a school project and together they developed a method intended to teach young girls how to avoid Carla Brucia's fate. The resulting 47 minute video, Just Yell Fire, is viewable free of charge and teaches easy self defense moves created to help a potential victim avoid abduction or date rape. If there's a girl you love and want to protect from harm, the tips in this video may just save her life someday. Yes, the beginning with the infomercial-esque set-up may seem cheesy, but remember... it was made BY 15 YEAR OLDS (!) for 15 year olds. After about 13 minutes of discussion and advice, they proceed to enact and teach a full series of helpful self defense moves with dos and don'ts to avoid being abducted or attacked in a variety of situations. (It's a Hell of a lot more impressive than any of my school projects were, that's for sure.) Warning: features enactments of teen girls being surprise attacked with good and bad results. Good results for the girl usually meaning bad results for the attacker's groin, ear, and/or eyes. *That statistic was from the "Fire" link.

CPI (M): is for Murder

hadjiboy — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:14:10 -0800

The battle over Nandigram continues (after the massacres of March 14), as a fresh spate of atrocities have been reported.