Rape, Power and the Law
My local paper has been talking about the law a bit lately, particular concerning the intersection of the crime of rape and the legal system.
The first of the pieces of interest was columnist Paul Sheehan's rant about the growing intrusion of law and litigiousness into society. Australia is becoming, says Sheehan, a society under the rule of lawyers, not laws.
What goes on in our courtrooms and tribunals bears only a passing resemblance to the moral code by which the vast bulk of society lives and which maintains social cohesion.
This stark divide was distilled, unintentionally, in the April issue of the Law Society Journal, in a review of The Making of Me, by Tegan Wagner, the story of her gang rape, her ordeal with the legal system and her efforts to reclaim her life. The book is reviewed by Andrew Haesler, SC, who happens to be one of the three senior barristers who cross-examined Wagner, then 17, over a period of three days.
After offering faint praise, Haesler writes: "Her desperate desire for affirmation and self-righteous tone irritates, in a way the parents of a teenager would know. Tegan is not a dispassionate observer. Her critique of the trial process suffers as a consequence
"Tegan claims she was raped by three brothers. Only two were convicted. I acted for the brother who was acquitted. There were sound reasons for that acquittal. Tegan's 'fairer' system would have seen my client jailed for a very long time. Her rapes were unjust and wrong, but so, too, would be the conviction and long-term imprisonment of an innocent boy."
Excuse me while I go and vomit.
You can read Sheehan's reasons for vomiting if you read the article in full. You will also see him noting a recent local legal controversy, in which barrister Tania Evers has been referred to the Legal Services Commission for aggressive cross-examination of an alleged rape victim. This is the same Tania Evers who in recent years spoke publicly of
the erosion of an accused's rights in sexual assault cases. We'll come back to Evers' shortly, and the issue of whether the complaint about her -- and the leaking of it to the media -- are part of a political power struggle going on in legal and government circles.
But let's contextualise first. We need to think about at least three issues regarding the prosecution of rape.
Rape is a difficult crime to prosecute. It's an inherently difficult crime to prosecute, regardless of whether or not the legal system is horribly sexist, precisely because rape is a crime that involves an act that for most people, most of the time, is consensual and pleasurable. At any given instant of time, millions of consensual sex acts are going on around us. Determining which ones are the non-consensual (criminal) ones is hardly going to be straightforward. It's not a typical problem for a homicide detective to have to consider whether or not the murder victim really wanted to be killed and hence their death was the deliberate result of a consensual act. (Yes, yes, I know it's possible, but it's not that likely.) But it's a fundamental issue surrounding sex crime allegations.
Add to this, the longstanding tendency of Western legal systems to start with the presumption of innocence of the accused. This is an important presumption because it's easy for a powerful legal and/or political system to railroad anyone it wants if the system is set up to allow that to happen. The presumption of innocence is an insurance policy against the worst aspects of human nature in the political arena.
Add to this, the very real issue of false rape allegations. Researcher Eugene Kanin famously reported that in his case study of a small metropolitan community, 41% of reported rapes turned out to be false allegations. (For (in)famous cases, think Kobe Bryant, or the Duke lacrosse team.)
Balance all of this against the possibility that a woman (it won't always be a woman, but mostly it will) really has been violently raped and is seeking redress against her rapist. How should the legal system operate given all of these considerations? What latitude should prosecuting lawyers get? What about defence lawyers? How aggressive should they be allowed to be? How much control should a judge exert during a cross-examination?
According to legal columnist Richard Ackland, these questions are at the heart of a stoush going on in New South Wales legal circles.
At the heart of the strife is a concern that the leadership of the [NSW Bar Association] has too readily acceded to government wishes to corral aggressive cross-examination, specifically in sexual assault trials. A significant proportion of the bar council and much of the rank and file want the leadership to stand up to the Government. Indeed, that was one of the points implicit in Gleeson's resignation.
It was leaked to the media last week that a defence barrister, Tania Evers, has been referred to the Legal Services Commission by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery.
The leak may have had the purpose of exerting leverage to get the bar to relent and pass new conduct rules designed to make it a disciplinary offence for a barrister to cross-examine witnesses in an intimidating, oppressive or humiliating manner, or to seek to stereotype a witness.
The only trouble was that the story about Ms Evers's cross-examination was over-egged. It claimed she had cross-examined a 15-year-old complainant in a sexual assault case for three days and that the judge aborted the trial because it had "gone completely off the rails".
But the cross-examination ran for less than two days and it was not the reason the trial was aborted.
Putting the rights or wrongs of the Evers cross-examination to one side, what the leaking and counter-leaking do signify is a subterranean struggle to change the "culture" of the bar. It raises the intriguing question whether accused can get a fair trial if defence barristers are prevented from reducing alleged victims to jelly in the witness box.
It could be that if these rules came into force everyone might be pleasantly surprised to discover that the job can still be done without counsel belittling, insulting, humiliating and generally crucifying prosecution witnesses.
See, while judges can intervene with discretion in instances of aggressive cross-examination, they are loathe to do so if they think it'll create avenues for appeal. So the state government is trying, with some force, to decrease the power of the (quite powerful) barristers, and give more to the judges.
That's what it comes down to, in the end. The issue of how lawyers comport themselves in sexual assault cases boils down to a pitched battle between senior lawyers and government ministers over the relative distribution of power and influence.
TheFuckOffKid was never prouder of his girlfriend than when she was a juror on a rape trial.
You Make Me Sick
Yes, you. I think you are fucking disgusting. Wait, I take that back. I only think you're disgusting if you are an American citizen; you Brits and Scots can rest easy. Now, you may be wondering why it took me so long to realize that you are lazy, filthy, awful creatures. Turns out I didnt know so many of you were okay with gang rape.
Last month a woman came forward to reveal she had been gang raped while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq. I cannot fathom the strength it would take to tell the nation you were gang raped by fellow employees of a company working under a government contract.
Jamie Leigh Jones, now 22, says that after she was raped by multiple men at a KBR camp in the Green Zone, the company put her under guard in a shipping container with a bed and warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job.
"Don't plan on working back in Iraq. There won't be a position here, and there won't be a position in Houston," Jones says she was told.
I guess we can be happy they didnt kill her; because that is the only thing worse I can think of in this situation. The story is truly horrifying and it sounds like they may have actually planned on killing her, but she managed to call her FATHER.
Jones says she was held in the shipping container for at least 24 hours without food or water by KBR, which posted armed security guards outside her door, who would not let her leave. Jones described the container as sparely furnished with a bed, table and lamp.
Yeah, Im sure they were just keeping her in that container until she calmed down from the gang rape. No way they were discussing killing her. Jones managed to convince a sympathetic guard to give her a cell phone, which she used to call her father.
I said, 'Dad, I've been raped. I don't know what to do. I'm in this container, and I'm not able to leave.'
Just the kind of call a father wants to receive. Dad called his local Congressmen, who called the State Department, who then sent agents from the US Embassy to the base, where they freed Jones from the container. Army doctors examined Jones and determined she had been raped "both vaginally and anally." Then they gave the rape kit to Halliburton/KBR security officers, who made sure it disappeared.
That was two years ago. During those two years it became apparent our State Department and Justice Department are not going to do anything about a young woman being gang raped by other Americans while working in Iraq.
Over two years later, the Justice Department has brought no criminal charges in the matter. In fact, ABC News could not confirm any federal agency was investigating the case.
Why? Because private contractors operate outside of the law in Iraq. Apparently, they can rape at will, without expectations of any punishment. Without any criminal prosecution forthcoming, Jones sued Halliburton/KBR in civil court. But that might also be a problem.
KBR has moved for Jones' claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom. It says her employment contract requires it.
In arbitration, there is no public record nor transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones' claims would not be heard before a judge and jury. Rather, a private arbitrator would decide Jones' case. In recent testimony before Congress, employment lawyer Cathy Ventrell-Monsees said that Halliburton won more than 80 percent of arbitration proceedings brought against it.
Politicians, like Hillary Clinton, then demanded hearings and asked why there was no justice for this woman. Of course, through all their blustering, our lawmakers failed to mention that they are partially at fault. Congress left these giant private contractor legal loopholes open. Congress has not created proper oversight in regards to Iraq, and that created the environment that led to a woman being gang raped by her fellow employees.
The press dug up more instances of overseas rape, which the Justice Department ignored.
The Department of Justice declined to prosecute a State Department employee who allegedly sexually assaulted a female Halliburton/KBR worker in Iraq, despite a recommendation from the State Department that he be charged
Then Congress had a hearing on December 19th, but the Justice Department decided to take a pass and refused to send a representative to answer questions.
I'm embarrassed that the Department of Justice can't even come forward," said the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, D-Mich.
This is an absolute disgrace. The least we could do is have people from the Department of Justice and the Defense over here talking about how we're going to straighten out the system right away."
So, here we are over a month later. The State Department and Justice Department are stonewalling Congress.
A Republican lawmaker wants Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to answer questions in person about the high-profile rape case of Jamie Leigh Jones, after lower State Department officials failed to provide information that satisfied him.
One branch of our government is asking another branch of our government why they are blowing off the gang rape of an American citizen. The answer is simple: The gang rape is the result of the Bush administrations total lack of oversight of private contractors in Iraq. At the same time, the Justice Department has been turned into a political wing of the White House and the case of Jamie Leigh Jones is a glaring example of what happens when our system of law is usurped by politics. The rule of law crumbles as it caters to political interests. This is the sort of case that can explode and shine a light on the entire system.
Now, why do I think you are disgusting, filthy animals? Because, what the fuck have you done? I immediately wrote my Senators and Congressman, explaining my disgust. The fact that America is quietly sitting around, after a woman was gang raped, while her rapists are protected by our government is sickening. The fact that the system is set up to allow something like this to happen is repugnant. But what is more repugnant is that we sit on our fat asses doing nothing, while women are gang raped and people are killed.
If we put massive pressure on our government to answer for this injustice, there would be action. That is sort of how a Democracy works. And you fuckers are silent. Which makes us complicit in the gang rape of an American citizen. Or you, anyway. At least I managed to take time out of my day to write an email and make a phone call. But don't worry about it, after all, you've got that Lost message board to get to.
In Any Color, Rape is Rape
Fabulous Ms. Morgan, whose birthday is this Friday BY THE WAY, AHEM, sent me this link to an "incredibly offensive" article in Cosmo that's got most of the feminist blogs justifiably angry. (More blogposts here.)
Pandagon's Amanda, I think, does the best job of explaining the problem.
I appreciate that Moe doesnt want to feel like a victim. It took me a week to admit Id been sexually assaulted after I was, and I was lucky to have friends at the time use words like molested and rape to put my head on straight.
....
It's this sense, this fear of admitting that being victimized says something about you that makes people embrace right wing rhetoric that blames the victims for playing the victim. Its an odd mental trick, this need to feel that a victim is only a victim if she labels herself as such, and then shes the one to blame if she does for grabbing that label and making everyone feel uncomfortable. I can attest that its not entirely unwise to live in denial of certain facts, because people react to victims, particularly victims of male dominance hate crimes like domestic violence or rape or even sexual harassment, as if they have a disease thats spreading. Domestic violence experts will point out that one way that the abusers isolate their victims is that people pick up that victim vibe from her and avoid her. Also, theres reason to believe that a lot of women who come out to mutual friends about it will have said friends side with him, either overtly or they will feel they have to help her, but the cooties effect kicks in and they find themselves distancing themselves from her.
But as she says: fuck them. It's part of the way dominance and power work: being weak is despicable and being victimized is shameful. After all, if you're going to believe that power accrues to those who deserve it, you have to buy into the corrolary--that getting fucked, literally or metaphorically, only happens to losers.
But look at the scenarios Cosmo puts forth as "gray rape".
After the dance, they went to Kevins room and, eventually, started making out. She told him flat out that she didnt want it to proceed to sex, and he said okay. But in a few minutes, he had pushed her down on the couch and positioned himself on top of her.
No. Stop, she said softly too softly, she later told herself. When he ignored her and entered her anyway, she tensed up and tried to go numb until it was over.
That's rape.
She and a coworker met a man in the bar of the hotel where they were staying. They ended up going with the man to a party, and then he and Shari returned to the hotel. On the way in, he kissed her deeply. They had a few more drinks at the hotel bar, and then he asked if she wanted to go to his hotel room to see some family photos.
She went to his room but after a few minutes said she needed to go. He pinned her on the bed and, according to Shari, sexually assaulted her. She struggled with him and managed to escape. Shari reported the incident to police but didnt press charges.
So's that.
They drank, they flirted, and then he invited her to his apartment. There, they kissed for a while, and things got more heated until Laura realized that he was taking off her underwear and entering her. She was drunk, but she says she was aware enough to say no. When he ignored her, she froze a common response, much like Alicias and he continued to have sex with her.
No he didn't. He raped her.
And you know, it's really not all that confusing for guys, no matter what Cosmo says.
Anthony Moniello, 24, a radio personality for ESPN, says, Ive had girls tell me I dont have sex on the first night. And I say, Thats fine, I respect that. Mind if I play with you a little bit? A girl will say no, she doesnt mind, then shell get so hot, shell say, Lets do it. Thats the scariest part. Is it then my responsibility to say no?
Yes. Welcome to the grownup world, where women and men are responsible for sex and for respecting their partner's expressed wishes.
One male student at George Washington University, a senior, recounted to the student newspaper that he had woken up naked and drunk next to a girl he didnt know. His friends later told him that the girl had bought him drinks the night before and volunteered to take him home. He ended up feeling taken advantage of that he wouldnt have hooked up with her if he hadnt been so wasted.
Of course he felt taken advantage of: he was raped.
Another senior at GW expressed his confusion like this: Sometimes Ill feel like a girl isnt sure, but then shell say yes and Ill think shes just being coy. If you regret it or she regrets it, does that make it assault?
It does if you "felt" she "wasn't sure" and pressured her into that "coy" yes. Again, boys, guess what? If you feel like your partner's not into it, then don't force the issue. See? Easy.
Last year, a 20-year-old female midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy reported that the academys star quarterback, Lamar S. Owens Jr., raped her. She filed charges and, in a July 2006 court-martial of Owens, said that she had been drinking and could recall very little beyond waking up in her bed in the middle of the night to find Owens having sex with her.
Owens testified that she had invited him to her room during an instant message conversation, and that after a few caresses, they began to have sex. After two minutes, he reportedly said, she stopped responding, and he left her room. The young woman testified that she could not remember sending the messages to Owens and that someone had closed the instant-message window on her computer, so they werent retrievable.
A toxicologist for the defense reportedly said that the young womans blood-alcohol level showed that she was legally intoxicated, which means she may not have been able to give consent. Nonetheless, the rape charge against Owens was dropped because the five officers on the military jury believed that evidence indicated he had been invited to her room. During his testimony, Owens reportedly said it was a case not of rape but of sex going bad.
Nope, it's rape. Being invited to someone's room doesn't give you a license to fuck them.
Cosmo goes on to ask, rhetorically, "How do you avoid being a victim without giving up the right to be sexually independent and assertive?" Duh. By being sexually independent and assertive.
Which includes not making excuses for rapists.
Bitch_PhD thinks the best way to prevent rape is to teach boys to take no for an answer.
Beyond My Ability to Bitch
Some things are just beyond . . . well, I can't even say what they're beyond.
A female airman says she faces a court-martial next month because she refused to testify against three male airmen she accused of rape.
The woman is charged with one count of committing indecent acts and one count of consuming alcohol as a minor. The defense says the charges involve the same men she accused of raping her.
...
The charges against her allege that she performed an indecent act on one of the men she accused while the other two watched, the defense says.
In her letter, the woman said she reported the attack and was given a medical examination. The three men were charged with rape, but the charges were dropped after she refused to testify, she said.
"The pressure of the judicial process was too much for me, and I felt like no one was looking out for my interests," the woman wrote.
The men received nonjudicial punishments and have been granted immunity for their testimony in the woman's trial, according to documents the defense provided.
The up side is that the story's been getting plenty of news coverage since the woman involved contacted Texas and North Carolina legislators, so probably the USAF will end up dropping the charges.
Hat tip to the Reclusive Leftist, who apparently has deeper wells of outrage than I'm capable of mustering.
Bitch_PhD suggests that their propensity to rape coworkers makes men unfit for military service. Not all men, of course, but only the ones who can prove that they're not potential rapists should be allowed to do these jobs.
Don't Get Raped
It's not like we didn't already know that no one really wants to press rape charges, because the trial's gonna suck. But the recent spate of appalling stories about judges and lawyers in rape trials, and what kinds of things happen in order to be "impartial" and "fair" to the accused, just keeps getting better and better. Now we've got a Nebraska judge banning the word "rape" because using it will prejudice the jury.
So, ladies. If you're raped (oops, I mean forced to "have sex with") someone, hospitals can deny you emergency contraception--even if they're required to provide it by law, in some cases--and of course pharmacists can always refuse to fill prescriptions, if you find a doc who'll write one. If you get past that hurdle, you'll have to deal with whether or not DAs will prosecute; what the defense attorney will be clever enough to accuse you off; and what the judge will (and won't) allow in his courtroom.
So just don't get raped. In case, you know, you were planning to.
Bitch_PhD wants everyone to know officially that "don't get raped" is one of the most offensive sentences she's ever uttered, and should be read as if it were crusted in salt.
DeAnza Rape--Follow Up
That story about the DA who wouldn't prosecute the gang rape? The DA, Dolores Carr, has asked the state's Attorney General to review her decision.
The legal analyst at the local TV station says he
thinks it makes her look weak. There's an old saying 'never explain, never apologize.' Make your decision.
(He adds that) Carr is passing the buck and bowing to public pressure. He adds the attorney generals office review might not satisfy her critics.
I think Mr. Legal Analyst is a dumbass: asking the AG to review her decision makes the DA look responsible, responsive, and thorough.
And it's heartening that, at least in egregious cases like this one, people will turn out to force the issue.
There's a longer story on video at the link.
Bitch_PhD is glad of the review, and will feel okay about this case either way now.
Gang of Rapists Terrorize the Netherlands With HIV
As if conservative America didnt already view the Netherlands as a lair of sin and depravity, along comes a story that can only be described as an abomination of inhumanity... there aren't enough adjectives to describe how fucking sick this is. According to ABC News Online, a gang of Dutch men have been accused of luring gay men to orgies where the victims were then drugged, raped, and injected with their own HIV-infected blood.
After four victims came forward to Dutch police, the gang -- consisting of three HIV-positive gay men -- was arrested along with a fourth scumfuck who supplied them with large amounts of GHB and Ecstasy to aid in the rapes. Mr. Ronald Zwarter, the police chief of Groningen, where the rapes allegedly occurred, said:
(Their) stated motive was that it excited them and also that, the more HIV-infected people there are, the better their chances of unprotected sex. They considered unprotected relations to be 'pure.
Since the arrests were made, eight more victims have come forward. Numerous public figures in the Netherlands have spoken out against the crimes:
Health Minister Ab Klink on Thursday called the case "horrible", as the press splashed the news across its front pages.
...
"That homos [sic] organize orgies is nothing new, but this is something else. This is unimaginable," said Frank van Dalen, the president of a gay rights group called COC.
...
Said Henk Krol, the editor of a homosexual magazine titled Gaykrant: "These people were drugged, it's therefore rape, pure and simple. It's shameful, disgusting and terrifying. Those who did this are crazy."
Normally this is the point in a story where Id crack a joke, or post a zany YouTube clip, but there's nothing here to laugh at. I hate condoms as much as the next guy, but they've become a necessary part of life; as much as I typically advocate sexual freedom in all its splendor, theres just no excuse here, none whatsoever. This casual disregard for human life is just so inhumanly narcissistic and cruel. That this has happened at all is simply terrifying, like some real life twist taken from Hostel or Saw, only far, far worse.
Maybe She Wanted to be Raped
You may or may not have heard the story about the UK barrister who argued that a 13-year-old girl was "glad of the attention" when she was gang-raped by three boys -- because, after all, she was fat.
Well, now we've got a California DA who refuses to prosecute a gang rape, apparently because
it would be difficult to prove the high school student was too drunk to consent.
Now, admittedly witness testimony can be challenged. But does this sound like a hard-to-prove case?
"We heard and saw a girl tapping on this door in the kitchen saying 'There is a girl in there with eight guys," explains Chief Elk.
They say they tried to get into the room, but were confronted by a baseball player.
"[He said] 'Mind your own business; she wants to be in here' and slams the door," says Grolle.
What they saw through a crack in the door horrified them.
"When I looked in, I saw about ten pairs of legs surrounding a girl, lying on the mattress on the floor and a guy on top of her with his pants down and his hips thrusting on top of her," recall Chief Elk. "And when I saw that I knew immediately something wasn't right. It just didn't look right."
"I saw that this young girl did not want to be in there, and that's when we just went 'We're getting this girl out of there,'" says Grolle.
April and Lauren -- along with a third soccer player named Lauren Breayans -- broke down the door and were shocked with what they found.
"This poor girl was not moving. She had vomit dribbling down her face. We had to scoop vomit out of her mouth [and] lift her up. Her pants were completely off her body," says Chief Elk. "She had her one shoe one, her jeans were wrapped around one of her ankles and her underwear was left around her ankles. To the left of the bed there was some condom thrown on the ground."
"When they lifted her head up, her eyes moved and she said 'I'm sorry,'" says Grolle. "One of the guys who was in the room said 'This is her fault. She got drunk and she did this to herself.'"
Forensic tests determined that the vomit wasn't hers. Bet she consented to that too.
The 17-year-old girl Monday gave Grolle and Chief Elk Saint Christopher Medals, which they were wearing Tuesday night.
"We were basically her protectors that night and she gave these to us to represent that -- although there is no way to compare what happened that night -- she is grateful that we are her voice and speaking for her about what we saw that night," says Chief Elk.
The victim isn't capable of testifying, on her own behalf, that she didn't consent to being gang-raped and vomited on?
I'm not a lawyer. And I accept -- celebrate, even -- that DAs and judges and juries have to operate within the boundaries of reasonable doubt. But in what fucking universe is it "reasonable" to believe that a young woman consents to being raped with a pool cue or vomited on? That a 13-year-old would agree to fuck three guys because, you know, she's fat and girls nowadays dress slutty?
Anyone who thinks that shit is reasonable is a suck fuck and should be locked up themselves, as a preventative measure.
In any discussion of a case like this, some asshole will argue that hey, some chicks are kinky. And since we also know that kinky chicks are lying sluts, it's totally reasonable to believe that a girl would not only consent to this crap, but then file a false rape report afterwards.
The motives of guys who would fuck a woman in such a state that she'd "consent" to such a thing, on the other hand, never seems to come up.
Bitch_PhD knows some guys and girls who are into pretty kinky shit--and for the record, people like that believe more strongly in the importance of explicit consent than the general population. As they damn well should.
The Anti-Rape Condom: New Must-Have Accessory
Women are now free to roam dark alleyways rape-free with the help of RapeX, the first and only anti-rape condom. Ladies need only insert this magical device into their vagina and they are assured that the next man to try to enter them will get more than they bargained for. The special condom is designed to hook into the penis upon penetration and cannot be removed without the aide of a doctor. This vicious defense has raised some concerns that have impeded the initial release of anti-rape condoms, but South Africa needn't wait any longer.
The product will be on the shelves of South African chemists and supermarkets later this month. South African mother-of-two Sonette Ehlers developed the original prototype in 2005 but has struggled to get it patented and approved for sale, not least because of staunch opposition from feminist groups.
RapeX claims to be deterrent to rape, but some are skeptical that it will only increase a rapist's violent behavior. And some feminist groups are pissed that women are expected to shape their life to the threat of rape. But at least RapeX makes it harder for a man with a cylinder attached to his penis to squirm out of a rape accusation.
Rape: It's a Game!
We all know Quentin Tarantino is a bit of an asshole. But really: a Rapist "action figure"?!?
The doll's based on Tarantino's character in the latest exploitation shlock "Grindhouse," and--I guess because Tarantino doesn't even know the meaning of the word "shame," it looks like him. The manufacturer says, gleefully,
While you most likely will not find our Grindhouse action figures on the shelves at your local Toys R Us, they are available now!
Oh. Goody. It's not available to kids.
Just to grownup men, or fucked up women, who think it would be cool to own a rape doll.
Somehow I'm not the least bit reassured.
Newsflash, Mr. Tarantino: rape isn't a game, it isn't funny, and it isn't cool.
Bitch_PhD liked Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill as much as the next gal, but there are limits.
Islamic Nut Jobs Have A Pro-Rape Rally
Islamic men in Pakistan are upset because it just became more difficult to rape a woman. Thousands of protesters hit the streets of Karachi on Sunday to scream their outrage at a new law that removes some of the burden of proof from the victim. The old law, introduced in 1979 under the Hudood Ordinances, requires that the rape victim produce four male witnesses or face prosecution for adultery.
The demonstration in southern Pakistan on Sunday attracted 10,000 supporters of loose rape laws. The protest was sparked by President Musharrafs refusal to change the law on Saturday. The demonstrators marched through the streets, holding signs that read, "Down with Musharraf, "Down with the Women Protection Law" and Get The Government Out of My Rape.
The Women Protection Bill is a test for Musharrafs philosophy of "enlightened moderation" in a country that is largely Muslim. The previous rape law was a religious law but the new law puts rape under the penal code. An Islamic leader broke down their disagreements:
"We reject this law because it is unIslamic and also against women rights," said Fazal-ur-Rehman. He also said the law is a conspiracy to make Pakistan a "free sex zone."
It is a valid point. Statistics show the more a country clamps down on rape, the more that country will become a free sex zone.
Womens groups are asking for more Islamic laws to be repealed. Currently Pakistani law forbids sex outside of marriage and adulterers can be stoned to death.
Religious Leader says Women Deserve Rape
The highest Islamic authority in Australia believes that women who dress "immodestly" deserve to be raped. Time yet again to celebrate our multicultural diversities and show our respect for all religious beliefs:
THE nation's most senior Muslim cleric has blamed immodestly dressed women who don't wear Islamic headdress for being preyed on by men and likened them to abandoned "meat" that attracts voracious animals.
...
"But the problem, but the problem all began with who?" he asked.
The leader of the 2000 rapes in Sydney's southwest, Bilal Skaf, a Muslim, was initially sentenced to 55 years' jail, but later had the sentence reduced on appeal.
In the religious address on adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, Sheik Hilali said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?
"The uncovered meat is the problem."
The sheik then said: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred."
He said women were "weapons" used by "Satan" to control men.
"It is said in the state of zina (adultery), the responsibility falls 90 per cent of the time on the woman. Why? Because she possesses the weapon of enticement (igraa)."
Israel President Has Been Doing Some Raping
Israel President Moshe Katsav has not just been raping Lebanon and Palestine, but women as well. Israeli police have recommended that Katsav be charged with rape, indecent assault and sexual harassment of several women. Law enforcement officials also believe Katsav illegally pardoned criminals and conducted illegal wiretaps. (At least somebody cares about that one) Not surprisingly, no previous Israeli president has been accused of rape.
The investigation of Katsav began earlier this year after a former employee alleged he forced her to have sex under the threat of dismissal. Police repeatedly questioned Katsav at his official residence and seized personal documents.
Katsav claims he is the victim of blackmail. The Israeli presidents job is mostly a ceremonial one, but unfortunately rapists are often not wanted at official ceremonies. News of possible rape allegations surfaced during the war with Hezbollah, but they took a back seat to the killing of Lebanese civilians. Now that the baby killing is over, the country can focus on arresting their leaders who rape.
Bush and McCain Put Their Raping Hats On
The new torture bill being peddled by the White House and the Senate includes loopholes that allow for rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse. Serbia would be so proud of us. In its current form, the bill could make it impossible to prosecute rape or sexual assault as torture. In order to prosecute torture, according to the legislation, there must be specific proof of intent to commit a crime. Motive is nearly impossible to prove in cases of rape or assault according to Rhonda Copelon, a professor of law at the City University of New York.
The bill only mentions rape or sexual assault twice and both times the wording creates loopholes to allow American torturers to engage in the heinous acts. The bill blatantly does not define rape as sex without consent, which is how federal law defines it. Without fear of prosecution guards or interrogators could easily rape inmates as the bill is currently written.
Experts on sexual violence fear that the intent is to absolve American soldiers and their commanders from prosecution for deeds that have occurred since Sept. 11. Copelon also points out that the United States has been trying for years to write a specific intent requirement into international law on torture.
The bills definition of sexual abuse is also very narrow, requiring physical contact. These means prisoners could be ordered to strip, and forced into a pile of other naked prisoners (Abu Ghraib) or wear underwear on their head while someone takes nice photos.
Neither Sen. Lindsey Graham nor Sen. John McCain, the bill's authors, responded to questions from the New York Times about why they are okay with rape.
DMX 'Raped' By 'Deranged-Looking' Fan
DMX had a horrific incident occur recently--he learned he fathered a child with a woman who he claimed raped him. In an interview with Sister 2 Sister magazine, X dished the details of the attack.
"She raped me," the rapper told S2S editor Jamie Foster Brown. "I mean, you know, that might sound like some bullshit. No man has ever been... you know what I mean, like never? Is that the only thing in the world that's not possible?"
Sitting next to X during the interview was Tashera Simmons--his long-suffering wife. Simmons said she believes the rape allegations because she spoke with the aggressor before the incident and was put off by the womens demeanor. The assailant claimed to work for some sort of human services organization, but her career choice failed to impress Mrs. DMX.
Mrs. Simmons recalled an earlier encounter with the woman. "Before the stuff hit the fan, she came up to us while we were in court and said 'I work for kids that are sickly,' said Tashera. "So he said 'Give her my number.' That's how it goes all the time. At first, I said OK. But, then I thought she looked deranged and obsessed with him."
Simmons claimed she blocks out the incident; she probably blocks out the upcoming child support payments, too. Meanwhile, DMX learned a very important lesson from the experience.
"Turn on the light before I go to sleep," he said.
Yeah, whatever that means.
Mr and Mrs DMX.
Dakota Fanning Gets Naked, Mom Says it's Ok--She Might Earn an Oscar
Dakota Fanning took on a new risque roll that required the twelve-year-old to participate in a graphic rape scene. Other scenes portray the child in only her panties. But dont worry about Dakotaher mother claimed its ok because she might get an Oscar nomination for the performance.
Director Deborah Kampmeier began filming Hounddog in North Carolina. Kampmier also wrote the story as a drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl (Fanning) finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley. Producers stressed the rape scene was carefully choreographed.
The script requires the preteen actress to confront tougher challenges than Brooke Shields and Jodie Foster did when, at Fanning's age, they played child prostitutes.
"It's not just the rape scene - the whole story is challenging Dakota as an actress," Fanning's longtime agent, Osbrink [said]. "And I've never been so proud of her in my life. I've seen the dailies, and in every scene she gets better and better."
Child molesters everywhere will be burning up their DVD players with the scenes of young Dakotas smooth, pre-adolescent body brutalized by a violent offender, but Im sure the director portrayed rape of a child in good taste.
Fanning and Tom Cruise doing...something.