Tag Archives: sexual violence

NYC Cops Warn Against Shorts & Skirts To Avoid Serial Rapist

Jessica WakemanSeptember 30, 2011 //
Victim Blaming
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Rape victims are never to blame for their assault. Read More »
Date Rape Drug Test
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A date rape drug test may soon be available. Read More »
Rape Checklist
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A handy checklist of things that cause rape. Read More »
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A gift from me to you, A Handy-Dandy Guide On Things Not To Do If You’re A Cop — Or Anyone — Talking To Women About Sexual Assault When A Serial Rapist Is Afoot:

  1. Suggest that wearing a skirt, shorts, or dress is just asking for it.
  2. That’s it.

Unfortunately, the NYPD did not get that memo. Women in areas of Brooklyn — which has been ground zero for a serial rapist/groper throughout the spring,  summer and fall — report that NYPD officers have stopped them on the street and offered unsolicited victim-blaming sartorial advice. One 25-year-old who identified herself as Lauren to the Wall Street Journalsaid she was stopped by a cop while wearing shorts. “He pointed at my outfit and said, ‘Don’t you think your shorts are a little short?’” Lauren told the WSJ. “He pointed at [other women's] dresses and said they were showing a lot of skin. He said that such clothing could make the suspect think he had ‘easy access.’”

Oh, for f**k’s sake.

Keep reading »

Lara Logan Opens Up About Sexual Assault In Egypt: “They Raped Me With Their Hands”

Jessica WakemanApril 28, 2011 //

In February, the world held its breath when CBS’s “60 Minutes” reporter Lara Logan was badly beaten and sexually assaulted while covering the political uprising in Egypt’s Tahrir Square. After being rescued by civilians and a group of soldiers, Logan abruptly left her coverage and flew home to the U.S., where she was hospitalized for four days. Logan and CBS then released a statement.

Now, in an interview with The New York Times, Lara Logan has opened up publicly for the first time about the brutal assault. Keep reading »

Profile Of A Campus Date Rapist

Jessica WakemanMarch 5, 2010 //

Statistics have shown that most men who commit rape or date rape are known to the victim: friends, friends-with-benefits, boyfriends, husbands, even family members, etc. But even as someone who is attuned to news stories about sexual assault, I was unaware that researchers have gathered more info in the past decade about who these men are, on the college campus, specifically.

For the past two weeks, National Public Radio and the Center for Public Integrity have aired four stories on NPR about how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses in a series called “Seeking Justice For Campus Rapes.” Their most recent story, entitled “Myths That Make It Hard To Stop Campus Rape,” absolutely blew my mind. I had no idea about a 2002 study of men on college campuses in which one in 16 admitted to behavior that meets the definition of rape or date rape and the overwhelming majority of these men were repeat offenders. Keep reading »

Is Rape Still A Crime If The Rapist Was Sleepwalking?

Ami AngelowiczOctober 21, 2009 //

OK, this story is literally a nightmare. Nick Walker, a 21-year-old student at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, went out drinking with some friends, including a 21-year-old girl who was visiting for the weekend. As the night wound down, they all passed out at the friend’s apartment where she was staying. This poor girl woke up in the middle of the night when she felt a “weird sensation.” She found that all of her clothes had been removed and that Nick was on top of her. Nick has no physical memory of any of this—he left the next morning without a word to the victim and later friend-requested her on Facebook, as if nothing happened. When she pressed charges, he was shocked and says that if he did rape her, he must have been sleepwalking. He admitted that this has happened to him before with his own girlfriend. Ack! How awful for everyone involved. Still, whether it was a conscious act or not, the fact remains that this poor girl was raped. Who pays for the crime? Is it fair that this guy should have been cleared of the rape charges? [Daily Mail] Keep reading »

When Sex Is A Weapon: Surviving Date Rape

YourTango.comSeptember 19, 2009 //

I just found out that my rapist is dead. Not only is he dead, but he ended up killing a lot of women. I always wondered if he would rape again, but I never thought he would graduate to murder.
Keep reading »

Do We Live In A Rape Culture?

Ami AngelowiczAugust 19, 2009 //

Normally, I’m not big on low-budget documentaries. But this new video called “Our Hidden Culture” really got me thinking. It argues that we in the United States live in a “rape culture”—where unwanted sexual attention is constantly lavished on women (hello, cat callers), where sexual violence is constantly portrayed in music and on film (that’s you, Eminem), and where women are always expected to be sexual creatures (thanks, Victoria’s Secret). When these behaviors are accepted as the norm, of course we see sexual harassment, verbal abuse, discrimination and, yes, rape. The idea here is that sexual violence is as much of a social problem as a personal one. These little things become so commonplace that we may not even notice them, but it’s these very attitudes that lead to violence. Keep reading »

Amanda Knox Takes The Stand

Daniela GuernicaJune 12, 2009 //

While the rest of her friends will be graduating from the University of Washington this weekend, 21-year-old Amanda Knox will go over her testimony given earlier today in Italy defending her innocence in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Kercher was found dead — stabbed in the neck and strangled — half naked in a pool of blood on November 1, 2007 in the house she and Knox shared while studying abroad, beginning the murder trial that continues to shake the little town of Perugia, Italy. Five months into a case that has so many missing pieces and piles of misinformation, Knox took the stand today facing life imprisonment, in hopes to finally clear her name. Unfortunately for Knox, charged with murder and sexual violence along with ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, that is going to be a very hard thing to do. Keep reading »

Eliot Spitzer And Sexytime Violence

Lauren GitlinMarch 9, 2009 //

Nearly a year after news of Eliot Spitzer’s Hookergate scandal, new sordid details have been revealed. The New York Daily News reports that a second call girl, who goes by the name “Annie,” claims that Spitzer choked her as part of role-playing foreplay. S&M is nothing new, and New York’s erstwhile governor may not be the most shining example of conventional sexual appetites, but this account supports anecdotal evidence of a growing sexual trend. Where once spanking, dirty talk, and hair-pulling pushed the limits of casual sexual encounters, choking, face-slapping and spitting are becoming more and more part and parcel of hooking up. What happens in the privacy of the bedroom is a matter of taste, I suppose, but in light of the recent, high profile Chris Brown/Rihanna scandal, you kinda can’t help but wonder whether harmless sex games and real-life violence toward women are connected. What’s permissible behind closed doors might well bear itself out in everyday life. Do you think S&M subconsciously normalizes violence towards women? Keep reading »

The Daily Squeeze: A Blow Up Bra, Brothels, And Sexual Violence

Catherine StrawnJune 30, 2008 //
  • A long time ago, an inflatable bra that a woman wore on an airplane popped as they went over the Andes Mountains. They had to make stop and she was turned over to police because they thought it might have been a bomb. Lesson learned: Be happy with what you’ve got. [NPR]

    • Keep reading »