Submitted By Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger
I actually thought that I had misread the article when I first read it. It described the horrific gang rape of an 11-year-old in the Texas town of Cleveland. Eighteen young men and teenagers have been charged with the rape that is alleged to have started in a house and eventually moved to a deserted trailer nearby. I am sure that this kind of vicious crime occurs all too often in our country, but there is one thing that makes this crime a little different. Many of the townspeople are blaming the eleven year old girl for her own gang rape!
“The video led the police to an abandoned trailer, more evidence and, eventually, to a roundup over the last month of 18 young men and teenage boys on charges of participating in the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl in the abandoned trailer home, the authorities said. Five suspects are students at Cleveland High School, including two members of the basketball team. Another is the 21-year-old son of a school board member. A few of the others have criminal records, from selling drugs to robbery and, in one case, manslaughter. The suspects range in age from middle schoolers to a 27-year-old. The case has rocked this East Texas community to its core and left many residents in the working-class neighborhood where the attack took place with unanswered questions. Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their young men have been drawn into such an act? “ New York Times How can a newspaper like the New York Times ask the question “…how could their young men have been drawn into such an act?” when the victim is an eleven year old girl?
Has society returned to the day that a female victim cannot say No to forced sex? Have we returned to the day when an 11-year-old girl is berated in public forums for allegedly enticing these adults and teenagers into threatening to harm the young girl if she didn’t have sex with them? “A meeting Thursday night that was billed as a way to discuss concerns some have about the investigation into a series of alleged sexual assaults on an 11-year-old girl turned into a forum that many used to blame the girl police contend is the victim of heinous attacks. Many who attended the meeting said they supported the group of men and boys who have been charged in the case. Supporters didn’t claim that the men and boys did not have sex with the young girl; instead they blamed the girl for the way she dressed or claimed she must have lied about her age — accusations that have drawn strong responses from those who note an 11-year-old cannot consent to sex and that it doesn’t matter how she was dressed.” Houston Chronicle
The fact that an 11-year-old girl was victimized had no effect on many in the crowd. Lost in their attack on her was the legal issued raised above. A minor cannot consent to sex and her mode of dress is irrelevant to the crimes alleged against these 18 different students and adults. How can a society even suggest that a young girl can consent to anything, let alone forced sex with at least 18 different individuals? One writer, quoting a definition of rape culture from the book, Transforming a Rape Culture,(WomenandChildrenFirst) suggests that we are fostering a new rape culture in America that actually encourages this kind of behavior and violence against women and in this case young girls. “A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape itself. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.” ShakespeareSister
I am not sure that we have ever gotten past the day when women are blamed for being raped by their attackers. If we have, this incident and the town’s reaction to it indicate that we are returning to a violent past or creating a new rape culture. Could there be a connection to this “rape culture” and the War on Women that we have highlighted in past articles?
Woosty:
Did you read the linked item? Seems they thought she might have taken a deliberate tumble down the stairs in an effort to induce a spontaneous abortion/miscarriage. Even if she had, I fail to find a reason to arrest her. Do not try to use logic on stories like this; it will just give you a headache.
And to continue with the ongoing saga of the War on Women, we look to the Commonwealth of Virgina for the latest insanity:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/03/14/956378/-State-of-Virginia-Declares-War-on-its-own-Women
Otteray Scribe 1, March 14, 2011 at 11:23 am
And over here, in the continuing War on Women, a woman in Iowa was jailed because she mentioned to an emergency room staff member that she had been THINKING about having an abortion.——————
That’s a joke, right? ‘Cause abortion isn’t illegal why would this happen? She can sue if she was held against her will…certainly if the stresas is what caused a misscarriage….not to mention civil rights ….no?
Stamford,
I don’t think I can get Al-Jazeera on the tube, but I will check them out online.
rafflaw,
” but I haven’t checked into Al Jazeera yet.”
You should – they give better coverage of what’s going on in the Middle East.
————————————
Swarthmore,
I can’t get it on the TV machine but I wish I did – I watch online and it can be quite a pain watching on a smaller screen 🙂
I get Al Jazeera on link tv but only at 9 p.m.
Stamford,
You are exactly correct. I do check on BBC on occasion, but I haven’t checked into Al Jazeera yet.
rafflaw,
“Why is it that the best reporting we have is from foreign papers?”
Because they’re not owned by Corporate America?
I recommend the BBC and Al Jazeera (online) as well. MUCH better reporting on events here than from our own esteemed MSM.
Swarthmore,
“SL You are lucky to have a governor like that.”
I was lucky to have him as mayor for 14 years. I have high hopes for Governor Malloy. It is refreshing to have a governor with common sense 😉
———————————————————–
Stamford,
“Bubba’s butt-bitch” has such a nice ring to it!”
Lol – yeah, I’m still chuckling over that!
SM,
Great link to the Guardian article. Why is it that the best reporting we have is from foreign papers?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1365112/Horrific-gang-rape-18-men-girl-11-Texas-sparks-racial-tension.html
Stamford,
“Bubba’s butt-bitch” has such a nice ring to it! 🙂
SL You are lucky to have a governor like that.
rafflaw,
“Stamford,
I don’t want to do anything to these alleged rapists. I just want the full force of Texas law to come down on their heads, if they are found guilty.”
Oh, I agree. Wholeheartedly. Nothing will please me more than these 18 degenerates becoming Bubba’s butt-bitch in prison. I’m talking about the supporters of these fine, upstanding young men … like a few smacks upside the caverns resting on their shoulders …
Swarthmore,
” high number of african americans living in poverty in Connecticut.”
While Connecticut is below the national average, poverty exists statewide, but primarily in the Bridgport, Waterbury and Hartford areas, particularly in Bridgeport and Waterbury whose primary source of employment was manufacturing. But, most companies have either moved south or overseas and have left behind thousands of the unemployed. Our new governor is seeking to up the ante on job reeducation in terms of biotechnology, alternate energy (particularly in terms of solar energy), and finance (he successfully lured NYC based businesses to Stamford while mayor).
Additionally, he instituted the Stamford School Readiness Program, which opened the door for hundreds of pre-K city kids (education was one of the key elements cited by a state commission investigating child poverty) to get a jump start on education. It’s a very successful program, and he is now looking to expand the program statewide. Additionally, his budget does not cut state funds alloted to local municipalities for education.
There is much to be done to reduce the number of people living in poverty here and I take some comfort in that we have a state government that recognizes it.
Stamford,
I don’t want to do anything to these alleged rapists. I just want the full force of Texas law to come down on their heads, if they are found guilty.
SL You are lucky to live in blue Connecticut but I was quite surprised when I visited there a couple of years ago about the high number of african americans living in poverty in Connecticut.
OS,
Thank you for the link – It’s stories like the one you linked to that make me so happy for living where I live.
rafflaw,
I read about this on Friday on Salon.com. Positively horrifying. And, as far as the town folks who are revictimizing the 11 year-old victim? If I could have five minutes alone with each of the assailant’s supporters …
pete,
you are right. What 11 year old wouldn’t want to be repeatedly raped by 18 alleged child molesters?
jimm,
thanks for the on the ground observations of the now infamous town of Cleveland,Texas.
OS,
That is a disgusting story about the women in Iowa. Sounds like the thought police to me.