Hey, Can A Woman "Ask To Get Raped"?

Sexual abuse
Thursday, Aug 26, 2010 17:18 ET
Report: 90,000 inmates sexually victimized
A new study says abuse of prisoners by both staff members and inmates is more widespread than had been thought
By PETE YOST, Associated Press

The government reported Thursday that 4.4 percent of inmates in prison and 3.1 percent of inmates in jail report being victimized sexually by another inmate or staff member in the past year.

Those percentages translate to the sexual victimization of 88,500 inmates behind bars nationwide from October 2008 to December 2009, according to a study by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The study found that:

--Female inmates were more than twice as likely as male inmates to report experiencing sexual victimization by another inmate.

--Among inmates who reported victimization by another inmate, 13 percent of male prison inmates and 19 percent of male jail inmates said they were victimized within the first 24 hours after being admitted to a corrections facility. In contrast, the figure for women was 4 percent for prison and jail.

Tens of thousands of rapes are occurring in America's prisons each year and the new study "finds the problem is even worse than we thought," Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship, said in a statement.

In a letter earlier this month to Attorney General Eric Holder, a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Baptist Convention urged that he approve standards designed to eradicate sexual assault in prison. The standards were proposed by the bipartisan Prison Rape Elimination Commission, which was set up by 2003 law designed to end prison rape.

"We are working diligently to implement these standards as soon as possible" and expect to send the proposed rule to the White House Office of Management Budget in the fall, said Justice Department spokeswoman Hannah August.

Online:
Justice prison report: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/svpjri0809.pdf


http://www.salon.com/life/sexual_abuse/?story=/news/feature/2010/08/26/us_inmate_sex_abuse_1

College women at higher risk for rape
Robbie Hargett -
Friday, August 27, 2010 issue

As the new academic year approaches full swing, it is important that students keep in mind the potential danger of domestic violence and sexual victimization on campus.

“The National Institute of Justice, in an exhaustive study of sexual assault on college campuses, determined that college women are at higher risk for sexual assault than their non-college-bound peers,” Joseph Jarret, Knox County law director and adjunct lecturer for UT’s Department of Political Science, said.

According to the report, “the national-level survey of 4,446 college women suggests that many students will encounter sexist and harassing comments, will likely receive an obscene phone call, and will have a good chance of being stalked or of enduring some form of coerced sexual contact.”

The report, “The Sexual Victimization of College Women,” suggests that over the course of their college careers as many as one-fourth of female students will experience sexual assault.

The study measured verbal, visual and physical types of sexual victimization ranging from sexist statements to completed rape, as well as stalking, “a form of victimization often ignored by college officials,” but which is, in fact, relatively prevalent, according to the report.

The report also states that some college women are more susceptible to sexual victimization than others. Common factors that contribute to this increase include “living on campus, being unmarried, getting drunk frequently and experiencing prior sexual victimization.”

Most sexual victimizations occur when college women are alone with a man they know, at night and in the privacy of a residence.

For completed rapes on campus, nearly 60 percent occurred in the victim’s residence, 31 percent occurred in other living quarters and 10 percent occurred at a fraternity.

“There exist federal mandates, such as the Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 and the Campus Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights of 1992, relative to the reporting of such crimes,” Jarret said.

Jarret notes, however, that there is much discrepancy in the effectiveness of college policies concerning incidents of sexual victimization, as well as “availability and effectiveness of confidential, social and mental health counseling services available to victims of sexual assault.”

Following the incidents, these women often did not report sexual victimization to the police, the cause stemming initially from the fact that nearly 90 percent of completed or attempted rape victims knew the offender personally — a classmate, friend, current or former boyfriend or girlfriend.

In an article by the Mayo Clinic, experts suggest that “the only way to break the cycle of domestic violence is to take action — and the sooner the better.”

“One step in the right direction is the use of protocols for coordinating the responses of local law enforcement agencies when investigating incidents of sexual assault,” Jarret said.

Jarret also suggests that colleges should distribute easily comprehensible and accessible sexual assault policies, which clearly define the various types of sexual victimization, while addressing the common situations in which sexual victimization and domestic violence occur.

“Cleary, the aforementioned is by no means an exhaustive list,” Jarret said.

http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=57084

Outrageous Rapes in Congo, Outrageous Neglect by the UN
Sohaila Abdulali.Director of Communications, AIDS-Free World
Posted: August 25, 2010 03:50 PM

In the latest installment of the hellish nightmare that Congolese women face, the AP reports that last month, Rwandan and Congolese rebels gang-raped nearly 200 women during four days in Luvungi, DRC. This took place 10 miles from a UN peacekeeping camp. It is in the area Hillary Clinton visited last year, where she promised $17 million to help stop sexual violence in the Congo.

Some women are still hiding. Some are only now coming out of the forest, naked and terrified.

The DRC continues to be known as the rape capital of the world. Eastern Congo has huge mineral reserves that help support the rebel groups in the area. The UN peacekeeping force has been asked to leave by the government, which points out that it has not protected civilians.

A recent study, "Now, the world is without me," by Oxfam and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative shows that while the majority of rape victims surveyed were gang-raped by armed men, there was a 17-fold increase in rapes perpetrated by civilians between 2004 and 2008. The rapes, tortures, beatings, and maimings carried out by armed soldiers have created a culture of rape within a formerly peaceful society.

Nobody knows how many women have been raped in the DRC. Over 5,000 people were raped in South Kivu only in 2009, according to the UN. The International Rescue Committee stated in The Lancet in 2008 that it had assisted over 40,000 Congolese rape survivors since 2003 in the province of South Kivu alone. The UN reported 27,000 sexual assaults for the year 2006. Most women do not come forward in time to receive HIV treatment, other medical treatment, or legal protection, which is in short supply in any case.

The media has filled reams of newsprint with details of guns and sticks in vaginas, mutilated bodies, sexual slavery and more. This is important to report. But why is there so little written about who is responsible for letting these atrocities go on and on and on?

When an individual rape occurs, there is a clear villain--the rapist. This is true for these mass rapes as well, of course--the ultimate culprits are the men who rape and nobody should deny that. But when there is a unified campaign of rape and hundreds of women are attacked in one vicious swoop as their supposed protectors sit helplessly by a few miles away, then it is much too simplistic to talk about rape solely in terms of individual men and women.

A recent documentary film features Congolese rapists talking about what they did. One repentant soldier approaches his victim and offers her a pig as proof of his remorse. The UN has not offered even a pig; on the contrary, it remained stonily silent for the last month, and has now decided to send two envoys to investigate. There has not been a word from the Secretary-General's office.

Perhaps UN Women, the new UN women's agency, will ensure that such inertia and ineptitude will be things of the past. In the meantime, writing this column seems as futile an act as anything else that is or isn't being done. Women are living in terror and pain. Cruelty and barbarism reign in Congo, and nobody is doing a thing to stop it.

Sohaila Abdulali is Director of Communications at AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization that works to promote more urgent and effective global responses to HIV/AIDS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sohaila-abdulali/outrageous-rapes-in-congo_b_694503.html

Please show me statistics from the 1950's where 3 to 5 children were killed by their parents every single day in the US. I am telling you, 3 to 5 everyday didn't happen. I would be more than willing to look at any proof you can offer to show me I am wrong.

There is nothing new under the sun. Of course, these crimes happened back then. They have been happening since the dawn of time. But in the 1950's there is no way 3 to 5 children a day were killed by their parents. That is not something that could have been kept quiet.

Volunteers help nab suspects in rape of 90-year-old
GEORGE HUNTER
The Detroit News
August 28, 2010

Detroit -- Outraged volunteers who patrolled a west side neighborhood after a 90-year-old woman was raped were instrumental in helping police nab suspects, investigators said.

Police are questioning four men in connection with the Aug. 12 sexual assault.

The attack angered residents, who began patrols with bullhorns, imploring residents who knew anything about the attacks to share information.

"The assistance of the community definitely contributed to us apprehending the suspects," Detroit Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said. "There are four people we're questioning who are possibly connected to the case."

The incident on Leslie Street was the last of three break-ins involving elderly women that occurred on consecutive days.

Two men reportedly entered the 90-year-old woman's home by bending security bars and crawling through a basement window.

Community activist Raphael B. Johnson, who led the patrols, said the group persuaded residents to come forward last week.

"There were two people we talked to who were able to lead the police to (the suspects)," Johnson said.

"We were putting the pressure on for people to tell us what they knew, and they told us what they probably wouldn't have told the police."

Stephens said investigators are not yet releasing details about the arrests because the case is still open.

Nimrod Sherman, the victim's grandson, said he was grateful for the help.

"I can't thank them enough," said Sherman. "My grandma is doing better; she's still healing. So many people sent prayers, and came out and searched with us. It was great to see."
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100828/METRO01/8280360/Volunteers-help-nab-suspects-in-rape-of-90-year-old

I have at least tried to post links that back up my claim. Surely you can do the same? Are you telling me this is merely your opinion?

Arella Mae wrote:

3 to 5 children a day are killed by their parents in the US. This didn't happen in the 50's! How many women raped everyday in the US? It didn't happen in the 50's!

Rubbish, it did happen back then, just that the media didn't focus attention on such things.