blog carnival   Healing Through Creativity   link directory

Report It on Angela Shelton Day

April 29, 2008 · Filed Under Violence Against Women ·  


Report IT

Happy Angela Shelton Day!

Today is the day where the Report It campaign, a campaign motivating survivors of sexual assault to report their cases via an online form at the Report It website, comes to a close with the biggest rally of unified sexual assault survivors taking place at various courthouses across the country! Today, on Angela Shelton Day, survivors are being asked to go to your local courthouses and say that the silence of sexual assault survivors has went on for far too long.

Sexual assault is the most underreported crime in the world and it is also the least talked about. By being a survivor and living through your abuse and talking about your abuse, you are breaking the silence surrounding this pandemic. One person can change the world, so if you are able, please go to your local court house and speak up for the rights of survivors everywhere.

Here is the statement that is being read at rallies across the country:

“Sexual assault is the most underreported crime in the world. All too often victims do not report the crime to authorities for fear of not being believed, mistrust of the legal system, because they blame themselves for the crime or fear of retaliation. It’s time to address why this happens to sexual violence victims, while victims of other crimes, like robbery, don’t hesitate to seek justice. Victims of sexual violence deserve the equal protection of our laws. They deserve to be heard and validated. The Report IT Campaign is a first of its kind effort on behalf of all victims — an initiative designed to give hope to all victims that we can end the silence surrounding sexual violence. Our loud, unified voice today will be the first step in a multi-year effort to inspire much needed reforms and better access to justice for all victims.”

But this isn’t the end of the collaborative rally from Angela Shelton and PAVE. In fact, PAVE will be collecting reports from survivors for the next year, in 2009 this rally will run again just as it did this year but hopefully with even more people and in 2010, PAVE is taking this rally straight to Washington DC.

If you haven’t already, report your case today on Angela Shelton Day by filling out the online form. I filled mine out this morning and now it’s your turn!

If you need someone to talk to remember that you can always call RAINN. It’s safe and confidential. 1.800.656.HOPE or check out the online hotline.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Your Sexual History, Alcohol Consumption, Clothing and Location: Reasons Why You’re to Blame for Being Raped

March 27, 2008 · Filed Under Violence Against Women ·  

Well this is definitely sad.

The Irish Examiner has recently taken a national poll on society and rape victims, finding that an astounding number of people in Ireland feel that rape victims are to blame, or at least partially to blame for their attack.

  • - More than 30% think a victim is some way responsible if she flirts with a man or fails to say no clearly.
  • - 10% of people think the victim is entirely at fault if she has had a number of sexual partners.
  • - 37% think a woman who flirts extensively is at least complicit, if not completely in the wrong, if she is the victim of a sex crime.
  • - One in three think a woman is either partly or fully to blame if she wears revealing clothes.
  • - 38% believe a woman must share some of the blame if she walks through a deserted area.

Of course, not just Ireland tends to feel this way, as there are also other studies I have found online where alcohol consumption was also a deciding factor in blaming rape victims for their attacks, but that’s old news in the realm of putting the blame on women.

These studies not only reveal how society feels about sexual assault, but also why so many victims of sexual assault do not report their cases. It’s bad enough to be a victim of sexual assault, but to be blamed for it and re-victimized by society and the court systems is sometimes too much to take for most people; especially since justice is not served for many cases regarding sexual assault.

Apparently the people of Ireland believe that only women are victims of sexual assault, but I suppose men are too hard to blame for their abuse, so it’s easier to put an even thicker layer of silence around men victims. They also believe that women fail to say no clearly enough. Do they also believe men are missing a few braincells and don’t know what no means? Are women going to have to start wearing sandwich boards with the word “no” written on it in dark, red letters? Society will then start blaming women for their assault due to the fact their attacker couldn’t read.

Determining the level of blame to put on a raped woman by her sexual history makes absolutely no sense to me. Are we now saying that rape isn’t that big of a deal because the woman was not a virgin, so nothing was really taken away? That is pure bullshit. And what, exactly, is the number of sexual partners a woman is allowed to have before getting blamed for rape? 2? 4? Frankly, what is the number of sexual partners a woman can have before she is labeled as a slut? Most likely 2, especially if one is not her current husband.

As for wearing revealing clothing, rape is not about sex, it is about control and having control over another person, therefore making it ridiculous to say that women who wear short skirts or low-cut tops are “asking to be raped.” Rape is not a “woman’s issue” and both genders need to eliminate sex crimes together and the first order of business should obviously be education. Stop re-victimizing women, by doing so, we are making excuses for these crimes and doing nothing to stop them.

Tags: , ,

Warning: It’s Only Sexual Assault if He Succeeds in Getting a Blowjob

February 10, 2008 · Filed Under Violence Against Women ·  

Mike Brown Jackson County Commissioner Mike Brown was acquitted in a court in Michigan after being found not guilty of committing fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a misdemeanor, and attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct, which is a felony.

Mike Brown, a 61 year old man had admitted to exposing himself to a 24 year old woman whom he was giving a ride home to, as well as trying to push her head into his lap in hopes of her performing oral sex. However, he was found not guilty because he had not exerted the force needed to actually succeed in receiving said oral sex. Michigan’s law states that a person will be found guilty of criminal sexual conduct if “force or coercion is used to accomplish the sexual conduct.”

Are you kidding me? So a person can try to force someone into a sexual act without consent, however, if they aren’t successful then it doesn’t really count? That’s pretty much on the same lines of saying “Well sure, I ripped all of her clothes off and inserted myself into her, but I didn’t cum so I don’t think I should be found guilty of rape.”

Juror Rudy Nowles stated that both the woman as well as Brown had “both made big mistakes” and “[were] both stupid”, however, I also cannot see his side of those statements. As far as I’m concerned, a woman needed a ride home and had accepted a ride from a Jackson County Commissioner, who you would think would be a safe and logical decision and also taking into consideration that she had known this man, therefore making her not so stupid. The juror is correct, however, in saying that Brown was stupid, for lack of much more harsh and demeaning words, but not the woman. This juror is basically taking the blame from Brown and once again, as we have seen in many cases, pushing the blame for Brown’s acts on the woman making it her fault that she was not only sexually assaulted, but did not even receive the justice that she was deserved in this case.

I’m willing to bet that we’ll most likely see more of Mike Brown in the future. This woman had the support system and the ability to speak up about what had happened to her and Brown, at 61 years old, has probably done this to more women in the past. Perhaps with this woman’s bravery will provoke other women who have been assaulted by Brown to speak up and come forward.

Tags: , , , ,