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A blog of all section with no images
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Rape, Sexual Assault and Abuse
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Written by James Landrith
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Wednesday, 16 May 2012 |
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From Human Rights Watch, US: Sexual Violence, Harassment of Immigrant Farmworkers: The 95-page report, “Cultivating Fear: The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the US to Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment,” describes rape, stalking, unwanted touching, exhibitionism, or vulgar and obscene language by supervisors, employers, and others in positions of power. Most farmworkers interviewed said they had experienced such treatment or knew others who had. And most said they had not reported these or other workplace abuses, fearing reprisals. Those who had filed sexual harassment claims or reported sexual assault to the police had done so with the encouragement and assistance of survivor advocates or attorneys in the face of difficult challenges.
Read more here:  Be first to comment this article |  Add as favourites (10) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 163
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Archaelogy, Anthropology and History
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Written by James Landrith
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Wednesday, 16 May 2012 |
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From NOAA, BOEM: Historic, 19th century shipwreck discovered in northern Gulf of Mexico: During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA, BOEM and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago. Scientists on board the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer used underwater robots with lights and high definition cameras to view remnants of the ship laden with anchors, navigational instruments, glass bottles, ceramic plates, cannons, and boxes of muskets.
Very cool. Read the rest here: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2012/20120516_okeanusexplorer.html Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (10) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 135 |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 May 2012 )
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Rape, Sexual Assault and Abuse
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Written by James Landrith
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Sunday, 22 April 2012 |
Doug Barry, writing for Jezebel, on "German Woman Tries to Hold Sexhausted Man Prisoner in Her Apartment"
"By all accounts, however, the initial hook-up was consensual and, even after being stopped from leaving, the man had sex "several more times" with the woman who detained him. It'd be interesting to see what becomes of these charges, and whether a German defense attorney chronicles this man's entire sexual history in an effort to discredit his accusations and make him seem way too promiscuous in an effort to prove that it was his own fault in the first place for sleeping with a complete stranger. Can you picture a bunch of German talk radio hosts calling this guy a "slut" or suggesting that he was just asking to be held as a prisoner in this woman's apartment? Now that would be quite the gender reversal."
Let's correct the record right off the bat. The man did not have "sex" with her several more times. He was raped repeatedly. Were it a man not allowing a woman to exit his apartment unless she "consented" to more "sex", the Jezebel version of this article would look a fuck of a lot different. This does not appear to be an editing error. Doug clearly doesn't get it. Or, he is just a victim-blaming asshole masquerading as a human being. Perhaps both.
I was drugged and raped repeatedly by a woman. I was victim-blamed by men AND women. I've seen all manner of excuses, "she must have been abused in her past", "how did you get an erection if you didn't want it", "why didn't you just throw her off", "what man wouldn't want that?!" and so on to infinity. My rapist was pregnant and also used her fetus as a human shield to keep me compliant when the drugged drink wore off in the morning - after she had already helped herself to me during the night. I'm sure Doug would find that all kinds of hysterical and there would be some soulless Jezebel commenters spewing apologia for his behavior.
If Doug honestly believes that men don't get victim-blamed then he has ZERO competency to speak on sexual violence issues. We get victim-blamed. WE DO. Anyone claiming otherwise knows nothing about what male survivors face when they speak out or report. While there are some apologists who claim Dougie was attempting a satrirical examination of male rape and victim-blaming, I have to think that Jezebel would not have published a similar piece were the genders swapped. Prove me wrong Jezebel. I won't hold my breath, nor do I truly wish to see such a horrible article in print.
Erin Gloria Ryan, writing for Jezebel, on "What if Penn State's Coach Had Victimized Girls?"
"After details of the Penn State case broke on Friday, response was swift and certain. Joe Paterno must resign. The University President must step down. Everyone involved in protecting a child rapist for the sake of a football team needed to be purged from the University's ranks.
A sexual abuse case of this magnitude should always be taken this seriously, but sexual abuse is simply not taken as seriously when the victims or victimizers are female."
I take exception at the implication by Erin and outright claim by some of the Jezebel commenters that male survivors don't get victim-blamed. That is a gigantic assumption that hurts all survivors by promoting a hierarchy of survivorhood based on gender of both victim and perpetrator. It simply isn't true and it helps to promote further silencing and shaming, whether intentional or accidental. The result is the same and that is simply unacceptable.
I'm not saying that attitudes are exactly the same with regard to child vs. adult and woman vs. man, nor is there a feasible way to actually measure such scientifically. Such attitudes are, by nature, completely arbitrary and subject to personal bias. The way victims are treated varies greatly based on how the rape occurred, where it occurred and who is doing the reporting. Even this month, Jezebel engaged in disgusting victim-blaming and minimization as I discussed above, which is fortunately being taken to task, even if some apologists are running in bizarre circles to excuse it.
The idea that male survivors have it easier with regard to victim-blaming is based on the false assumption that there is only one type of victim-blaming - that which is directed at female survivors and looks exactly like this or exactly like that. To assume that model is all that exists with regard to victim-blaming is very much a form of ignorant arrogance practiced most often by those who know nothing about male survivors and aren't the slightest bit interested in learning. We are props to such people, not actual, living and breathing human beings. Erin asked a question, but at the same time promoted a generalized falsehood based on a cherry-picked case that really wasn't about the boys, but almost solely about the famous football program. Most media coverage of this crime really has focused on the perp and accomplices after the fact, with the victims as a tiny afterthought. Erin completely missed this in her analysis. That isn't hard to understand when you realize that she wasn't really concerned about the boys in the first place.
Yes, misogyny plays a role but is not the sole factor involved and in some cases, not always dominant either. I've been hurt hard by both male and female victim-blaming. Some of the men were misogynist knuckle-draggers, clearly. They felt the need to "police the herd" to prevent signs of weakness, or they felt that "a lil ole girlie could never hurt them." But guess what? I've gotten victim-blaming from female survivors and some feminists as well who simply cannot muster the emotional and intellectual maturity to comprehend how a man can be raped by a woman. Victim-blaming of rape survivors is far more complex than portrayed by Erin and some of her supportive commenters. It does a disservice to survivors to paint our experiences with such broad and inaccurate strokes.
We really don't need a conversation about whether or not male survivors deal with victim-blaming. We need a conversation about why there are so many people who want to pretend we don't experience victim-blaming. We need to be asking how they benefit by spreading this insidious piece of rape culture and who they are trying to protect.Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (38) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 590 |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 22 April 2012 )
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Rape, Sexual Assault and Abuse
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Written by James Landrith
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Sunday, 25 March 2012 |
There is a lot of talk about victim-blaming, shaming and denial whenever the topic of rape, sexual assault or sexual abuse is discussed. No gender identification or age demographic is free from this mindset. Quite often, people don't even realize that they are engaging in such practices. Some MRAs do it. Some feminists do it. Some human rights activists do it. Some Christians do it. Some Jews do it. Some Muslims do it. Some athiests do it. Some agnostics do it. Some Republicans do it. Some Democrats do it. Some Libertarians do it.
Some people, in general, do it.
While there is understandably a good deal of discussion surrounding how victim-blaming affects female rape survivors, many people are quick to dismiss the same when it affects male rape survivors. In some cases, well-meaning people will go so far as to co-opt the traumas of one gender to highlight a point about another gender in a very dismissive or minimizing manner. Periodically, a blogger will post a commentary that runs something to the effect of "see, when it happens to teh menz, it is always taken seriously, but never when it happens to women." While I understand such pieces are meant to highlight the horrible nature of victim-blaming toward female rape survivors, the end result is that they have used a traumatic experience from one rape survivor to make the case that other rape survivors have it worse based solely on gender.
Rather than call out specific people who engage in such insensitive and hurtful practices, I will instead take some time to explore some key forms of victim-blaming that are often aimed at men. Please bear in mind that most of these have a parallel form that is directed at female rape survivors. I am not saying that only men deal with these forms of victim-blaming. Not at all. On the contrary, and unlike many who co-opt our experiences to make the false claim that only women suffer victim-blaming, I am saying such vile practices are ALSO directed at men, not SOLELY at men.
Victim-Blaming
Men Can't Be Raped: This one is used by the densest of the dense without regard to gender. I've seen men AND women spout this nugget of wisdom on more than one occasion. Even if we take the most conservative estimates at face value, in the U.S. alone, that leaves nearly 3 MILLION male rape survivors.
Erections = Consent aka can't rape a wet noodle: Anyone spouting this nonsense clearly failed biology. Erections can be forced quite easily and unexpectedly. Many men can attest to embarrassing incidents that involved the appearance of an unwanted erection. A simple touch can result in involuntary stimulation. While some men may have difficulty maintaining an erection after consuming several alcoholic drinks, this is hardly universal. Further, most healthy men experience erections while asleep and often upon waking up.
Contrary to the science and personal experiences of many male rape survivors, there are plenty of people who simply cannot grasp the concept of an involuntary erection. It is almost understandable that SO MANY women believe this nonsense to the degree that some will outright mock male survivors with this myth. They don't have penises and as a result, this must all seem so simple in their heads. Really, I understand that. However, there are also a large number of morons who have no clue how their own penises work and just LOVE to broadcast that ignorance when they come across stories about male rape survivors. (sigh)
Men are Strong aka He Should Have Fought Back: This one is actually quite common. While men are not asked what they were wearing, their physical strength and perceived ability to fight back are frequently used to invalidate. There is a ridiculous assumption that all men have the mad martial arts skills of Bruce Lee, tenacity of Charles Bronson in a Death Wish movie, and incredible calm of Clint Eastwood portraying Dirty Harry. Apparently, we are trained in hand to hand combat, weapons mastery, and How To Be Macho from birth. It is quite common for women AND men to freeze during a violent encounter. Quite often, the encounter is over without a single blow placed. Further, predators are skilled at finding ways to either nullify a person's strengths or use them against their victim. My own rapist was very skilled in this regard.
A man raped him? He must have wanted it: This form of victim blaming is one part homophobia and one part He Should Have Fought Back. Men can overpower other men and do so regularly in physical altercations or by simply communicating a threat. Weapons are also used, as are threats against loved ones, blackmail and drugs or alcohol. The idea that all men can fight off all other men at all times defies logic and credulity. It is incredibly difficult to take a person seriously if they really believe this specious nonsense.
Women don't commit sexual violence: While the stats most often quoted show extremely low numbers of female predation, the reality differs. Quite often the same act committed by a female as by a male is counted separately or not included in official tabulations at all depending on the statistical model. These models, with all of their obvious built-in bias, are then parroted around as if they are apples to apples comparisons of male and female predation. As such biases and outright distortions are often used to eliminate them from from data sets or intentionally isolate such data in lesser or hidden categories, we have no real idea of just how many female predators exist today. For those who believe this myth, perhaps it will be eye-opening to realize that you are reading an article written by a man who was drugged and raped by a woman. We exist and it is time for those truly interested in confronting sexual violence to stop promoting this ugly myth.
Why did you wait so long to report?: When I first told my story online, I was asked repeatedly why I waited so long to disclose and told breathlessly that it meant I was obviously lying. Those asking such questions, believed it to be some unassailable "gotcha". When pressed to justify how that invalidated a person's claims of victimization, they predictably could not defend the concept. Lack of logic and an inability to explain the relevance of their myth seems to matter none to those bent on victim-blaming and rape denial. Many survivors wait decades to confront their traumas as they were not ready at the time, had no support or lacked the ability to confront it. We all heal on our own timeframes. You can't put a deadline on healing and expect it to occur magically.
You must be in it for the money: This ugliness was used against survivors of clergy abuse as well as against some women who named high profile men as their attackers. Were it not for the hard work of SNAP and other organizations who have kept pushing against predators of the cloth, this type of victim-blaming would stilll be occurring regularly to male survivors.
A New Perspective
Whenever the topic of sexual violence arises, it seldom takes long for the victim blaming, second guessing and concern trolls to show their wildly transparent hands. What a person who has not been confronted with trauma feels they would do in response to sexual violence is hardly evidence of anything other than their own arrogant ignorance. It is time to reject the excuses, "I wouldas" and apologia. Along with that, we need to scrap this insidious new meme that male survivors of sexual violence do not get victim-blamed. For those of us who have been on the receiving end, the truth is something else entirely. This is not a case of "What About Teh Menz" or whatever other sexist expression comes to mind, but an appeal to people to behave in a humane manner and refrain from further promotion of rape myths regarding male survivors.
Stop it. Stop it now.Be first to comment this article | Add as favourites (79) | Quote this article on your site | Views: 1230 |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 March 2012 )
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