R.I.S.E. Together: Steubenville, Ohio and Rape Culutre

As many of you might have heard two boys have been charged in a date rape case in Steubenville, Ohio. This particular case has sparked a national outrage against the community of Steubenville for covering up and actually sympathizing with the rapist these heinous acts.

“On the night of August 11, 2012, when a heavily inebriated high school girl was publicly and repeatedly sexually violated by her peers, several of whom documented the acts in social media. The victim was transported to various parties, undressed, photographed, sexually assaulted, and orally penetrated. She was also penetrated vaginally by other students' fingers, an act defined as rape under Ohio law. The jocular attitude of the assailants was documented on Facebook, Twitter, text messages, and cell phone recordings of the acts. The incident and ensuing legal proceedings generated considerable controversy and galvanized a national conversation about rape and rape culture. Two students, Ma'lik Richmond and Trent Mays, both 16 at the time of the crime, have been convicted in juvenile court for the rape of a minor.”

For those that are confused, rape culture is consider to be “a concept used to describe a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media normalize, excuse, tolerate, or even condone rape.”

There’s a really great article about rape culture and this particular case by Lauren Nelson on her blog, http://rantagainsttherandom.wordpress.com.

“Rape culture is when you’re tired of hearing about “rape culture” because it makes you uncomfortable, as your attempt to silence discourse on the subject means we never raise enough awareness to combat it – and that’s part of why it sticks around.”

Rape culture is why even though the evidence is there and the victim was willing to testify both rapists received the minimum sentence they could. Despite possibly evidence that the girl was drugged, they still are getting off almost scott-free. Even though evidence is still coming out that the coaches knew what happened and covered it up to save their “promising football careers.”

“On March 17, 2013, Judge Thomas Lipps tried Mays and Richmond as juveniles and found them guilty of rape. Each defendant received the minimum sentence for their convicted crimes, with the possibility of remaining in juvenile detention until age 21. The judge set the minimum sentence of one year for Richmond, who was found guilty of using his fingers to penetrate the girl while she was unconscious. Mays, who was found guilty of penetrating the girl while she was unconscious and disseminating pornographic pictures of her, was given the minimum sentence of two years. Because the girl was a minor, Mays was charged with and convicted of the dissemination of child pornography, which is the reason for his additional year in juvenile detention. Whether or not Mays and Richmond will be added to the sexual-offenders registry depends on a future hearing to evaluate their behavior once they have turned 21.”

To add insult to injury major news networks shared the name of the victim on national television, allowing the 16-year-old to be blasted with hate mail and death threats. Despite of this her family has pulled together and is trying to find the good in everything.

“My family and I are hopeful that we can put this whole ordeal behind us. We need and deserve to focus on our daughters future. We hope that from this something good can arise. I feel I have an opportunity to bring an awareness to others, possibly change the mentality of a youth or help a parent to have more of an awareness to where their children are and what they are doing.”

“This does not define who my daughter is. She will persevere, grow & move on."

-Mother of Steubenville rape victim.

And small signs of progress as being made as seen by the Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine when he said the following the arrest of the two girls who threatened the Steubenville victim via Twitter after the guilty verdicts were announced:

“Threatening a teenage rape victim will not be tolerated. If anyone makes a threat verbally or via the Internet, we will take it seriously, we will find you, and we will arrest you.”

Those words were also a statement against a culture that minimizes or even glorifies violence against women and holds athletes to a different standard by which even criminal behavior is deemed acceptable.

I pray she will persevere, grow and move on. I pray that we all can, but we must never forget that people are still willing to protect themselves where rape is involved. We will stand behind you 16-year-old beautiful girl. We will support you and stand with you as you face those horrible tough and trying time each day. We are proud of you for facing your attackers in prison and saying “I may have drank, but that didn’t mean it was ok for you to rape me.” R.I.S.E. is here for you and whatever you may need.

Thank you for being so strong.

Thank you for standing up.

Thank you for speaking out where no one else would.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Steubenville, Ohio and Rape Culutre

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