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Sexual Assaults in the militaryFollow

#52 Jun 05 2013 at 12:50 PM Rating: Excellent
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To be fair (speaking as someone who gets much of their news from the CNN website) that kind of article was more the exception rather than the rule. I don't remember many sympathetic articles on there. Though there was discussion that if the men were found innocent, the work by Anonymous would make them guilty in everyone's eyes. That was kind of more of an anti-vigilante thing more than anything else though.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 12:00pm by someproteinguy
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#53 Jun 05 2013 at 1:02 PM Rating: Decent
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Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
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In all seriousness, Smash is absolutely right. The only real solution to rape is to get rid of rape culture which leaves people thinking it's ok to rape. I mean look at those Stuebenville football kids - they all seemed to genuinely think it was okay to drag an unconscious woman around raping her when they felt like it. They honestly seemed to think it was all good fun.
If your problem is 'rape in the US' and your goal is to bring down the numbers of rape in the US then sure, making sure all citizens know it's against the law to rape others is a good method - to start with anyways.

If your problem is that you're a sexy 21 year old woman attending college and you want to avoid being 1 of 12 getting raped during your tenure - you have a lot of other options available to you.



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#54 Jun 05 2013 at 1:03 PM Rating: Excellent
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One summary does not a media make. And I don't even read it as "sympathetic" as you seem to. Yes, they had bright futures. They threw it away. They fucked up. That doesn't make them victims, it makes them rapists and fools.

On the other hand, this isn't a topic I'm especially interested in beating into the ground so, sure, bad media.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 2:04pm by Jophiel
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#55 Jun 05 2013 at 1:14 PM Rating: Good
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It doesn't anywhere say "they threw it all away" or anything like that though. It mentions they will be registered sex offenders, but once again, in a "aww poor boys" way. They barely even mention the victim, and don't mention at all what she was going through, or how this affected her. The men who broke the law are the sympathetic actors. The woman who was brutalized is all but ignored.

I get that you don't want to argue this, but this kind of media coverage (even if it was, as you seem to be suggesting from only one media outlet) is part of the problem. It creates a narrative of sympathy for the people who committed the crime. It makes it all about them in the exactly wrong kind of way. It doesn't ask tough questions. No where do they say "why would these young men with such bright futures commit such a horrible crime?" No where do they even seem to refer to them in a way that suggests they are aware these young men dragged an unconscious woman around to several different houses sexually assaulting her - and laughing at the thought of her being dead.

I mean seriously, these guys don't deserve an ounce of sympathy - yet they got a pound of it. Even if it was "just" CNN that had that kind of coverage, wouldn't you agree that's problematic? Don't you think that if anyone deserves sympathy and humanization it's the young woman who was violated? Yet not one gram of sympathy is given to her. No discussion is made of how she has to deal with the community hating her because somehow they think it is her fault for these young guys being creeps. No discussion of how the community tried to downplay the issue. No discussion on her emotional well being or how this experience will affect HER future. None at all.
#56 Jun 05 2013 at 1:25 PM Rating: Excellent
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What did you think of the rest of CNN's coverage of this case, outside of this one segment?
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#57 Jun 05 2013 at 1:31 PM Rating: Decent
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Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
I mean seriously, these guys don't deserve an ounce of sympathy
They made a huge mistake and their lives are ruined. Fuck 'em, death penalty.
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#58 Jun 05 2013 at 1:38 PM Rating: Good
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lolgaxe wrote:
Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
I mean seriously, these guys don't deserve an ounce of sympathy
They made a huge mistake and their lives are ruined. Fuck 'em, death penalty.

That's draconian. Just cut off their ******.
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#59 Jun 05 2013 at 1:39 PM Rating: Good
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Elinda wrote:
lolgaxe wrote:
Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
I mean seriously, these guys don't deserve an ounce of sympathy
They made a huge mistake and their lives are ruined. Fuck 'em, death penalty.

That's draconian. Just publicly dip their genitals in acid.

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#60 Jun 05 2013 at 1:43 PM Rating: Excellent
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This thread is in dire need of a derail.
#61 Jun 05 2013 at 1:46 PM Rating: Excellent
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Okay, what would you prefer to have dipped in acid?
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#62 Jun 05 2013 at 1:46 PM Rating: Good
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Technically, this is the derail.
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#63 Jun 05 2013 at 2:36 PM Rating: Excellent
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Elinda wrote:
Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
[
In all seriousness, Smash is absolutely right. The only real solution to rape is to get rid of rape culture which leaves people thinking it's ok to rape. I mean look at those Stuebenville football kids - they all seemed to genuinely think it was okay to drag an unconscious woman around raping her when they felt like it. They honestly seemed to think it was all good fun.
If your problem is 'rape in the US' and your goal is to bring down the numbers of rape in the US then sure, making sure all citizens know it's against the law to rape others is a good method - to start with anyways.

If your problem is that you're a sexy 21 year old woman attending college and you want to avoid being 1 of 12 getting raped during your tenure - you have a lot of other options available to you.





I'm assuming you mean this in terms of what constitutes rape, not actual confusion that rape is illegal? As in, what is and is not consent?

Because I definitely agree that's needed. Too many guys will accept the consent of a girl who is wasted. Or use any other ******** excuse to imply consent ("if she passed out in my house, she obviously wanted my **** in her!").

But increased punishments and rates of convictions have been shown, at least in the context of the military, to have no effect on the rate of rape. I don't know if that's true in the civilian sector, but rapists in the armed forces today are far more likely to face punishment, and the minimum punishments for all sex crimes have gone up quite a bit. I don't care enough to look up the actual statistics right now, but that's what I remember from coverage about yesterday's opening discussions.

And I'm not really surprised. Rape doesn't strike me as a risk vs. reward sort of crime. It's power play. These ******** have a need to prove their dominance, and I doubt anything but a direct threat of punishment would prevent that.
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#64 Jun 05 2013 at 3:20 PM Rating: Decent
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Since when did someone being drunk and saying yes to sex not count as consent?
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#65 Jun 05 2013 at 4:05 PM Rating: Good
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lolgaxe wrote:
Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
I mean seriously, these guys don't deserve an ounce of sympathy
They made a huge mistake and their lives are ruined. Fuck 'em, death penalty.


I never said that, but they certainly don't deserve to be coddled and cried over. It's highly doubtful that this was their first time doing this either. And how about the woman's life they ruined? Once again, it goes back to crying over the perpetrator rather than feeling for the person who was raped. It sends entirely the wrong message, but sure... poor little men finally got caught after raping multiple young women and now they have to face some very weak consequences. Waaa waaa.
#66 Jun 05 2013 at 4:18 PM Rating: Excellent
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Uglysasquatch wrote:
Since when did someone being drunk and saying yes to sex not count as consent?


I think it's different if they had two drinks with dinner vs they are unconscious, lying in a pool of vomit.
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#67 Jun 05 2013 at 4:34 PM Rating: Good
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TirithRR wrote:
Uglysasquatch wrote:
Since when did someone being drunk and saying yes to sex not count as consent?


I think it's different if they had two drinks with dinner vs they are unconscious, lying in a pool of vomit.
Yea, that's not drunk or wasted, that's passed out and unconscious.
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#68 Jun 05 2013 at 4:42 PM Rating: Excellent
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It's a touchy subject... (to some).

I don't think it's rape if the woman had enough drinks to loosen her up. (Pun not intended). But I do think you don't have to wait until they are passed out before the ability to consent is long gone. But I'm sure there are plenty of people that disagree with any alcohol being involved. At least there was back when I was in college and the local Women's organization released a news letter on campus denouncing any amount of alcohol being used in pre-sex courtships. Sparking a few letter's to the editor from people for/against.

There's plenty of area between 0.00 and Alcohol Poisoning.

Edit:
And I'm talking alcoholic drinks, consumed by choice without hidden drugs, obviously.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 6:50pm by TirithRR
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#69 Jun 05 2013 at 5:51 PM Rating: Decent
lolgaxe wrote:
Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
I mean seriously, these guys don't deserve an ounce of sympathy
They made a huge mistake and their lives are ruined. Fuck 'em, death penalty.


Never known you to show sympathy for criminals before.

I suppose this is an issue close to your heart.
#70 Jun 05 2013 at 6:20 PM Rating: Decent
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#71 Jun 05 2013 at 6:51 PM Rating: Decent
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Olorinus the Ludicrous wrote:
I get that you don't want to argue this, but this kind of media coverage (even if it was, as you seem to be suggesting from only one media outlet) is part of the problem. It creates a narrative of sympathy for the people who committed the crime. It makes it all about them in the exactly wrong kind of way. It doesn't ask tough questions. No where do they say "why would these young men with such bright futures commit such a horrible crime?" No where do they even seem to refer to them in a way that suggests they are aware these young men dragged an unconscious woman around to several different houses sexually assaulting her - and laughing at the thought of her being dead.


That was covered elsewhere though. The particular article linked was about sentencing and the effect it would have on the lives of the two men. And I got more of a warning to other young men not to do something so stupid and ruin their lives vibe from it than that they were downplaying it or feeling sorry for the offenders. The problem is that a lot of rapists in this sort of situation don't see what they're doing as rape. So demonizing rape and rapists doesn't really work as a deterrent.


idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
I'm assuming you mean this in terms of what constitutes rape, not actual confusion that rape is illegal? As in, what is and is not consent?

Because I definitely agree that's needed. Too many guys will accept the consent of a girl who is wasted. Or use any other bullsh*t excuse to imply consent ("if she passed out in my house, she obviously wanted my **** in her!").


Absolutely. The problem there is that we send mixed messages, not just from society and media, but also from those who get perhaps a bit too excessive in the cause of fighting rape. It would perhaps be useful to settle on some reasonable standards somewhere between "if a chick is drunk it means she wants to have sex" and "if you have sex with a woman who's consumed a single sip of alcohol, it's rape".


TirithRR wrote:
But I'm sure there are plenty of people that disagree with any alcohol being involved. At least there was back when I was in college and the local Women's organization released a news letter on campus denouncing any amount of alcohol being used in pre-sex courtships. Sparking a few letter's to the editor from people for/against.


Yup. That's honestly just not helping the issue at all, and quite possibly makes things worse. It's such an absolute (and stupid) rule that most people will disregard it entirely, which leans them more towards accepting the "drunk chicks want sex" side of things. Which, if we're approaching this from the "educate men so that they don't do this" side of the issue, is a really counterproductive thing to do. I agree that we can educate men about this, but it has to be done reasonably, and we have to also accept that it's not going to help in all cases. Education is only going to affect the subset of potential rapists who (as I pointed out earlier) don't realize that what they're doing is rape. But within that subset, it's only going to be effective if our messages are reasonable and workable.



And just to touch on something brought up earlier in the thread, for the other set of potential rapists, the equivalent of locking your car doors that Elinda proposed is still a really really good idea. Doesn't mean you can't go out for a drive, but don't make yourself an easy victim if you don't have to.
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#72 Jun 05 2013 at 6:51 PM Rating: Excellent
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My understanding is that the legal limit for being considered drunk, .08 or .1 depending on the state, is what is used to define consent vs. non-consent.

Granted, a borderline case is impossible to prove after the fact. But for the most part, instances of alcohol-related date rapes likely occur at BACs much higher than that.

It's considered the point by which you are now mentally impaired. We tend to think of it that way, because we think about the deteriorated control of our bodies as the rational for deciding it's the drunk driving threshold, but it's also correlated with a massive reduction in our inhibitions and other rational processes. Those begin at a lower point, but this is when they start to get severe.

.12 is generally where the "wasted" symptoms would begin. That's relative to each person, and their own developed resistance, but your ability to make rational decisions will be seriously impaired at that point. You lose ability to absorb and process information, etc.

So legally, consent requires that a person be below the legal limit.

The problem, of course, is that it can be extremely difficult to prosecute this forms of rape regardless of how drunk you were. Assuming, at least, you don't have reliable witnesses regarding how drunk you were.

edit:

Quote:
Absolutely. The problem there is that we send mixed messages, not just from society and media, but also from those who get perhaps a bit too excessive in the cause of fighting rape. It would perhaps be useful to settle on some reasonable standards somewhere between "if a chick is drunk it means she wants to have sex" and "if you have sex with a woman who's consumed a single sip of alcohol, it's rape".


There is a clear threshold. It's not super easy to use, but it's clear. It's usually pretty clear when someone has reached the point they shouldn't be driving, legally. Same exact scenario.

As with all things, when in doubt, don't put your ***** in it.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 8:55pm by idiggory
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#73 Jun 05 2013 at 7:00 PM Rating: Default
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How about, if we're relying on witnesses, we judge based on obvious signs of consent rather than how drunk someone is. Because in your case, what happens if both parties are equally drunk, neither party says no, and both go off together to room and have sex? Do you charge someone with rape then because they had sex over some arbitrary legal limit?

I think it's a lot better standard to say that if someone is non-responsive, and is carried/staggered/dragged into a room for sex then that's rape. But if she drunk off her ***, flashing her boobs at the crowd, and yelling "Woo hoo! I'm gonna get laid!" while heading into a room with someone, it's consensual, no matter how drunk she is. Our legal system does not remove responsibility for our actions based on our level of intoxication. That ought to apply to consent to sexual activity as well.

Roofies and whatnot excepted of course.
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#74 Jun 05 2013 at 7:05 PM Rating: Default
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idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
There is a clear threshold. It's not super easy to use, but it's clear. It's usually pretty clear when someone has reached the point they shouldn't be driving, legally. Same exact scenario.


I disagree. It's pretty darn sexist to assume that men are able to make decisions when drunk and be held responsible for those decisions, but women are not and should not. Part of the flip side to sexual liberty is sexual responsibility. It's hypocritical to say that women are free to pursue sexual activities as they wish, but then assume that they aren't actually capable of making the same sexual choices that men are. Either you want a world where women are expected to be prim and proper and men gentlemen, or you accept the fact that it's ok for women to be sexual aggressive and men will allow them to be. Which means sometimes getting drunk and having sex with someone you later regret having sex with.

Cause if that's not the case, there's a couple fat chicks I'd like to charge with date rape.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 6:07pm by gbaji
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#75 Jun 05 2013 at 7:12 PM Rating: Good
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Congratulations, this may be the longest you've ever made it into a thread without proving yourself to be a disgusting pig.

If neither party can consent, and there's no additional force (physical, chemical, or psychological*), then it isn't a rape. Or it's a double rape. Who knows. In either case, it's not a situation we prosecute for, for obvious reasons.

This does assume relatively equal levels of intoxication and no other factors. It also assumes no premeditation, etc. He can't decide he wants to rape a girl and get wasted just so that he has a defense. It's super hard to prove, and it's subjective. Which is precisely why we use juries.

But the basic rule of thumb is there. And it's literally only an issue if you're the kind of @#%^ who would wait until the absolute limit before deciding not to have sex with someone who might be unable to consent. It shows how little you care about the idea of raping someone.

Here's a rule of thumb: If you aren't sure she's sober enough, don't have sex with her, wait for her to come down more, etc.

Basically, don't be an opportunistic piece of sh*t.

[EDIT]

LOL @ gbaji making a mens rights post in response to something I literally never argued.

You're right - it IS sexist to hold that it's a rape when a sober man has sex with a drunk woman, but it isn't a rape when a sober woman has sex with a drunk man. I agree that it's rape.

I also agree that it's far less likely to be reported, that because we live in a culture that celebrates male sexuality it's unlikely to be seen as problematic by the victim. But it's still a rape - it was a purposeful sexual act with someone incapable of consenting while the assailant was in a position they could understand that distinction.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 9:16pm by idiggory
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#76 Jun 05 2013 at 7:43 PM Rating: Decent
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idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
If neither party can consent, and there's no additional force (physical, chemical, or psychological*), then it isn't a rape. Or it's a double rape. Who knows. In either case, it's not a situation we prosecute for, for obvious reasons.


Unless one party says "I was raped" though. In which case the "who knows" part becomes incredibly problematic, and the rampant confusion and mixed messages about this issue makes things vastly worse.

Quote:
But the basic rule of thumb is there. And it's literally only an issue if you're the kind of @#%^ who would wait until the absolute limit before deciding not to have sex with someone who might be unable to consent. It shows how little you care about the idea of raping someone.


It's an issue if two people are both drunk, both appear to consent at the time, both have sex, but then one claims that she (or he!) was too drunk to consent so it was rape. And if we follow your proposed rules it *is* rape. Which is why your legal limit guidelines are silly.

Quote:
Here's a rule of thumb: If you aren't sure she's sober enough, don't have sex with her, wait for her to come down more, etc.


Yeah. Cause that's a workable solution. And it now is basically telling women that they can't have sex if they're intoxicated. Doesn't a woman have just as much right to get rip roaring drunk and have sex as a man does? Or don't you care about women's rights?

Quote:
Basically, don't be an opportunistic piece of sh*t.


Or, put another way, don't let women have fun. You do understand that many women *want* to have sex, right? It's kind the whole point of the sexual revolution. If we accept that, then say "yeah. You can have sex if you want, but only if you're sober" it puts a damper on the whole thing.

Quote:
LOL @ gbaji making a mens rights post in response to something I literally never argued.


You didn't argue it, but what you are arguing leads pretty solidly to it. It's just unworkable to have a set of rules that say it's socially acceptable for women to be sexually aggressive, and to drink, and do everything in these areas that men do, but if a man has sex with a woman while she's drunk he's taking a random risk of being convicted of a sex crime. And it's sexist to have those rules apply differently based on the sex of the person involved. I know that you didn't make that argument directly, but that is the way our current rule tend to work out, and applying your "legal limit" rule would just make that even worse than it already is.

Quote:
You're right - it IS sexist to hold that it's a rape when a sober man has sex with a drunk woman, but it isn't a rape when a sober woman has sex with a drunk man. I agree that it's rape.


And I disagree that it's rape. I think it's rape if a party does not consent to sex but the other forces it (in some way). Simply being drunk should not prevent you from consenting. Being unable to consent prevents you from consenting. It's a much simpler standard to use IMO. Is she unconscious? Unresponsive? Head wobbling and unable to walk without assistance? She's not consenting to you carrying her into a room and having sex with her. Seems pretty simple, and it perfectly applies to the earlier case that was mentioned. Drunk chick dirty dancing with you, making out with you, suggesting you take the party someplace private and then actively participating in some crazy sex in a broom closet *is* consent. It's just not that hard to tell the difference.

Setting some kind of arbitrary limit on BAC is not only unworkable, it's unnecessary. If our objective is education, then let's be reasonable about what we teach people. Let's focus on what consent is.

Quote:
I also agree that it's far less likely to be reported, that because we live in a culture that celebrates male sexuality it's unlikely to be seen as problematic by the victim.


Which is itself a holdover from before the sexual revolution and presumably something we want to eliminate from society, right? Do you see how saying that it's somehow different for women is counter to that goal? We should be celebrating female sexuality, not claiming it's ok, but then creating rules to make sure that women can't actually enjoy themselves cause we don't want to risk them making a mistake. If we insist that women need to be treated like delicate china dolls who can't handle their own sexual choices, then we may as well just chuck out the whole concept of sexual freedom for women.


Quote:
But it's still a rape - it was a purposeful sexual act with someone incapable of consenting while the assailant was in a position they could understand that distinction.


Again though, my issue is with your arbitrary decision that someone is incapable of consenting to sex because they have a BAC above a certain point. I think it makes a lot more sense to focus on whether consent was given, and not worry about whether some third party thinks it counts. Because then it's not "no means no", but "yes means no for certain BAC levels". Which is really really really stupid.

Edited, Jun 5th 2013 6:45pm by gbaji
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