Today we listened to four presentations
First was Lateah went first, she is planning on doing something physical, maybe even something like a flash mob..something that people can see. She designed a dance/flash mob of ~20+ people with a recording playing of the statistics of rape and while that is being said, the people would act out what the statistic was saying. Everyone would be wearing all black. At the end, everyone would line up domino style, it would snake around the mall/cub area, the first person would represent a rape victim and everyone would trust fall backwards to show how rape effects someone for the rest of their life. Somebody would be wearing a help shirt and would push the people back up to demonstrate that help is available. Then everyone would strip down to their undies with #stillnotanexcuse written on them. With this being video taped it could show the viral media culture happening and be able to be played over again for social media.
Next was Jackson, he made a handout titled "feminism can end rape culture" by Men for Social Change, under the women resource center. It is about the toxic masculinity and ending patriarchy. The handout includes an outline with important points. Their short term goal is a presentation for fraternities to talk to the men who are statistically more inclined to be the rapists, and what leads to those kinds of actions. It is important to tell men that it's not important to be dominant and powerful over women. The idea of patriarchy leads to rape culture "power, sports, get the woman, etc." You don't have to be what society tells you to be, you can be a man while also enjoying things that aren't "manly". What non-masculine things do you do? By making a list of all these things that men do that are non-masculine more men will see that they don't have to be a true man. By showing them it's okay to be like this, hopefully rape culture will slow down with men feeling like they need to be so masculine going away.
Then Mikah and Jace went, they made a pamphlet to hand out to college men specifically. It has a bunch of resources listed, what to do if you are the victim or know a victim, statistics, and a website related to it. It is something that could be handed out at Women's Resource Center. Their website listed is known as The Voice Project which is loaded with statistics, what rape is, Title IX information, videos, more resources. The video was very empowering and would help a lot of audience. There is also a take action page that gives awareness and tells victims the steps they can take and what they should do. It also has WSU safety tips and things that the campus can do if you feel uncomfortable or find yourself in a bad situation like this.
Last was John, he created a website that basically does what Jackson does but in a website form. On the website there would be things like the box exercise, and talking about the importance of empowering women instead of following typical masculinity roles. Would try and get the word of the website out through classes. Maybe even using something like clickbait could be an idea to get resource out to wide audience.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Thursday, December 1, 2016
12/1
Today we went over our final projects and our ideas for them.
Shalynn started, her and Jamie are going to make an infographic for parents that highlights behavior in kids that contribute to rape culture. Some examples are "no means no" "you don't have to hug your uncle if you don't want to". Going to use research from child behavior and things like that. Use some ideas that are "do this" and "don't do that". Mostly just resources for parents to help talk to their kids so from a young age they can get an idea of how to bring these ideas up. Choosing different responses, "give an acknowledgment instead of a hug" - allows child to choose the kind of contact they want to have with people.
Jace and Mikah are going to create a pamphlet with information about what rape is, the "no means no" stuff. They are also going to make a website potentially with a video. After the pamphlet is read they will be able to go to the website in order to get more information. The audience it will target is things like "GreenDot" at WSU. Mostly targeting college students. Back page will have resources for people going through it and more websites about learning more about rape.
**Important to make sure you know who your audience is and gear it specifically towards that audience.
David is doing something to overcome sexual violence, overuse of drugs and violence, a new position/program at the house (Frat), thinking of a way to help the Greek system get past everything that is going on with alcohol related offenses and alleged rapes that were occurring through frats. His idea is to propose a measure that would address the concerns his fraternity would take in order to combat the issues. By setting an example, they hope other houses will follow this example. A program for "self-education". Should add what to do if you see something suspicious happening.
Holly, Haley, and I are doing something with integrating a resource that would go through the public school system. Currently it's at the 5th grade, 8th grade, and 11th grade sex education course with running themes "no means no", "inappropriate touching", and other age appropriate things. We plan on mostly focusing on the high school though because we could better prepare them for college because the college statistics are the worst of all. Maybe using Missoula, videos, statistics, cases, etc. to create a curriculum that is some sort of "reality check" in order to better teach students that it is real and what to do. Unfortunately parents have the opportunity to pull children out of these classes, the big question is how to frame it to get in to a curriculum with how much of a touchy subject this is politically. More than just sex ed - also including the violence/public health issues of it as well.
Anna and Michael are thinking about doing a one day seminar for high school or middle school students, something media based so they can see what message they are trying to say. They want to convince audience to feel something about it - take a situation "what if this was your mother, sister, girlfriend - how would you feel". Have them answer in questions to see what they think versus the actual statistic. Use live polling or hashtag to keep audience a little more involved. Texting a specific number to have questions answered while keeping anonymity. What happens after that day? Is it a one and done day thing? Or is there a way to follow up or continue the dialogue that wouldn't cut it off at the end of the day?
****It is important to really bring in rhetoric and use multiple perspectives. Don't just have conclusions but also consequences and implications.
Shalynn started, her and Jamie are going to make an infographic for parents that highlights behavior in kids that contribute to rape culture. Some examples are "no means no" "you don't have to hug your uncle if you don't want to". Going to use research from child behavior and things like that. Use some ideas that are "do this" and "don't do that". Mostly just resources for parents to help talk to their kids so from a young age they can get an idea of how to bring these ideas up. Choosing different responses, "give an acknowledgment instead of a hug" - allows child to choose the kind of contact they want to have with people.
Jace and Mikah are going to create a pamphlet with information about what rape is, the "no means no" stuff. They are also going to make a website potentially with a video. After the pamphlet is read they will be able to go to the website in order to get more information. The audience it will target is things like "GreenDot" at WSU. Mostly targeting college students. Back page will have resources for people going through it and more websites about learning more about rape.
**Important to make sure you know who your audience is and gear it specifically towards that audience.
David is doing something to overcome sexual violence, overuse of drugs and violence, a new position/program at the house (Frat), thinking of a way to help the Greek system get past everything that is going on with alcohol related offenses and alleged rapes that were occurring through frats. His idea is to propose a measure that would address the concerns his fraternity would take in order to combat the issues. By setting an example, they hope other houses will follow this example. A program for "self-education". Should add what to do if you see something suspicious happening.
Holly, Haley, and I are doing something with integrating a resource that would go through the public school system. Currently it's at the 5th grade, 8th grade, and 11th grade sex education course with running themes "no means no", "inappropriate touching", and other age appropriate things. We plan on mostly focusing on the high school though because we could better prepare them for college because the college statistics are the worst of all. Maybe using Missoula, videos, statistics, cases, etc. to create a curriculum that is some sort of "reality check" in order to better teach students that it is real and what to do. Unfortunately parents have the opportunity to pull children out of these classes, the big question is how to frame it to get in to a curriculum with how much of a touchy subject this is politically. More than just sex ed - also including the violence/public health issues of it as well.
Anna and Michael are thinking about doing a one day seminar for high school or middle school students, something media based so they can see what message they are trying to say. They want to convince audience to feel something about it - take a situation "what if this was your mother, sister, girlfriend - how would you feel". Have them answer in questions to see what they think versus the actual statistic. Use live polling or hashtag to keep audience a little more involved. Texting a specific number to have questions answered while keeping anonymity. What happens after that day? Is it a one and done day thing? Or is there a way to follow up or continue the dialogue that wouldn't cut it off at the end of the day?
****It is important to really bring in rhetoric and use multiple perspectives. Don't just have conclusions but also consequences and implications.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
11/17
Today we did TED talks to present our papers.
Jamie went first and talked about her book, Telling which focused a lot more on her life after rape, consent laws were a big issue as they were seen as more of a joke. Her author didn't have much patience so she tried a bunch of different ways to get over it. She had a lot of fact dumps that were actually wrong facts, skewing facts to make it sound like the United States is worse off than it is. Her publication was very biased and made the story out to be biased.
Lateah went next and had Surviving the Silence, which included 8 stories by women of color about rape. A lot of the stories were these women retelling everything that happened to them and then the author would respond to these women. The book was written in a way that was written almost fictional style, but does a good job to add emotion to the story. The rape took place in 1983 and her case happened less than a year later. Two men broke into her home who were looking for money, they harassed the husband and son, made them go upstairs. Told her to take her clothes off, both men raped her and told her to be quiet because "she wouldn't want her husband to hear her and find out what she was doing". Only one man was sentenced (30-60 years in prison for multiple accounts of rape and assault), they couldn't find the other man. She did get to testify against the one man in court which helped the healing process. She talks about how women of color are one of the most underreported groups for rape. They feel like they are "race traitors" and putting black men behind bars for raping them. "It is like they have to put their racial identity above their identity as a woman, they are being forced to chose".
Jackson went next and had One Hour In Paris written by a philosophy professor, happened in 1990 when she was traveling through Europe with family and friends. Went to Paris to spend time with her on/off boyfriend, his mentor and the mentor's lover Robert. Boyfriend and mentor went to dinner, Karen and Robert were left alone, Robert had too much wine and tried to seduce her and she said no, he ended up raping her at knifepoint twice. He tried to kidnap her and walked her out of the building, let go of her a little bit at front door of building and she escaped, people in building helped her, he ran. Cops were extremely useful went looking for him, evidence, getting her statements and believing her, arrested mentor and boyfriend for questioning. She left France but had to go back for hearing trial and sentencing trial, he got six years in jail, she went back home to Canada. Said she wouldn't let her define her; however, it made her very paranoid in relationships, she had PTSD and panic attacks because of all of this and she didn't realize it until she shared her story with her then boyfriend. Talked a lot about therapy was good for her and that she thinks many people should go through it if they need it. Happened from a stranger, involved alcohol, and she was a woman so it was an "acceptable" case, said it was a problem of patriarchy. She told him no, she wasn't drinking, he did this because he thought he had an authority over her body. Societal problem not individual problem.
Next was me!
Next was David, Michael, and John on Perfectly Broken. Amber tells her brother the story about the rape that happened to her by a stranger, who asked her for directions, kidnapped her, forced her to take her clothes off, and raped her. She gets out of the car, runs to a house to get help, the mom in the house calls the police to help her. She uses a lot of God references, and eventually goes to Spain. Her healing process is the main focus of the book and Spain is where this really happened. She stopped fearing men and began to see them as attractive again. Trial happens, he was accused of rape and sentenced to prison. She ends up getting married and having a baby ten years later. Book was heavily focused on what happens afterwards. Transition from victim to survivor, her writing was her method of recovery, supposed to motivate readers that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Heavily religious.
Next was Anna, her book, Denial was about a woman who was raped the same night as her sister, when she was 15 and sister was 14, in 1973. The two girls were doing homework and a man came in and raped them, to protect her sister she told him to take her and he ended up raping both of them. He took emotion from her which allowed her to not be afraid of interviewing terrorists which she later writes books about. When she was questioned by the police she had no emotion in telling it. She starts investigating her own rape case, the rapist was never caught, they weren't believed because "things like that didn't happen here". She denies that her rape happened, she forgets everything, even the statements she made as a kid. She denied it for over twenty years.
Next was Haley and Shalynn, they read Lucky a story about Alice who was 18 when she was raped. She was walking home from a friend's house going through a park, her rapist jumped out of the bushes, grabbed her, threatened her with a knife, she battled with him for 15 minutes, he dragged her to a tunnel and raped her violently. She was a virgin at the time and he shoves his fist in her, forces her to give him a blow job, urinates on her. He was a younger black man, he would have remorse "i'm sorry, you're a good girl" hugs her goodbye but then takes her money. Her RA asked if she was okay, her roommate was passed out so she couldn't get in, tells RA to call police. Everyone in dorm watches her get strapped into ambulance and taken, police tell everyone "get out of the way, she just been raped". Talks about how she was the oddball of the family and she didn't get much love from her parents. Her strength was noted multiple times. She was in denial, tried to kill herself, didn't succeed, was told she was lucky. She goes through her trial which goes good. After the conviction, she falls into the role of "survivors guilt", she felt like she needed to be stronger and didn't wanna deal with it for the next 10 years. Does heroine and drugs, writes for NY Times so successful, but her life was a mess. Ends up moving to Cali and gets clean, talks about how "hell and hope" exist in the same plane and she finally chooses to be lucky. Important to her to use the word "rape" not "what happened to me" or "it happened", use the word.
Jace had a story about a student being groomed and raped by her teacher for many years. She had an abusive relationship with her father. She didn't have many friends so she latched on to Mr. Baker and he would ignore her as a part of the grooming but eventually gave her an A on exam and she got his attention. He would groom her and then he would drive her home and giving her gifts, they had a "relationship" that went on until she was in college. The mom went to the school and told her to stay away from her daughter. When she was a junior in high school he stopped giving her gifts and being nice, he would question her and rape her, he had her brainwashed. In her masters program she formed a group of friends and they had her cut off the relationship with Mr. Baker, she knew she had a gut feeling that is was wrong. Multiple other girls came out and pressed charges against Mr. Baker, and it had happened to late after her case for her to testify. He only got 23 months in prison but had to register as a level 3 sex offender and can never teach again.
Jamie went first and talked about her book, Telling which focused a lot more on her life after rape, consent laws were a big issue as they were seen as more of a joke. Her author didn't have much patience so she tried a bunch of different ways to get over it. She had a lot of fact dumps that were actually wrong facts, skewing facts to make it sound like the United States is worse off than it is. Her publication was very biased and made the story out to be biased.
Lateah went next and had Surviving the Silence, which included 8 stories by women of color about rape. A lot of the stories were these women retelling everything that happened to them and then the author would respond to these women. The book was written in a way that was written almost fictional style, but does a good job to add emotion to the story. The rape took place in 1983 and her case happened less than a year later. Two men broke into her home who were looking for money, they harassed the husband and son, made them go upstairs. Told her to take her clothes off, both men raped her and told her to be quiet because "she wouldn't want her husband to hear her and find out what she was doing". Only one man was sentenced (30-60 years in prison for multiple accounts of rape and assault), they couldn't find the other man. She did get to testify against the one man in court which helped the healing process. She talks about how women of color are one of the most underreported groups for rape. They feel like they are "race traitors" and putting black men behind bars for raping them. "It is like they have to put their racial identity above their identity as a woman, they are being forced to chose".
Jackson went next and had One Hour In Paris written by a philosophy professor, happened in 1990 when she was traveling through Europe with family and friends. Went to Paris to spend time with her on/off boyfriend, his mentor and the mentor's lover Robert. Boyfriend and mentor went to dinner, Karen and Robert were left alone, Robert had too much wine and tried to seduce her and she said no, he ended up raping her at knifepoint twice. He tried to kidnap her and walked her out of the building, let go of her a little bit at front door of building and she escaped, people in building helped her, he ran. Cops were extremely useful went looking for him, evidence, getting her statements and believing her, arrested mentor and boyfriend for questioning. She left France but had to go back for hearing trial and sentencing trial, he got six years in jail, she went back home to Canada. Said she wouldn't let her define her; however, it made her very paranoid in relationships, she had PTSD and panic attacks because of all of this and she didn't realize it until she shared her story with her then boyfriend. Talked a lot about therapy was good for her and that she thinks many people should go through it if they need it. Happened from a stranger, involved alcohol, and she was a woman so it was an "acceptable" case, said it was a problem of patriarchy. She told him no, she wasn't drinking, he did this because he thought he had an authority over her body. Societal problem not individual problem.
Next was me!
Next was David, Michael, and John on Perfectly Broken. Amber tells her brother the story about the rape that happened to her by a stranger, who asked her for directions, kidnapped her, forced her to take her clothes off, and raped her. She gets out of the car, runs to a house to get help, the mom in the house calls the police to help her. She uses a lot of God references, and eventually goes to Spain. Her healing process is the main focus of the book and Spain is where this really happened. She stopped fearing men and began to see them as attractive again. Trial happens, he was accused of rape and sentenced to prison. She ends up getting married and having a baby ten years later. Book was heavily focused on what happens afterwards. Transition from victim to survivor, her writing was her method of recovery, supposed to motivate readers that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Heavily religious.
Next was Anna, her book, Denial was about a woman who was raped the same night as her sister, when she was 15 and sister was 14, in 1973. The two girls were doing homework and a man came in and raped them, to protect her sister she told him to take her and he ended up raping both of them. He took emotion from her which allowed her to not be afraid of interviewing terrorists which she later writes books about. When she was questioned by the police she had no emotion in telling it. She starts investigating her own rape case, the rapist was never caught, they weren't believed because "things like that didn't happen here". She denies that her rape happened, she forgets everything, even the statements she made as a kid. She denied it for over twenty years.
Next was Haley and Shalynn, they read Lucky a story about Alice who was 18 when she was raped. She was walking home from a friend's house going through a park, her rapist jumped out of the bushes, grabbed her, threatened her with a knife, she battled with him for 15 minutes, he dragged her to a tunnel and raped her violently. She was a virgin at the time and he shoves his fist in her, forces her to give him a blow job, urinates on her. He was a younger black man, he would have remorse "i'm sorry, you're a good girl" hugs her goodbye but then takes her money. Her RA asked if she was okay, her roommate was passed out so she couldn't get in, tells RA to call police. Everyone in dorm watches her get strapped into ambulance and taken, police tell everyone "get out of the way, she just been raped". Talks about how she was the oddball of the family and she didn't get much love from her parents. Her strength was noted multiple times. She was in denial, tried to kill herself, didn't succeed, was told she was lucky. She goes through her trial which goes good. After the conviction, she falls into the role of "survivors guilt", she felt like she needed to be stronger and didn't wanna deal with it for the next 10 years. Does heroine and drugs, writes for NY Times so successful, but her life was a mess. Ends up moving to Cali and gets clean, talks about how "hell and hope" exist in the same plane and she finally chooses to be lucky. Important to her to use the word "rape" not "what happened to me" or "it happened", use the word.
Jace had a story about a student being groomed and raped by her teacher for many years. She had an abusive relationship with her father. She didn't have many friends so she latched on to Mr. Baker and he would ignore her as a part of the grooming but eventually gave her an A on exam and she got his attention. He would groom her and then he would drive her home and giving her gifts, they had a "relationship" that went on until she was in college. The mom went to the school and told her to stay away from her daughter. When she was a junior in high school he stopped giving her gifts and being nice, he would question her and rape her, he had her brainwashed. In her masters program she formed a group of friends and they had her cut off the relationship with Mr. Baker, she knew she had a gut feeling that is was wrong. Multiple other girls came out and pressed charges against Mr. Baker, and it had happened to late after her case for her to testify. He only got 23 months in prison but had to register as a level 3 sex offender and can never teach again.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
11/10
Today in class Lateah went over her book, about Anna Stubblefield, a woman who was accused of raping a disabled man named DJ. In her case, Stubblefield was a professor the family asked to help with DJ, who had cerebral palsy. Stubblefield claimed the two were in love, even though DJ couldn't talk and functioned at the mental capacity of a toddler. She claimed the relationship to be consensual, and that she knew DJ wanted it, raping him on the floor of her campus office. Once the family found out what was happening they were horrified and immediately prosecuted the Rutger's employee. Stubblefield was a mother and was married, and ended up receiving 12 years in prison, with 10 having no option of parole.
Looking at this case we see a bunch of issues happening all around it. Brought into the case was the fact that Stubblefield was white, and DJ was black. This is significant, because had it been the other way around, the issue here would have most likely sparked more controversy based on past cases. There aren't many cases similar in nature to this case, as it is quite an odd circumstance.
The rhetoric of this case is very unique, as Stubblefield's main claim is that the two were in love, even though DJ couldn't ever speak to tell Stubblefield he loved her. This is unlike our usual cases, which typically involve alcohol or strangers wanting power. This is a woman desiring power over a man, claiming to be in love with someone she had said she was going to help. The entire case is interesting and a case I have yet to read anything similar to. Lateah did a great job reporting the facts on this and informing us of how it works in the rhetoric of rape.
Looking at this case we see a bunch of issues happening all around it. Brought into the case was the fact that Stubblefield was white, and DJ was black. This is significant, because had it been the other way around, the issue here would have most likely sparked more controversy based on past cases. There aren't many cases similar in nature to this case, as it is quite an odd circumstance.
The rhetoric of this case is very unique, as Stubblefield's main claim is that the two were in love, even though DJ couldn't ever speak to tell Stubblefield he loved her. This is unlike our usual cases, which typically involve alcohol or strangers wanting power. This is a woman desiring power over a man, claiming to be in love with someone she had said she was going to help. The entire case is interesting and a case I have yet to read anything similar to. Lateah did a great job reporting the facts on this and informing us of how it works in the rhetoric of rape.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
11/8
Today,
Jackson started the discussion with his book, "One Hour in Paris", about Karyn Freedman, who was spending time in Paris. Book was published in 2014, but rape happened in late 90's. She was in Paris with her boyfriend, the (male) mentor, and the mentor's male lover (Robert). Robert kept pushing drinks on the girl and then became sexually aggressive with her. She left the room and then was trying to leave to head to a cafe, but when she tried to leave, Robert raped her at knife point and threatened to kill her if she tried to leave or scream or said anything. Raped her orally, vaginally, anally. When he was done she put her clothes on and tried to leave, he ended up raping her again. He then had the knife in his jacket and his arm around her neck, took her out of the apartment, and then right when they were about to leave the complex she got out of his grasp and he booked it, she broke down crying. The people from the elevator tried to comfort her, the cops showed up right away, took her concerns very seriously trying to find him but he had disappeared. Even took the precautions of putting boyfriend and mentor in prison for the night in case they were associated with him. She left the next day to return home to Canada to be with her family. They ended up finding Robert 3-4 months later, France paid for her trips to fly back for hearing and trial. Robert got 8 years in prison and then the rest of the book is about her coping with things and statistics of rape. When they found Robert he still had the knife he used when he raped her.
What was interesting from Jackson's book was the difference between police officers in Paris vs in America. The quick response, the amount of officers showing up (5-6) to take her statements and find the guy, the overhaul to find Robert, taking her to get a rape kit, and doing anything they can to protect her.
Mikah and Jace had "The Invisible Target" by Andrea Clemens, which is written in sections of her life. One of her teachers spent a lot of time with his students, so she got closer to him in middle school and would do anything she could to talk to him, which he completely ignored her (she later found out it was a part of the process of making him want her more). She then gets 100% on her test and he would drive her home, the mom saw them sitting outside in the car for a long time and thought it was weird. When she was drinking one night she told her best friend about what happened but made her promise not to tell anyone. Clemens felt like she had to do anything she could to make him happy, she never said no, but remembers crying and being repulsed by him. One of the red flags she got when she was younger because Mr. Baker gave her a music box that played a Romeo and Juliet song, and told her he would miss her over the summer. She went and told the counselor this, and he told her "he probably has feelings for her", Clemens said "no, he's married" and the counselor told her "well, people have affairs". This went on until she was in college and she went to the police because two other 14 year old girls came forward. She didn't write the book until 34 years later, and didn't come forward until 10 years after their abusive relationship ended. She still blames herself, but talks a lot about statutory rape. She tried to stop talking to him and he would drive to her college and and pick her up. 4.5 million students will experience sexual misconduct by employees (k-12). Targets are typically kids who will feel like they are invisible. Her mom didn't stick up for her, nobody did, the teacher targeted her because she needed to feel validated. He would use alcohol during sexual intercourse, she drank it because she was scared and it helped her numb the pain. Eventually, he was convicted (because the other two 14 year olds came forward); however, she was past the statute of limitation. He only got two years even though he did this to at least three students, but probably more. His wife continued to stay with him. Sickening case!
David and Michael had "Perfectly Broken" by Amber Mauldin (published 2014, rape occurred in 98). This book was more about how she dealt with the rape rather than what happened. The rapist (name never given), pulled up to her when she was in a parking lot and was asking for directions, being very insistent on needing help, she gave him the directions, he "couldn't figure it out" so she hopped in his car to help him, he took the opposite turn and put her into a headlock and threatens her life. Tells her to take her clothes off and rapes her, she puts her clothes back on, and then puts her into a headlock and drops her off somewhere randomly. Goes up to the door where she was dropped off and they call the cops, she gives her statement. A lot of the book goes on about how she felt in school, when she was questioned, how people viewed her, and how she dealt with it through Christianity. She studies abroad and feels a lot better because she rediscovers herself and gets help from youth group leader when she comes back. Her rapist got 101 years total for the rape (66 for her, and 3 other women came forward for the rest). One of the officers makes her tell her story 4 times, she felt like he didn't believe her. The rapist didn't use a condom, so she didn't wanna use the bathroom because she didn't want to get rid of the evidence. 10 years later (after rape) she is married and having a baby (when she wrote this book).
Jackson started the discussion with his book, "One Hour in Paris", about Karyn Freedman, who was spending time in Paris. Book was published in 2014, but rape happened in late 90's. She was in Paris with her boyfriend, the (male) mentor, and the mentor's male lover (Robert). Robert kept pushing drinks on the girl and then became sexually aggressive with her. She left the room and then was trying to leave to head to a cafe, but when she tried to leave, Robert raped her at knife point and threatened to kill her if she tried to leave or scream or said anything. Raped her orally, vaginally, anally. When he was done she put her clothes on and tried to leave, he ended up raping her again. He then had the knife in his jacket and his arm around her neck, took her out of the apartment, and then right when they were about to leave the complex she got out of his grasp and he booked it, she broke down crying. The people from the elevator tried to comfort her, the cops showed up right away, took her concerns very seriously trying to find him but he had disappeared. Even took the precautions of putting boyfriend and mentor in prison for the night in case they were associated with him. She left the next day to return home to Canada to be with her family. They ended up finding Robert 3-4 months later, France paid for her trips to fly back for hearing and trial. Robert got 8 years in prison and then the rest of the book is about her coping with things and statistics of rape. When they found Robert he still had the knife he used when he raped her.
What was interesting from Jackson's book was the difference between police officers in Paris vs in America. The quick response, the amount of officers showing up (5-6) to take her statements and find the guy, the overhaul to find Robert, taking her to get a rape kit, and doing anything they can to protect her.
Mikah and Jace had "The Invisible Target" by Andrea Clemens, which is written in sections of her life. One of her teachers spent a lot of time with his students, so she got closer to him in middle school and would do anything she could to talk to him, which he completely ignored her (she later found out it was a part of the process of making him want her more). She then gets 100% on her test and he would drive her home, the mom saw them sitting outside in the car for a long time and thought it was weird. When she was drinking one night she told her best friend about what happened but made her promise not to tell anyone. Clemens felt like she had to do anything she could to make him happy, she never said no, but remembers crying and being repulsed by him. One of the red flags she got when she was younger because Mr. Baker gave her a music box that played a Romeo and Juliet song, and told her he would miss her over the summer. She went and told the counselor this, and he told her "he probably has feelings for her", Clemens said "no, he's married" and the counselor told her "well, people have affairs". This went on until she was in college and she went to the police because two other 14 year old girls came forward. She didn't write the book until 34 years later, and didn't come forward until 10 years after their abusive relationship ended. She still blames herself, but talks a lot about statutory rape. She tried to stop talking to him and he would drive to her college and and pick her up. 4.5 million students will experience sexual misconduct by employees (k-12). Targets are typically kids who will feel like they are invisible. Her mom didn't stick up for her, nobody did, the teacher targeted her because she needed to feel validated. He would use alcohol during sexual intercourse, she drank it because she was scared and it helped her numb the pain. Eventually, he was convicted (because the other two 14 year olds came forward); however, she was past the statute of limitation. He only got two years even though he did this to at least three students, but probably more. His wife continued to stay with him. Sickening case!
David and Michael had "Perfectly Broken" by Amber Mauldin (published 2014, rape occurred in 98). This book was more about how she dealt with the rape rather than what happened. The rapist (name never given), pulled up to her when she was in a parking lot and was asking for directions, being very insistent on needing help, she gave him the directions, he "couldn't figure it out" so she hopped in his car to help him, he took the opposite turn and put her into a headlock and threatens her life. Tells her to take her clothes off and rapes her, she puts her clothes back on, and then puts her into a headlock and drops her off somewhere randomly. Goes up to the door where she was dropped off and they call the cops, she gives her statement. A lot of the book goes on about how she felt in school, when she was questioned, how people viewed her, and how she dealt with it through Christianity. She studies abroad and feels a lot better because she rediscovers herself and gets help from youth group leader when she comes back. Her rapist got 101 years total for the rape (66 for her, and 3 other women came forward for the rest). One of the officers makes her tell her story 4 times, she felt like he didn't believe her. The rapist didn't use a condom, so she didn't wanna use the bathroom because she didn't want to get rid of the evidence. 10 years later (after rape) she is married and having a baby (when she wrote this book).
Thursday, November 3, 2016
11/3
Today we went over more books, Shalynn had "Lucky", as two others did before. It is about a woman who was a virgin, dressed in "frumpy" clothing and was walking home through a park, a man came up behind her and raped her. She immediately told her RA at her dorm who in turn called the police and had a rape kit done. The rest of the book tells about the rest of her life as a victim. The rapist is caught and convicted in court. She later gets into alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism. She does a good job examining her new position as a rape victim, "a story to people", "an object", multiple people would say "that was their BEST FRIEND" or someone they knew "very well" even if that wasn't true. She becomes a story and not a person. The fact that she was a virgin was extremely instrumental to her life, and her case. In her own mind she was still a virgin, even though physically that wasn't true. "That person is in my world and I better relate to him"...only certain people understand her in "that world". She wanted people to say the word, it is important to say the word. A lot of people didn't want to listen to her story, but she wanted them to listen.
Jaime went next and read "Telling" (published in 1999, but raped in 80's). 29 years old, someone broke into her apartment while her husband was gone, raped her at knife point, tortured her for multiple hours. Her friend took her to the hospital, nurse told her she was the 4th rape that morning and it was only 6am. Told the story in snippets throughout the book, not just in one big story. She slept with a knife under her mattress for 20 years. She was in labor for 36 hours with her son and that gave her flashbacks to the rape. Her rapist was never caught, but she did attend a trial for a rapist in her neighborhood. Her and her husband divorced after trying to work through it for 13 years, 80% of relationships end after rape. When she would talk about her story she felt like she was "exploding" and people would just be silent. She felt like it was an emotional death for her, really watched her rhetoric "A man raped me" not "I was raped".
I also went over my story:
Jaime went next and read "Telling" (published in 1999, but raped in 80's). 29 years old, someone broke into her apartment while her husband was gone, raped her at knife point, tortured her for multiple hours. Her friend took her to the hospital, nurse told her she was the 4th rape that morning and it was only 6am. Told the story in snippets throughout the book, not just in one big story. She slept with a knife under her mattress for 20 years. She was in labor for 36 hours with her son and that gave her flashbacks to the rape. Her rapist was never caught, but she did attend a trial for a rapist in her neighborhood. Her and her husband divorced after trying to work through it for 13 years, 80% of relationships end after rape. When she would talk about her story she felt like she was "exploding" and people would just be silent. She felt like it was an emotional death for her, really watched her rhetoric "A man raped me" not "I was raped".
I also went over my story:
Nancy Raine moves to Boston, is unpacking her apartment, and
goes to take the trash out. When she returns she is grabbed from behind, forced
into the bedroom, and bound with duct tape. The rapist repeatedly tells her to
“shut up”, forces off her clothing, and rapes her multiple times and ways. He
continuously threatens to kill her, and eventually leaves her house. She calls
the police, goes to the hospital for a rape kit, gives a statement. She moves
in with her parents for 6 weeks while experiencing the worst of the after
effect. She then returns home to Boston and is quiet about her rape for 7 years
until her friend’s daughter, Kate, who knows the details and was sexually
assaulted herself, tells Nancy she is not alone. Nancy now has a new life with
a husband and a home, and decides to write a book in hopes that her breaking
the silence would make rape less “unspeakable” and help others speak out.
What it does good:
-Explain her story in detail
-Explain why she couldn’t really move or scream because
paralyzed by fear (pg 35)
-Explain after moments of attack 39-43
-Explaining how it feels to go to the hospital right after
rape (pg 56, 64)
-Intertwines past and present to relate story of what
happened and how it currently effects her
What it could have done better:
-Add in a few more sporadically, would go off on long
tangents about facts
-Goes off on a lot of little tangents that do relate, but
seem like too much information
-Doesn’t talk much about experience with police officers
We talked about what happens if the rapist is caught, and if it adds closure for the rape victim. Nancy still struggled with the fear of her rapist finding her and attacking again.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
10/25
Today in class we went around and discussed the books we chose for the first account rape stories. What was interesting is that nobody's book involved college athletes, most were not even college students. For my book I chose After Silence: Rape & My Journey by Nancy Raine.
Raine's story is one of breaking the silence to rape after she dealt with rape first-hand. When Raine was thirty-nine years old, she took her trash out from her apartment, leaving her backdoor open, and allowing a stranger to sneak in as her back was turned. For the next couple hours, the stranger brutally attacked Nancy, yelling at her to "shut up" any time she tried to scream, tell him to stop, convince him not to do it, etc. These words, "shut up" now resonate with Nancy so strongly, she loathes the sound of them. For seven years, Nancy believed she had to be quiet about what happened to her, that she couldn't bring it up, that it couldn't be spoken of. Her family was afraid to talk about it, her friends were afraid to talk about it, nobody wanted to upset her. Nancy had told her dear friend's daughter about what had happened to her, as they had a very close bond. A few years later, the friend's daughter was also sexually assaulted, and Nancy's bond with her became even tighter. On the 7th anniversary of her rape, Nancy decided to begin writing how she felt everyday for the last seven years on October 11th, and when Nancy didn't know what to write anymore, she received flowers from her friend's daughter telling her she wasn't alone. Nancy then completed her article and published it, receiving a lot of feedback telling her how inspiring she was at that they had also felt silenced. Nancy then decided to go on and publish this book in hopes to stop the "unspeakableness" of rape, hoping to end the silence people must feel. Nancy wants the topic of rape to stop being such a taboo topic, and having happened in the 1980's, breaking silence in the mid 90's was tough for Nancy.
After we all discussed our books, we moved on to getting our papers back. Talking about conclusions was a big subject today, as conclusions shouldn't be the shortest paragraph in an essay, but many people make them. Things we could have included in this paper to make it longer were policy proposals, the way we think the system favors the rapist, etc.
From here we went on to discussing claims and warrants, especially alcohol being involved in rape. We discussed that alcohol doesn’t make you do things out of character; it makes you do things that are in character that you may not even know you wish to do sober. We also talked about athletes and how the star football player is typically let off easier because "they can have any woman they want because they are the star"- this is based on a woman being just for sex. This is irrelevant to rape, because just since someone is a "star", that doesn't mean they are entitled to this sort of thing. Rape is often seen as something less quick to prosecute, as it becomes a "he said-she said" case.
Even with advanced technology that we can get finger prints off of someone, it can be hard to use in rape cases. Many rape victims go home and shower right away because they are in denial. If someone goes straight to the hospital and has a rape kit done, they have loads of evidence. Now, you can get evidence even up to 5-7 days after the even, although it becomes less likely. The process is long and involved, takes 4-6 hours, they take your clothes, you have to answer tons of questions, people coming in and out to take samples, etc. It is embarrassing, it is violating, and it is a tough, long process. This is one of the reasons why many people don't do it.
Today our discussion went to various places, but touched on rather important matters.
Raine's story is one of breaking the silence to rape after she dealt with rape first-hand. When Raine was thirty-nine years old, she took her trash out from her apartment, leaving her backdoor open, and allowing a stranger to sneak in as her back was turned. For the next couple hours, the stranger brutally attacked Nancy, yelling at her to "shut up" any time she tried to scream, tell him to stop, convince him not to do it, etc. These words, "shut up" now resonate with Nancy so strongly, she loathes the sound of them. For seven years, Nancy believed she had to be quiet about what happened to her, that she couldn't bring it up, that it couldn't be spoken of. Her family was afraid to talk about it, her friends were afraid to talk about it, nobody wanted to upset her. Nancy had told her dear friend's daughter about what had happened to her, as they had a very close bond. A few years later, the friend's daughter was also sexually assaulted, and Nancy's bond with her became even tighter. On the 7th anniversary of her rape, Nancy decided to begin writing how she felt everyday for the last seven years on October 11th, and when Nancy didn't know what to write anymore, she received flowers from her friend's daughter telling her she wasn't alone. Nancy then completed her article and published it, receiving a lot of feedback telling her how inspiring she was at that they had also felt silenced. Nancy then decided to go on and publish this book in hopes to stop the "unspeakableness" of rape, hoping to end the silence people must feel. Nancy wants the topic of rape to stop being such a taboo topic, and having happened in the 1980's, breaking silence in the mid 90's was tough for Nancy.
After we all discussed our books, we moved on to getting our papers back. Talking about conclusions was a big subject today, as conclusions shouldn't be the shortest paragraph in an essay, but many people make them. Things we could have included in this paper to make it longer were policy proposals, the way we think the system favors the rapist, etc.
From here we went on to discussing claims and warrants, especially alcohol being involved in rape. We discussed that alcohol doesn’t make you do things out of character; it makes you do things that are in character that you may not even know you wish to do sober. We also talked about athletes and how the star football player is typically let off easier because "they can have any woman they want because they are the star"- this is based on a woman being just for sex. This is irrelevant to rape, because just since someone is a "star", that doesn't mean they are entitled to this sort of thing. Rape is often seen as something less quick to prosecute, as it becomes a "he said-she said" case.
Even with advanced technology that we can get finger prints off of someone, it can be hard to use in rape cases. Many rape victims go home and shower right away because they are in denial. If someone goes straight to the hospital and has a rape kit done, they have loads of evidence. Now, you can get evidence even up to 5-7 days after the even, although it becomes less likely. The process is long and involved, takes 4-6 hours, they take your clothes, you have to answer tons of questions, people coming in and out to take samples, etc. It is embarrassing, it is violating, and it is a tough, long process. This is one of the reasons why many people don't do it.
Today our discussion went to various places, but touched on rather important matters.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
10/20
Today in class we went through and did our TED talks, so once again, there isn't really much to say as I have already reported on what everyone was reading and discussing.
As we went around, it was interesting to see the amount of variety in people's cases. Cases ranged from University athletic rape cases (like in Missoula), to caretakers raping disabled, to strangers on the street raping someone. All in all, it goes to show that the cases in Missoula are not the only type of rape cases, and that rape can truly happen to anybody, anywhere.
The rhetoric discussing rape is such an issue in America, and that is what I truly got out of these cases. It seemed like all of these cases had victim blaming, and most of them had little to no punishment for the offender. It is absolutely sickening that a crime this heinous is less punishable than something like robbery. A crime that ruins somebody's life, and leaves victims with things like PTSD is seen as minuscule in so many courtrooms around America.
All of these cases had one thing in common: people rape because they are rapists, not because the victim was asking for it, not because they thought it was okay, but because they are rapists. This epidemic plaguing America needs to be changed, and the justice system is the place to start.
As we went around, it was interesting to see the amount of variety in people's cases. Cases ranged from University athletic rape cases (like in Missoula), to caretakers raping disabled, to strangers on the street raping someone. All in all, it goes to show that the cases in Missoula are not the only type of rape cases, and that rape can truly happen to anybody, anywhere.
The rhetoric discussing rape is such an issue in America, and that is what I truly got out of these cases. It seemed like all of these cases had victim blaming, and most of them had little to no punishment for the offender. It is absolutely sickening that a crime this heinous is less punishable than something like robbery. A crime that ruins somebody's life, and leaves victims with things like PTSD is seen as minuscule in so many courtrooms around America.
All of these cases had one thing in common: people rape because they are rapists, not because the victim was asking for it, not because they thought it was okay, but because they are rapists. This epidemic plaguing America needs to be changed, and the justice system is the place to start.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
10/18
Today we peer reviewed our drafts for our cases, so there isn't really much to say. There weren't many people in class, including Professor Condon, so we didn't stay very long.
I worked with Jackson, Haley, and Anna; however, Jackson was the only one to review my paper. He gave me some great feedback that will definitely help me restructure my paper to make it more interesting. Currently, it is pretty dry because it is a lot of legal jargon, which unfortunately is hard to work around because I am focusing on the law and how it relates to my case. But the advice Jackson gave me to work in my case information more with the facts, intertwining them in a way should definitely make my paper more digestible! I read Anna's, and although she wasn't completely finished, she was off to a good start! Really other than this we didn't do much...So I guess the only other thing I have to say is that I will be going home to work on my paper tonight so I can have it ready for Thursday's TED talks!
I worked with Jackson, Haley, and Anna; however, Jackson was the only one to review my paper. He gave me some great feedback that will definitely help me restructure my paper to make it more interesting. Currently, it is pretty dry because it is a lot of legal jargon, which unfortunately is hard to work around because I am focusing on the law and how it relates to my case. But the advice Jackson gave me to work in my case information more with the facts, intertwining them in a way should definitely make my paper more digestible! I read Anna's, and although she wasn't completely finished, she was off to a good start! Really other than this we didn't do much...So I guess the only other thing I have to say is that I will be going home to work on my paper tonight so I can have it ready for Thursday's TED talks!
Thursday, October 13, 2016
10/13
Today in class Professor Condon was absent!
David went into detail about his case first, it was about Andrew Appleton, an associate professor in political science at Washington State University. Appleton was charged with raping his niece who lived with himself and his wife. Niece was afraid to say anything because she didn't want to be kicked out of the university. This went on for about two years before his niece informed his wife who called the police. Appleton was arrested; however, as of 2015 he still worked for WSU and was on the payroll. He still lives in Moscow, ID, and was not forced to be put on the registry. Due to Appleton's tenure, he was given special treatment through the university. It is unexpected that a professor with tenure such as Appleton would do something like this, but as we have learned, it is not typically the people we expect to do these things.
Dakota went next and he had the Duke Lacrosse case. During spring break the Duke Lacrosse players threw a party and there "were no girls around" and so they hired two strippers. Magnum (one of the strippers) was very drunk and on muscle relaxers, around 2 am after being harassed, the girls decided to leave. Magnum left with Roberts (the other stripper) who eventually kicked her out of the car and called the police. When they were leaving one of the players yelled out, "we wanted whites, not n*****s". Magnum picked out the guys in the police lineup, as the case went on she began changing her story, DNA tests were held back (rape kit that had no evidence - all 3 charged gave sperm samples that showed them innocent). The attorney for the case was saying it was a racially aggravated crime, he was with holding evidence that proved them innocent. State Bar charged attorney with ethics violations. All charges were eventually dismissed because Magnum was lying the entire time. Magnum had charges of impersonating a police officer and then murdered her boyfriend. The whole time Roberts was against it because she claimed there wasn't enough time for this to have occurred. At first the team was suspended for 2 games by NCAA, then President of Duke ended 2006 season early, coach was forced to resign. All 3 were temporarily suspended, 1 returned and 2 (seniors) did not return. One of the biggest false accusations, had changed the view on athletic cases. People typically stand behind the athlete just because they were student athletes and seeing that Duke players were innocent makes people think a lot of charges against athletes are false claims. We saw a lot of tropes with Magnum being referred to as a stripper and Roberts as a dancer. Because Magnum is a stripper it makes it sound more okay?
Connor's case was the Recy Taylor rape case who was abducted and robbed at gunpoint and raped by 4-7 white men on her way home from church in 1944. She was a young black woman, and the extent of the deputies search was driving her into town and checking one store, saying they couldn't find them, and giving up. Due to the time being the 1940's, the police didn't care to help a young black woman who was assaulted by white men. 65 years later, Daniel McGuire published a book and talking about her case and the lack of justice, Recy was "afraid to go out at night, to be alone, and then of life itself." It wasn't about the sex, it was about having the power over her. Rosa Parks looked into this case and investigated and she also had a near rape experience so she resonated with Recy. After the book came out, the mayor of the town where the rape had occurred issued an apology, along with the state houses of Alabama.
Today we played with the idea of race in rape cases and how it can have an effect on the rhetoric used, and how it changes the outcome. Race can play a factor in the publicity (or lack thereof) that cases get, and it can destroy or build a case. It is interesting to see the rhetoric used in rape cases involving racial issues as compared to cases without.
David went into detail about his case first, it was about Andrew Appleton, an associate professor in political science at Washington State University. Appleton was charged with raping his niece who lived with himself and his wife. Niece was afraid to say anything because she didn't want to be kicked out of the university. This went on for about two years before his niece informed his wife who called the police. Appleton was arrested; however, as of 2015 he still worked for WSU and was on the payroll. He still lives in Moscow, ID, and was not forced to be put on the registry. Due to Appleton's tenure, he was given special treatment through the university. It is unexpected that a professor with tenure such as Appleton would do something like this, but as we have learned, it is not typically the people we expect to do these things.
Dakota went next and he had the Duke Lacrosse case. During spring break the Duke Lacrosse players threw a party and there "were no girls around" and so they hired two strippers. Magnum (one of the strippers) was very drunk and on muscle relaxers, around 2 am after being harassed, the girls decided to leave. Magnum left with Roberts (the other stripper) who eventually kicked her out of the car and called the police. When they were leaving one of the players yelled out, "we wanted whites, not n*****s". Magnum picked out the guys in the police lineup, as the case went on she began changing her story, DNA tests were held back (rape kit that had no evidence - all 3 charged gave sperm samples that showed them innocent). The attorney for the case was saying it was a racially aggravated crime, he was with holding evidence that proved them innocent. State Bar charged attorney with ethics violations. All charges were eventually dismissed because Magnum was lying the entire time. Magnum had charges of impersonating a police officer and then murdered her boyfriend. The whole time Roberts was against it because she claimed there wasn't enough time for this to have occurred. At first the team was suspended for 2 games by NCAA, then President of Duke ended 2006 season early, coach was forced to resign. All 3 were temporarily suspended, 1 returned and 2 (seniors) did not return. One of the biggest false accusations, had changed the view on athletic cases. People typically stand behind the athlete just because they were student athletes and seeing that Duke players were innocent makes people think a lot of charges against athletes are false claims. We saw a lot of tropes with Magnum being referred to as a stripper and Roberts as a dancer. Because Magnum is a stripper it makes it sound more okay?
Connor's case was the Recy Taylor rape case who was abducted and robbed at gunpoint and raped by 4-7 white men on her way home from church in 1944. She was a young black woman, and the extent of the deputies search was driving her into town and checking one store, saying they couldn't find them, and giving up. Due to the time being the 1940's, the police didn't care to help a young black woman who was assaulted by white men. 65 years later, Daniel McGuire published a book and talking about her case and the lack of justice, Recy was "afraid to go out at night, to be alone, and then of life itself." It wasn't about the sex, it was about having the power over her. Rosa Parks looked into this case and investigated and she also had a near rape experience so she resonated with Recy. After the book came out, the mayor of the town where the rape had occurred issued an apology, along with the state houses of Alabama.
Today we played with the idea of race in rape cases and how it can have an effect on the rhetoric used, and how it changes the outcome. Race can play a factor in the publicity (or lack thereof) that cases get, and it can destroy or build a case. It is interesting to see the rhetoric used in rape cases involving racial issues as compared to cases without.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
10/11
Today we discussed a couple more cases, including the Vanderbilt case and the Ohio State Case.
The Vanderbilt case involves a girl who was raped by a man she met at a bar, who put date-rape drugs into her drink in order to mess with her functions to be able to rape her. This man also encouraged his teammates to rape her as they documented the entire assault. These photos were shared with players on the team; however, only two of the four rapists were convicted.
Comparing this to things we have studied in class, this case fits right in, especially with Missoula. The case is on a college campus and involves college athletes, and two of the athletes get off simply because they are athletes. The attackers attempted to blame the alcohol that was involved, claiming the girl wanted it and she was so drunk and sloppy and all of the classic excuses. People even blamed the girl claiming she was a "party girl" and had "no morals" if she was out drinking, it should have been something she "expected". The rhetoric surrounding this case is so disturbing because the victim is being blamed even though she was drugged and assaulted. The athletes spreading the pictures like it was some sort of joke is even more disturbing, because they are treating this woman like some piece of meat, violating her over and over again.
The Ohio State case was also extremely disturbing, as the drum instructor of the band raped a woman who was interested in joining the band. The drum instructor took an underaged girl to a bar, got her in, got her drunk, and talked with her until she was drunk enough to take advantage of. After she was belligerent, the man took her back to his home and raped her.
This case was interesting because it was different from the classic rape case we saw on university campuses in Missoula. The man was not an athlete, he was not even a student, he was a leader and mentor who took advantage of an underaged girl who wanted to be accepted into the band. The discourse surrounding this still had issues, as they blame the girl for going to the bar with him in the first place when she knew she wasn't old enough to drink. Alcohol continuously is an issue and causes victim blaming among the public. The man was seen as some great drum leader and the media made him out to be a great person, focusing on what he did before the attack, not the attack itself. This is a huge issue in rape cases and something that needs to combatted.
The Vanderbilt case involves a girl who was raped by a man she met at a bar, who put date-rape drugs into her drink in order to mess with her functions to be able to rape her. This man also encouraged his teammates to rape her as they documented the entire assault. These photos were shared with players on the team; however, only two of the four rapists were convicted.
Comparing this to things we have studied in class, this case fits right in, especially with Missoula. The case is on a college campus and involves college athletes, and two of the athletes get off simply because they are athletes. The attackers attempted to blame the alcohol that was involved, claiming the girl wanted it and she was so drunk and sloppy and all of the classic excuses. People even blamed the girl claiming she was a "party girl" and had "no morals" if she was out drinking, it should have been something she "expected". The rhetoric surrounding this case is so disturbing because the victim is being blamed even though she was drugged and assaulted. The athletes spreading the pictures like it was some sort of joke is even more disturbing, because they are treating this woman like some piece of meat, violating her over and over again.
The Ohio State case was also extremely disturbing, as the drum instructor of the band raped a woman who was interested in joining the band. The drum instructor took an underaged girl to a bar, got her in, got her drunk, and talked with her until she was drunk enough to take advantage of. After she was belligerent, the man took her back to his home and raped her.
This case was interesting because it was different from the classic rape case we saw on university campuses in Missoula. The man was not an athlete, he was not even a student, he was a leader and mentor who took advantage of an underaged girl who wanted to be accepted into the band. The discourse surrounding this still had issues, as they blame the girl for going to the bar with him in the first place when she knew she wasn't old enough to drink. Alcohol continuously is an issue and causes victim blaming among the public. The man was seen as some great drum leader and the media made him out to be a great person, focusing on what he did before the attack, not the attack itself. This is a huge issue in rape cases and something that needs to combatted.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
10/6
Today in class Haley and Shalynn went over their cases for paper two.
Haley started with her case about the retired US Air Force General who was accused of sexual assault on another member of his squadron who was under his command. He inappropriately touched her, and penetrated her in multiple different areas. This case was the first big case that led people to look into military rape cases, and it became an issue on how to prosecute high-ranking officers such as the General. The military has it's own court system, and all military personnel are tried within this special system, including retired military such as the General Haley is focusing on. Out of all military court cases, this was one of two in which a high-ranking official was court-martialed.
Looking at victims of rape in the military, they have a couple of different options in reporting their rapes: restricted reports (which does not disclose the assailant, but seeks counseling) or an unrestricted report (reporting to CO, gives all details). Unfortunately, there is a lack of reporting cases amongst military personnel, because their fear of repercussion or ridicule. Some women have even lost their jobs in the military due to reporting assault.
Shalynn was focusing on a woman who was raped by three basketball players multiple times. This became a big case because the police officers on the case claimed there was "insufficient evidence" and charges could not be pressed; however, the university took matters into their own hands and found the players guilty, expelling them from the university. The victim decided to sue the university because the counseling she received from the university was later used as evidence against her, something that is completely illegal. HIPA and FERPA laws came into play a lot in this case because the privacy laws were violated and non-disclosure issues were not followed.
Haley started with her case about the retired US Air Force General who was accused of sexual assault on another member of his squadron who was under his command. He inappropriately touched her, and penetrated her in multiple different areas. This case was the first big case that led people to look into military rape cases, and it became an issue on how to prosecute high-ranking officers such as the General. The military has it's own court system, and all military personnel are tried within this special system, including retired military such as the General Haley is focusing on. Out of all military court cases, this was one of two in which a high-ranking official was court-martialed.
Looking at victims of rape in the military, they have a couple of different options in reporting their rapes: restricted reports (which does not disclose the assailant, but seeks counseling) or an unrestricted report (reporting to CO, gives all details). Unfortunately, there is a lack of reporting cases amongst military personnel, because their fear of repercussion or ridicule. Some women have even lost their jobs in the military due to reporting assault.
Shalynn was focusing on a woman who was raped by three basketball players multiple times. This became a big case because the police officers on the case claimed there was "insufficient evidence" and charges could not be pressed; however, the university took matters into their own hands and found the players guilty, expelling them from the university. The victim decided to sue the university because the counseling she received from the university was later used as evidence against her, something that is completely illegal. HIPA and FERPA laws came into play a lot in this case because the privacy laws were violated and non-disclosure issues were not followed.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
10/4
Today in class we looked at three different cases: Anna Stubblefield, Steubenville, and Jameis Winston.
In the Anna Stubblefield case, she was a professor at Rutgers accused and charged of raping DJ, a 30 year old man with the mental capacity of a toddler due to cerebral palsy. Stubblefield watched over him and claimed to his family that they were in love (even though she was married with children). Unfortunately, due to DJ's mental capacity, he was unable to give consent, and probably not understanding of the situation that was going on, considering he couldn't even complete tasks at a preschool level. Anna said she would leave her husband to create a family and home with DJ, and DJ's family couldn't stand it. They filed the suit and won, sentencing Anna to 12 years in prison.
The Steubenville rape case was a story of football players at Steubenville high school raping a young woman digitally. The young woman was completely incoherent, vomiting, and passed out. She had a crush on one of the football players and trusted him to take care of her. Many pictures, videos, and text messages were on social media and went viral, making this case so big. One photo was released of Anna being carried by her ankles and wrists by two football players as she is clearly passed out. Mays and Richmond were convicted of rape of a minor, even though they were only 16 as well. The girl had a crush on Mays, but the next day woke up with urine and semen on her, prompting her to text Mays and ask why he did this, what happened to her, and telling him she had trusted him. The case exploded by social media and anonymous even dived into helping this girl find justice. Since the girl was incapacitated it was impossible for her to give consent to Mays and Richmond fingering her. I have read about this case in classes before so it was interesting to hear more details about it.
Jameis Winston was a football player at Florida State University, charged of raping Erica Kinsman. Kinsman agreed to drop the case after FSU offered her nearly 1 million dollars. Kinsman wishes she could have told her story, but FSU had completely covered up the case and hid the facts. In the end, Kinsman's attorney got 2/3 of her settlement money and she only got 1/3. This case was completely buried and even now when searching Winston, one must scroll very far through Google to find anything relating to the rape case. The media did a great job of burying the case of the Heisman winner so he is seen as just that, an athlete, not a rapist.
In the Anna Stubblefield case, she was a professor at Rutgers accused and charged of raping DJ, a 30 year old man with the mental capacity of a toddler due to cerebral palsy. Stubblefield watched over him and claimed to his family that they were in love (even though she was married with children). Unfortunately, due to DJ's mental capacity, he was unable to give consent, and probably not understanding of the situation that was going on, considering he couldn't even complete tasks at a preschool level. Anna said she would leave her husband to create a family and home with DJ, and DJ's family couldn't stand it. They filed the suit and won, sentencing Anna to 12 years in prison.
The Steubenville rape case was a story of football players at Steubenville high school raping a young woman digitally. The young woman was completely incoherent, vomiting, and passed out. She had a crush on one of the football players and trusted him to take care of her. Many pictures, videos, and text messages were on social media and went viral, making this case so big. One photo was released of Anna being carried by her ankles and wrists by two football players as she is clearly passed out. Mays and Richmond were convicted of rape of a minor, even though they were only 16 as well. The girl had a crush on Mays, but the next day woke up with urine and semen on her, prompting her to text Mays and ask why he did this, what happened to her, and telling him she had trusted him. The case exploded by social media and anonymous even dived into helping this girl find justice. Since the girl was incapacitated it was impossible for her to give consent to Mays and Richmond fingering her. I have read about this case in classes before so it was interesting to hear more details about it.
Jameis Winston was a football player at Florida State University, charged of raping Erica Kinsman. Kinsman agreed to drop the case after FSU offered her nearly 1 million dollars. Kinsman wishes she could have told her story, but FSU had completely covered up the case and hid the facts. In the end, Kinsman's attorney got 2/3 of her settlement money and she only got 1/3. This case was completely buried and even now when searching Winston, one must scroll very far through Google to find anything relating to the rape case. The media did a great job of burying the case of the Heisman winner so he is seen as just that, an athlete, not a rapist.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
9/29
Today in class two of us presented our cases, Holly and myself. I went first and gave the details on my Julio Morales case.
The Julio Morales case begins with a man named Julio Morales and a party at his friends house in Los Angeles, California. Julio's friend's (who was hosting the party) sister (Jane Doe) had been out at the party with her boyfriend when Jane and her boyfriend decided to go lay down in her room. They decided they were not going to have sex as Jane's boyfriend didn't have any condoms at the time and they wanted to be safe; however, they were sexually active. Jane fell asleep and her boyfriend got up and left the room to go outside with a few friends. Julio and another friend went into Jane's room to wake her up to come back out to the party, but when she wouldn't wake up Julio's friend left. Julio turned around to notice the door was shut, "tried to open it and thought it was locked" (doors don't lock from the outside) and decided instead to start trying to hook up with Jane. He began kissing her and allegedly she kissed back; however, at the same time, Julio realized Jane probably thought he was her boyfriend. Julio then removed Jane's pajama pants and began to forcibly rape her, once Jane woke up completely she realized it wasn't her boyfriend and began screaming and pushing Julio off. Julio reinserted his penis in Jane and then she called her boyfriend and Julio got up and left the room, told his friend (Jane's brother) he had "fucked up" and left the house. Jane's boyfriend came into the room and called the police immediately, who then found Julio hiding in the bushes. When Jane's case originally went to court, it was said that since Jane and her boyfriend weren't married, under section 261 of the California law, impersonating her boyfriend did not make it rape. If they would have been married, Julio would have been sentenced much more severely. During his first case, he was found innocent of impersonation and got three years in prison for sexual violence but got off of rape of an unconscious person. When this case returned to appellate court, the original sentence was overturned and Julio was found guilty of raping an unconscious person; however, since he had already served 3 years he wasn't required to serve any longer, but he was forced to register as a sex offender.
This case has a lot of interesting loopholes built in, and challenges a law that was set forth in 1872, when women were still property. I think I want to take this case and look into the history of the statute and see how it has played itself out in other cases and how that compares to this specific case. There are a lot of ways I could go with this, but this seems the most interesting.
Holly looked up the Brock Turner case, that of the Stanford swimmer who raped a girl behind a dumpster and served only 3 months of a very SHORT 6 month sentence. This plays into the idea that the judge didn't want to "ruin his life" by convicting him of a harsher sentence. This clearly doesn't take into account the fact that the girl Turner raped is forced to deal with psychological repercussions the rest of her life.
The Julio Morales case begins with a man named Julio Morales and a party at his friends house in Los Angeles, California. Julio's friend's (who was hosting the party) sister (Jane Doe) had been out at the party with her boyfriend when Jane and her boyfriend decided to go lay down in her room. They decided they were not going to have sex as Jane's boyfriend didn't have any condoms at the time and they wanted to be safe; however, they were sexually active. Jane fell asleep and her boyfriend got up and left the room to go outside with a few friends. Julio and another friend went into Jane's room to wake her up to come back out to the party, but when she wouldn't wake up Julio's friend left. Julio turned around to notice the door was shut, "tried to open it and thought it was locked" (doors don't lock from the outside) and decided instead to start trying to hook up with Jane. He began kissing her and allegedly she kissed back; however, at the same time, Julio realized Jane probably thought he was her boyfriend. Julio then removed Jane's pajama pants and began to forcibly rape her, once Jane woke up completely she realized it wasn't her boyfriend and began screaming and pushing Julio off. Julio reinserted his penis in Jane and then she called her boyfriend and Julio got up and left the room, told his friend (Jane's brother) he had "fucked up" and left the house. Jane's boyfriend came into the room and called the police immediately, who then found Julio hiding in the bushes. When Jane's case originally went to court, it was said that since Jane and her boyfriend weren't married, under section 261 of the California law, impersonating her boyfriend did not make it rape. If they would have been married, Julio would have been sentenced much more severely. During his first case, he was found innocent of impersonation and got three years in prison for sexual violence but got off of rape of an unconscious person. When this case returned to appellate court, the original sentence was overturned and Julio was found guilty of raping an unconscious person; however, since he had already served 3 years he wasn't required to serve any longer, but he was forced to register as a sex offender.
This case has a lot of interesting loopholes built in, and challenges a law that was set forth in 1872, when women were still property. I think I want to take this case and look into the history of the statute and see how it has played itself out in other cases and how that compares to this specific case. There are a lot of ways I could go with this, but this seems the most interesting.
Holly looked up the Brock Turner case, that of the Stanford swimmer who raped a girl behind a dumpster and served only 3 months of a very SHORT 6 month sentence. This plays into the idea that the judge didn't want to "ruin his life" by convicting him of a harsher sentence. This clearly doesn't take into account the fact that the girl Turner raped is forced to deal with psychological repercussions the rest of her life.
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
9/27
Today we discussed some statistics about rape, why rape happens, and sort of summed up everything we have learned thus far. We started the day by choosing the cases we want to focus on for our papers and also picked the dates we would be presenting them. I chose the Julio Morales case, which is about a man who rapes his friends sister right after her boyfriend leaves the room, tricking her into thinking he is the boyfriend. I am presenting more about this on Thursday and will have some more facts ready!
We came up with a list of "how not to get raped" if you are a woman (more satire than anything) and it included the following things:
-Don't drink
-Don't go to parties
-Don't dress provocatively
-Stay away from men
-Don't be friends with men
-Men are evil
-Drinking is evil
-Don't be a woman
We also discussed the real topic of what causes rape: RAPISTS. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if a woman is blacked out drunk wearing nothing but lingerie, that does not give someone the right to rape her.
This discussion soon came to the debate of nature vs nurture and how that effects rape culture in the United States. Boys from a young age are taught to be tough and manly, and that "boys will be boys", all of these excuses pointing to the idea that somehow rape and violence is okay. But how did we get to this point? How did we come up with the idea that rape is acceptable? We need to stop claiming it is in the nature of men to want power, because rape is a position of power, and realize that these are people with serious psychological issues if they can rape someone. It is not okay for "boys to be boys" if that means someone is being harmed physically, mentally, or sexually in the process.
From here we move to gender roles, and wondering how we can change this? Stereotypically, men aren't great at communication, and in an innocent sense, may not understand or be able to pick up non-verbal cues a woman is giving if she doesn't straight out say no. This becomes an issue because not all women are bold enough to say no when a large man is doing something to them they do not like, so instead they use body language to show the man it isn't what they want. Once a woman does say no, or makes it very clear this isn't what she wants, men might feel like they were misled which causes them to feel betrayed and angry. This is an issue because men's communication skills are not being worked on as an entire population, so body language isn't always picked up. There are so many things that can go wrong with the nature vs nurture debate and the typical gender roles, which leads to one thing still: rapists cause rape. No other excuses.
We came up with a list of "how not to get raped" if you are a woman (more satire than anything) and it included the following things:
-Don't drink
-Don't go to parties
-Don't dress provocatively
-Stay away from men
-Don't be friends with men
-Men are evil
-Drinking is evil
-Don't be a woman
We also discussed the real topic of what causes rape: RAPISTS. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if a woman is blacked out drunk wearing nothing but lingerie, that does not give someone the right to rape her.
This discussion soon came to the debate of nature vs nurture and how that effects rape culture in the United States. Boys from a young age are taught to be tough and manly, and that "boys will be boys", all of these excuses pointing to the idea that somehow rape and violence is okay. But how did we get to this point? How did we come up with the idea that rape is acceptable? We need to stop claiming it is in the nature of men to want power, because rape is a position of power, and realize that these are people with serious psychological issues if they can rape someone. It is not okay for "boys to be boys" if that means someone is being harmed physically, mentally, or sexually in the process.
From here we move to gender roles, and wondering how we can change this? Stereotypically, men aren't great at communication, and in an innocent sense, may not understand or be able to pick up non-verbal cues a woman is giving if she doesn't straight out say no. This becomes an issue because not all women are bold enough to say no when a large man is doing something to them they do not like, so instead they use body language to show the man it isn't what they want. Once a woman does say no, or makes it very clear this isn't what she wants, men might feel like they were misled which causes them to feel betrayed and angry. This is an issue because men's communication skills are not being worked on as an entire population, so body language isn't always picked up. There are so many things that can go wrong with the nature vs nurture debate and the typical gender roles, which leads to one thing still: rapists cause rape. No other excuses.
Thursday, September 22, 2016
9/22
Today's class was pretty short and mostly just used to get the annotated bibliography all finished up, so there isn't really much to say, definitely not enough for 600 words.
However, when looking at the things we accomplished today, it was pretty great. By the end of class, the annotated bibliography was already at 13 pages, which is pretty impressive for only about half the students being able to access it! We also discussed the first two papers, which seem like they will be interesting. Paper two will present us with a plethora of information about rape cases that have happened since about 2006.
What was most interesting about this class though were the two satire videos we watched. The first one being about the Colorado (?) basketball player who was having such a great career even after he raped someone, and everyone was so proud of him for being able to overcome it. The second one with Amy Schumer about the basketball team that were asking all the excuses which would mean it wasn't rape (i.e.-she said yes to something earlier in the day that wasn't sex, she said yes then changed her mind like a crazy person, she was drunk and asking for it, etc.). Both of these videos had comedy aspects that bring light to the idea of the dumb things college aged men say about rape and why they think it's okay. It's supposed to be taken satirically but every aspect of these videos holds a truth behind it. Athletes just worry about their sport and thinking they are targeted because they are athletes and they will overcome it. Men make up excuses to make rape sound like it was consensual sex. The worst part is, PEOPLE actually believe and use this crap!!! The things people do make me sick to my stomach, and the excuses are the worst part.
Other than this, class got out about a half hour early so there isn't much more to say!
However, when looking at the things we accomplished today, it was pretty great. By the end of class, the annotated bibliography was already at 13 pages, which is pretty impressive for only about half the students being able to access it! We also discussed the first two papers, which seem like they will be interesting. Paper two will present us with a plethora of information about rape cases that have happened since about 2006.
What was most interesting about this class though were the two satire videos we watched. The first one being about the Colorado (?) basketball player who was having such a great career even after he raped someone, and everyone was so proud of him for being able to overcome it. The second one with Amy Schumer about the basketball team that were asking all the excuses which would mean it wasn't rape (i.e.-she said yes to something earlier in the day that wasn't sex, she said yes then changed her mind like a crazy person, she was drunk and asking for it, etc.). Both of these videos had comedy aspects that bring light to the idea of the dumb things college aged men say about rape and why they think it's okay. It's supposed to be taken satirically but every aspect of these videos holds a truth behind it. Athletes just worry about their sport and thinking they are targeted because they are athletes and they will overcome it. Men make up excuses to make rape sound like it was consensual sex. The worst part is, PEOPLE actually believe and use this crap!!! The things people do make me sick to my stomach, and the excuses are the worst part.
Other than this, class got out about a half hour early so there isn't much more to say!
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
9/20
Today in class we had quite a few people missing, so discussion for a few chapters was lacking. Nobody from chapters 21-24 were present, so we began our discussion at chapters 25 and 26.
Chapter 25 had a portion about injuries sustained by sex, sexual assault, and rape. There were stories where doctors, lawyers, etc. use the claim, "these general injuries could have been from consensual sex". This excuse irks me. I watch a lot of Law and Order: SVU and have heard this line come up on the show quite a few times. The fact that many defense attorneys will quote this exact line and then go on to say something like "well the victim was into rough sex", or "the victim likes BDSM", or even go as far as saying "the victim had a rape fantasy". And while yes, these activities can cause internal and external injuries to the sex organs, and yes, some people are into these things, that absolutely DOES NOT make it okay to use this as an excuse for a rapist. If someone is being charged for rape, and there are sexual injuries done to the victim, it is not likely this is a false accusation, and it is not likely the victim was into the "rape fantasy". The fact that saying something like this is even permissible in court makes me sick.
Moving on through chapter 25, there was the issue of victims not wanting to seek medical attention, for many reasons: embarrassment, lack of insurance, in shock about what happened, not wanting to get the assailant in trouble, etc. This is a fact the jurisdiction needs to be made aware of.
When it comes to questioning a rape victim, we took a look at nurses questioning, which we could compare to police questioning from earlier in the book. From this we learned that nurses do much better about sticking to their protocol and asking questions that actually make the victim feel comfortable. They ask for consent for any procedure, and let the patient know what happens if they deny consent. Comparing this to police questioning which often time strays from questioning that would actually help the case.
In chapter 26 we talked about how many times the defense tries to paint the assailant as some great guy who would never even harm a fly. However, rapists are "not some strangers that jumps out of the bushes at 2am, it's often someone you wouldn't pick out, a lot of times are quiet, unaggressive people, with frustration that builds up until they explode" and commit an action like sexual assault. So while yes, the assailant may never swear, never drink, never even gotten detention before, it doesn't mean they aren't capable of sexual assault.
Some of the most interesting takeaways from today's class came in the form of information about Pullman. Today I learned that no hospital or doctor's office in Pullman, WA has someone qualified to do a rape kit. We also learned that only 35% of WSU students drink, which came off as very shocking to me, as it seems that everyone I talked to at work, or in class, is a drinker. However, I do not drink, and a couple of my close friends only do rarely. Last interesting takeaway from today was the fact that the number of people aged 16-35 are 4x more likely to be raped than people of all other ages. When you put this into perspective, a large chunk of that age range is college students, where a plethora of rape cases occur. This makes sense and shows the numbers add up.
Chapter 25 had a portion about injuries sustained by sex, sexual assault, and rape. There were stories where doctors, lawyers, etc. use the claim, "these general injuries could have been from consensual sex". This excuse irks me. I watch a lot of Law and Order: SVU and have heard this line come up on the show quite a few times. The fact that many defense attorneys will quote this exact line and then go on to say something like "well the victim was into rough sex", or "the victim likes BDSM", or even go as far as saying "the victim had a rape fantasy". And while yes, these activities can cause internal and external injuries to the sex organs, and yes, some people are into these things, that absolutely DOES NOT make it okay to use this as an excuse for a rapist. If someone is being charged for rape, and there are sexual injuries done to the victim, it is not likely this is a false accusation, and it is not likely the victim was into the "rape fantasy". The fact that saying something like this is even permissible in court makes me sick.
Moving on through chapter 25, there was the issue of victims not wanting to seek medical attention, for many reasons: embarrassment, lack of insurance, in shock about what happened, not wanting to get the assailant in trouble, etc. This is a fact the jurisdiction needs to be made aware of.
When it comes to questioning a rape victim, we took a look at nurses questioning, which we could compare to police questioning from earlier in the book. From this we learned that nurses do much better about sticking to their protocol and asking questions that actually make the victim feel comfortable. They ask for consent for any procedure, and let the patient know what happens if they deny consent. Comparing this to police questioning which often time strays from questioning that would actually help the case.
In chapter 26 we talked about how many times the defense tries to paint the assailant as some great guy who would never even harm a fly. However, rapists are "not some strangers that jumps out of the bushes at 2am, it's often someone you wouldn't pick out, a lot of times are quiet, unaggressive people, with frustration that builds up until they explode" and commit an action like sexual assault. So while yes, the assailant may never swear, never drink, never even gotten detention before, it doesn't mean they aren't capable of sexual assault.
Some of the most interesting takeaways from today's class came in the form of information about Pullman. Today I learned that no hospital or doctor's office in Pullman, WA has someone qualified to do a rape kit. We also learned that only 35% of WSU students drink, which came off as very shocking to me, as it seems that everyone I talked to at work, or in class, is a drinker. However, I do not drink, and a couple of my close friends only do rarely. Last interesting takeaway from today was the fact that the number of people aged 16-35 are 4x more likely to be raped than people of all other ages. When you put this into perspective, a large chunk of that age range is college students, where a plethora of rape cases occur. This makes sense and shows the numbers add up.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
9/15
Today in class we discussed possible topics for our second paper and went into detail about the sources we want to use and how we want to construct our papers. I focused on a couple of different topics I wanted to write about, including Julio Morales vs the People and the Steubenville Rape case. After the discussions, I decided to go with the Julio Morales case, as it was more in the age group we have discussed often, and it was a case nobody else brought up. I am going to focus on the laws created around it as that is the biggest issue of the rhetoric surrounding this case. Here are some of the links I plan on using to write about my case:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/justice/california-1872-rape-law/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/justice/california-1872-rape-law/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256982/Julio-Morales-Rape-charges-dropped-man-snuck-bed-drunken-woman-sex-wasnt-MARRIED.html
http://www.leagle.com/decision/In%20CACO%2020130102005/PEOPLE%20v.%20MORALES#
There is a lot of information on this case so it should be fairly easy to get the information I need to write my paper. Everyone chose their topics and it will be interesting to get the case facts from everyone and see the comparisons between these cases and Missoula.
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