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Swedish Police Fail Rape Victims

May 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment

The last few days, a number of headlines in Swedish newspapers have discussed the large amount of rape cases that go unsolved. One of the reasons for this does not appear to be lack of evidence, but rather the appalling treatment of collected evidence.

Articles provide examples such as that of a 25-year rape victim who went to the police where semen and other evidence were gathered. The man accused of rape denied his involvement. A match in DNA analysis could have closed that case but the police mishandled the case so badly that it resulted in the loss of DNA evidence and dropped charges.

The woman, together with her attorney, filed a claim for compensation arguing that with the DNA the man could have been found guilty. The woman was, however, not given any compensation, form of restitution, or claim of justice. [Read more...]

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Sexual Assault Not ”Sexual Enough”

February 25, 2013 By 3 Comments

Content Notice: This piece discusses sexual violence, assault and rape.

A sexual assault case in Sweden describing how a man received a lowered sentence because the sexual assault he put his girlfriend through was not “sexual enough” or did not have enough of a sexual undertone has Swedish feminists extremely upset this past week.

The man in question had been threatening and beating his girlfriend for an extended period of time. In a jealous rage, which apparently was very common behavior for the man, he ripped his girlfriend’s underwear of and forced two fingers into her to check for “evidence” that she was cheating on him. The man was initially sentenced to two years and eight months for (among other things) rape. The definition of rape does cover sexual assault in all forms and is not solely based on penetrative acts. However, the Supreme Court changed the decision and claimed that the man simply had used force and dismissed the sexual assault claim.

According to the Court, the assault was not based on sexual violence but solely violence. The man did, according to our present laws, sexually assault the women but since he was “only” checking for evidence of cheating the Court meant that his assault lacked sexual characteristics. Thereby, the sentence was lowered to 14 months in prison.

Feminists groups have, as stated above, raged against the change of sentencing and have criticized how rape and sexual assault cases are being handled.  This case is also similar to a previous rape case that we have discussed here at Feminists For Choice in which the attempted rape of a trans woman was dismissed as attempted rape because the victim did not have a vagina and therefore rape would have been “impossible”.

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Victims of Rape “May Enjoy Intercourse,” According to Indonesian Judge

February 4, 2013 By 3 Comments

*Trigger warning: This post discusses rape culture and victim blaming language and might be upsetting.

2012 was not a good year in regards to rape culture and victim-blaming attitudes. We heard some pretty nasty comments that completely ignored the suffering of rape and sexual assault survivors.

Rape culture appears to be fueled by ignorance, as many of the comments showed. Self-nominated rape expert Todd Akin claimed that there is such a thing as “legitimate rape,” and California Judge Derek Johnson said that “the body does not allow rape to happen.” Rep. Roger Rivard passed on his father’s advice by stating that “some girls rape easy.”

This year has begun equally poorly, as another completely ignorant man in a position of authority and power has spoken out about rape and rape victims. This time, it is Judge Muhammad Daming Sanusi, who told Indonesian high court lawmakers that victims of rape ”may enjoy intercourse.”

In a discussion concerning the death penalty for rapists, Sanusi said that “Both the victims of rape and the rapist might have enjoyed their intercourse together, so we should think twice before handing down the death penalty.”

By calling rape intercourse, Sanusi suggests that rape can be consensual. This denies  horrific reports, traumatic events, and accounts of forceful and violent experiences of rape survivors. Rape should not be called sex, or intercourse, or for that matter anything other than rape. Rape is forced on the person, is not the least bit consensual, and not the least bit enjoyable.

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Moroccan “Marriage After Rape” Law Might Finally be Overturned

February 2, 2013 By 3 Comments

Content notice: This piece discusses rape and sexual abuse.

Last year, a 16-year old Moroccan girl committed suicide after a judge ordered her to marry the man who had raped her (previously mentioned on Feminists For Choice). This practice is fairly common in parts of Morocco and attempts to restore honor to the family after the girl and her parents have been shamed by the rape. The marriage between the young girl and the man who raped her was believed to resolve the dishonor and sexual abuse of the girl.

The girl’s parents filed a complaint against the rapist and “won,” as the man said he would marry their daughter. But the girl was further mistreated and abused after she was forced into marriage. The man walked free as Moroccan penal code excuses rapists from punishment if they marry their victims.

According to an article in Yahoo! News: “A paragraph in Article 475 of the penal code allows those convicted of ‘corruption’ or ‘kidnapping’ of a minor to go free if they marry their victim and the practice was encouraged by judges to spare family shame.”

[Read more...]

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Sexual Assault Laws That Discriminate Against Women

January 11, 2013 By 3 Comments

Every now and then we read or hear about outrageous laws dedicated to protect patriarchy, defend rape culture, restrict women’s sexuality, or that are just plain discriminatory. We have three examples of such outrageous laws and proposals. One has been overturned (Italy’s rape law); one is being considered (Indonesia’s motorcycle law); and one continues to be both discriminatory and horribly sexist (Iran’s rape law).

The province of Aceh in Indonesia is proposing that women riding behind a man on a motorcycle should no longer be allowed to straddle the bike, since this might “provoke the driver.” A woman riding on her own may straddle the bike, but only if she is wearing proper attire. Not only is the law absurd in its own and reminiscent of the days when women had to ride “sidesaddle” on horses, but it also seems that “side saddling” a motorcycle could be a great safety hazard. The proposal also infers that in order for men to not to get “excited” and act on that excitement, women need to control their sexuality, while men are assumed to not be able to–or need to–control theirs.  [Read more...]

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Consequences of Rape Culture and Victim Blaming

January 3, 2013 By 3 Comments

We’ve previously discussed rape culture in relation to a number of different topics: video games, politics, advertisement, and fuck rape culturechildren’s grammar books (to name a few examples).

Rape culture blames women in a variety of ways. It often challenges their lifestyles and behaviors to infer that they are somehow responsible for rape and sexual assault; or normalizes, trivializes, and defends rape. Rape culture and victim blaming is absurd since we are unlikely to blame a victim of robbery for carrying cash and credit cards, or because they simply left their house and someone later broken in.

[Read more...]

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Raping While Supposedly Asleep – Guilty or Not Guilty?

January 2, 2013 By 3 Comments

Last spring we wrote a piece for the British feminist website The F-Word which discussed a sleeping disorder called sexsomnia. Sexsomnia is described as a condition in which people behave sexually in their sleep, such as masturbating or even engaging in intercourse.

In the post we were critical of sexsomnia as a defense claim for people who had been charged with rape or sexual abuse. Even though perpetrators have confessed that the sexual assault took place, they also claim to be innocent since they were not aware of their acts. And in some cases, the courts have responded by not invoking a sentence. In order to back up this claim of innocence, some rapists have stated that former partners have told them that they behaved sexually while asleep.

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Apparently, the Female Body Can Permit or Prevent Rape

December 19, 2012 By 7 Comments

Many of us were horrified when Todd Akin claimed that in cases of “legitimate rape,” the female body is able to prevent pregnancy. Well, he’s not the only one blaming the victim: recently, California judge Derek Johnsonsaid, in regards to a 2008 rape case, that if someone doesn’t want sexual intercourse, the body “will not permit that to happen,” that the woman “didn’t put up a fight” and that “I’m not a gynecologist but I can tell you something: if someone doesn’t want to have sexual intercourse the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage is inflicted and we heard nothing about that in this case.”

[Read more...]

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Halo Reach, Sexual Violence and Rape Culture

November 21, 2012 By 3 Comments

This post contains explicit language and profanities.

I like to play video games and Halo has been my favorite for many years. Halo 4 came out earlier this month and it made me reflect on Halo Reach, what I liked about the game, and what I did not like. One thing I found very off-putting was the constant bantering and aggressive verbal behavior displayed during matchmaking. That was one reason why I rarely used a microphone while playing.

Here at Feminists for Choice we often discuss the concept of rape culture, which is the notion that sexual violence is in many ways condoned. We often hear or experience the normalization of rape, which often leads to blaming the survivor rather than the perpetrator. This normalization of rape and the use of threats of sexual violence are very common in Halo Reach as players communicate with one another. Interestingly enough, I have never witnessed any females partake in such a discussion, or in the one-sided arguments where putdowns and remarks are constantly made. When it comes to discussions and remarks about rape the message is one of power, domination and subjugation. The verbal threat or use of the word rape is therefore used to display the threat of subjugation and the power and domination certain players hold over others.  [Read more...]

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”Some girls rape easy” – Just a Bit of Fatherly Advice

October 12, 2012 By 3 Comments

Not long after “legitimate rape” Todd Akin (as Sarah referred to him in an earlier piece), we are again experiencing rape culture and victim blaming. This time, Rep. Roger Rivard supported rape culture and victim blaming by saying that “some girls rape easy.”

According to the Journal Sentinel, Rivard stated that consensual sex can easily turn into rape after the fact – for instance, if the girl changes her mind after becoming pregnant. He said that this was advice given to him by his father when he was young.  

Rivard later said he was misquoted and offered this explanation:

“Sexual assault is a crime that unfortunately is misunderstood and my comments have the potential to be misunderstood as well. Rape is a horrible act of violence. Sexual assault unfortunately often goes unreported to police. I have four daughters and three granddaughters and I understand the importance of making sure that awareness of this crime is taken very seriously.”

[Read more...]

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