<p>Yes Consolation, I agree. Where are the females? </p>
<p>The girl in Canada posted the following quote from Martin Luther King Jr:</p>
<p>“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”</p>
<p>How true and how sad :(. We females need to stand up for each other!</p>
<p>When our D was having a lot of chronic health issues (which continue to plague her), one thing that helped sustain her through a lot of the rough times was the encouragement of her GFs (as well as family and a few male friends). If they had turned against her, it would have been that much harder and darker for her. </p>
<p>I don’t understand why so few stick up for these women. Why would any woman (or man) wants to be RAPED by multiple people and also be VIDEOTAPED or PHOTOGRAPHED!?!?! It’s so upsetting to see it repeated time and again. As a society, it doesn’t seem we’re learning the right lessons to be a better world.</p>
<p>I don’t understand this Canada case. If there is a picture of the rape, how can the police say there is not enough evidence to prosecute? How is the conclusion reached that she was raped? Was she the only one who said there was a rape?</p>
<p>Is there a different age of consent and are they saying she CONSENTED to have sex with all these males AND have them photograph and videotape? It’s very upsetting that there wasn’t more done for this young woman–another life lost and so many more traumatized and brutalized by seeing how awfully she and other victims are treated.</p>
<p>so sad. it is unconscionable really. hawkbird–love your sentiment. the silence of our enemies…I will remember that.</p>
<p>No–it’s the silence of FRIENDS which is the toughest to take and most isolating.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>HImom, I believe no but did you know that in another news, three women responded to this Craigslist ad:
One of women even responded sounds so hot.
[Rape</a> case against rough San Francisco lawyer faces obstacles | Mike Aldax | Local | San Francisco Examiner](<a href=“http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/08/rape-case-against-rough-lawyer-faces-obstacles]Rape”>http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/08/rape-case-against-rough-lawyer-faces-obstacles)</p>
<p>Well I hope he’s convicted and those women get psychiatric help. Hope the defendant stays out of HI–we already have enough problems here.</p>
<p>oops, of course I meant to quote it correctly…the most isolating, and the most hurtful
“the silence of friends”</p>
<p>thanks Himom</p>
<p>Another, in California.
[Trio</a> held in connection with sexual assault in wake of teen girl’s suicide - U.S. News](<a href=“U.S. News: Latest Breaking Stories, Video, and Photos on American Politics, Economy, and Society | NBC News”>U.S. News: Latest Breaking Stories, Video, and Photos on American Politics, Economy, and Society | NBC News)</p>
<p>It’s so sad. That California girl was only 15 and her photo shows her to be happy. What a tragedy.</p>
<p>I cannot put my mind around these horrific rapes. I can’t help but wonder if some of the anti woman rhetoric over the last couple of years has contributed to misogynistic treatment of young women. I hope these young men are tried as adults.</p>
<p>When a very large percentage of our music glorifies violence against women and political and social commentators are “allowed” to publicly humiliate and belittle women, of course it has an impact. </p>
<p>It is very clear that we do not value women in this society. We have some of the worst maternal health care rates and highest rates of rape and domestic violence in the industrialized world. For crying out loud, there was a bill in Illinois last year restricting abortion rights that came out of the **Agriculture and Conservation Committee<a href=“and%20sponsored%20by%20a%20Democrat%20so%20no%20one%20is%20innocent%20here”>/b</a>. Regardless of your views on abortion, what does that tell young women when their bodies are being controlled by the same committee that controls cattle?! When governors defund sexual assault and domestic violence programs because they’re “unnecessary”?! </p>
<p>I have absolutely had it. How many more young women need to die, physically or emotionally, before we actually do something meaningful instead of just going “oh, those poor girls… someone should really do something!”</p>
<p>[Audrie</a> Pott case: Whispers of sexual assault after Saratoga teen’s suicide prompted investigation - San Jose Mercury News](<a href=“Audrie Pott case: Whispers of sexual assault after Saratoga teen’s suicide prompted investigation – The Mercury News”>Audrie Pott case: Whispers of sexual assault after Saratoga teen’s suicide prompted investigation – The Mercury News)</p>
<p>Some local history:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I too, would like to see the perps tried as adults. It seems obvious that if someone can commit sexual assault, that they should be tried as an adult, but here is a different view of the ramifications:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wow. Apparently these appalling rapes are everywhere. Steubenville is a fading working-class town, but Saratoga, California, is one of the richest towns in the country.</p>
<p>Also, the three accused rapists’ lawyer put out this disgusting statement: “Much of what has been reported over the last several days is inaccurate. Most disturbing is the attempt to link (Audrie’s) suicide to the specific actions of these three boys,” the statement reads. “We are hopeful that everyone understands that these boys, none of whom have ever been in trouble with the law, are to be regarded as innocent. Due to the juvenile nature of the proceedings, we believe it inappropriate to comment further at this time.”</p>
<p>So their defense is going to be that they hadn’t been in trouble with the law before this, and their (alleged) rape of this girl while she was unconscious, their (alleged) taking pictures of the rape and showing the pictures to their friends didn’t have anything to do with that poor girl’s suicide? I guess that makes it all right. NOT! How do those lawyers sleep at night?</p>
<p>^ We’ll see how that goes over. The defense in the Stubenville case was pretty lame as well. People/jurors are not stupid. THERE ARE PHOTOGRAPHS! EVIDENCE.</p>
<p>Ugh, that statement by the lawyers bothered me on a visceral level too. These are “good kids from good families” so let’s cut them a break, shall we? Let’s not “ruin their promising young lives” by labeling them as sex offenders, etc., etc. Meanwhile, the victim’s life is over because of what they did to her! </p>
<p>Apparently the girl considered those boys to be her friends, but her family had also complained to the school the previous year that she had been bullied. Where those boys involved in that bullying? I wonder if she considered them friends but they considered her to be a target - even if they weren’t bullying her previously. </p>
<p>I talk about these cases with my daughters, especially the youngest one who is still at home. She’ll go out and I’ll tell her “don’t hang out with any rapists”, half - jokingly, and we’ll visit colleges and I’ll be looking around, wondering if the environment there is safe or if it enables rapists, and I know that so much of this is out of our hands and in the hands of the angels. I’ll keep talking to her and I hope that she talks about it with her friends, both male and female, and that hopefully, the culture will start changing.</p>
<p>What does this remind people of…</p>
<p>[Steubenville</a> Football Coach Gets Contract Extension After Involvement In Rape Scandal | ThinkProgress](<a href=“http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/04/22/1904261/steubenville-football-coach-gets-contract-extension-after-involvement-in-rape-scandal/]Steubenville”>http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2013/04/22/1904261/steubenville-football-coach-gets-contract-extension-after-involvement-in-rape-scandal/)</p>
<p>They’ll give him a raise.</p>
<p>At this point the victim’s name is, I’m sure, widely known, not just in the area around Steubenville & that part of WV where she is from. I followed the case as it progressed by watching not only the news but various internet sources. It was through following those sources that I too learned the victims name recently. Had I known where to look more specifically, it would have been easy to discover her name almost instantaneously. After her first name was aired during the sentencing & finding out a little more detailed info, it wasn’t hard to locate.</p>
<p>I do agree with others that have said that if it weren’t for social media, this case probably would have remained only within the confines of the Steubenville area. So from that standpoint I’m glad it broke. I do understand that it is a difficult situation for anyone to endure, especially a young teen. It was hard enough growing up when I did & I know the pressures are just as intense if not mores so for todays youth. </p>
<p>I also understand the right to privacy, especially for minors, but to some extent I have mixed emotions. I feel that only when people ‘stand up’ & speak out when crimes such as this are committed, will it truly lead to the end of such sickening behavior & the mindset that the football team & community have. By being silent, it just sends a message that its OK for things like this to happen & (I feel) will likely just lead to the same perpetrators continuing to offend innocent people.</p>