more on the rape crisis
A few days ago, the fifteen year old boy accused of raping an eleven year old girl in a supermarket toilet appeared in court. The attack took place a month ago and generated quite a lot of media attention as well as awards totalling £30,000 for information regarding the incident.
I followed the story with disgust and I hope that justice will be served, although sadly the damage has been done for the young girl and her family. But I couldn’t help think - if the victim of this attack had been a grown woman, would the media and public have reacted in the same way? Would people really offer so much money for a reward in exchange for information, had the female been past the age of consent?
Call me cynical, but I’m pretty sure the story would have barely found its way into the media at all.
It goes without saying that of course child abuse is an abhorrent crime, but why is it that - as a society - we claim to want paedophiles’ heads on sticks, yet say that rape of grown women is “just one of those things” or “partly her own fault anyway”?
April 6, 2006 at 6:40 pm
i have so much that i want to say on this … i will bookmark it and comment later - after i come back from work.
April 7, 2006 at 2:24 pm
I’m pretty sure the story would have barely found its way into the media at all.
I agree, and the sexualisation of girls with skimpy clothes and Playboy notebooks makes me worry that, sometime in the near future, this little girl’s rape would be ‘just one of those things’ as well.
April 7, 2006 at 4:23 pm
You’re right. There’s a discrepency there, one which is troubling at best. In fact, I’ve now written this down on my ‘Post ideas’ notepad I keep.
Society has been pushing to get little girls into the male view for many years. It’s a terrifying reality, but one which must be dealt with.
In any case, you’re right, if it had happened to an adult female the cry wouldn’t have been as large. Part of that I think, stems from the ‘it’s worse if she’s a virgin’ thing. Grown women have presumably had sex before, therefore, since society sees sex and rape as the same thing with varying levels of force, women are not as important. Afterall, it was ‘only’ rough sex. Not ‘true’ rape, which only occurs to virginal girls.
That may explain part of it, but honestly, it’s an interesting aspect that I have to give more thought to.
Great post.
April 7, 2006 at 7:05 pm
Yes, BB - that is definitely what I think about it as well. The idea that being virginal somehow makes rape much more serious - as though the child has been “soiled”… or “ruined” almost. It reminds me of a post by Twisty at I Blame The Patriarchy about somebody being shocked by the rape of a nun - as though the rape of a virgin nun is more sickening than the rape of a housewife, etc.
It’s an interesting subject and one I hope to jump a bit deeper into at some point.
April 11, 2006 at 6:55 am
I agree.
I’ve noticed that the issue of sexual violence against children demonises both the behaviour and the perpetrator which is as difficult to challenge and change (albeit in different ways) as crimes of sexual violence against women where the victim is demonised.
As an added bonus for the patriarchy, these two approaches also create a framework for pitting advocates of one against the other. As an added evil twist, when feminists point this out, the net effect is frequently to infantalise women. Bleh.
May 21, 2006 at 11:50 pm
You’ve opened my eyes on this one; I’m a self-professed long-time feminist and I kick myself when this sort of thing passes me by.
Commenter Kat: If you’re not already aware, check out a blog called “I’m not a feminist, but…” and look for the author’s (or is that authors’ - I’m not sure if the blog is written by a few folk) work on banning the products you talk about
June 1, 2006 at 2:14 pm
I don’t know what world you people are living in but no sane person in the western world thinks rape is “just one of those things”. Last time I checked it was considered one of the most abhorrent crimes around.
Even the “evil men” in prison give rapists a hard time.
I can only imagine the reaction if I strolled in to my office and starting discussing rape as “just one of those things”.