Rape of IRAQ - Murdering US Marines

10 February, 2007

Abu Ghraib Revisited

by
Ernesto Cienfuegos
La Voz de Aztlan

Los Angeles, Alta California - January 31, 2007 - (ACN) During the trial of Pfc. Lynndie England, now doing three years in a military prison for her part in the Abu Ghraib prison war crimes, she was asked if there were other things that happened at Abu Ghraib, things that were not photographed, she said, "Yes." When asked if there were worse things that happened, she again said "Yes," but would not elaborate.

While testifying before a Senate panel on May 7, 2004, the now discredited Donald Rumsfeld confirmed that certain videotapes and photographs of the horrific sexual tortures at Abu Ghraib have yet to be released. "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse," Rumsfeld admitted.

What do these not yet released videotapes and photographs show? The answer is now slowly but surely surfacing as people who know are beginning to talk. The truth about these videotapes and photographs in the Pentagon's custody is more horrific than anything made public so far.

The videotapes and photographs that have not yet been made public depict, according to former Abu Ghraib prisoners, bestial US intelligence interrogators and military police personnel raping and sodomizing Iraqi children as young as 11 years old. Some of the new information became known this week when a former Abu Ghraib prison guard posted a video on YouTube.Com confessing to the repeated gang rape of a 15 year old Iraqi girl in custody. The video at http://youtube.com/v/HZuaiZr6YBU was promptly removed after it was making the rounds on the Internet but a transcript survived. The following is a transcript of the most relevant sections:

Voice of the guard at Abu Ghraib and another person is heard
------------------------------------

....girl, she was probably like 15 years old. Yeah, she was hot dude. The body on that girl, yeah, really tight. You know, hadn't been touched yet. She was fucking prime. So....

***

One of the guys started pimping her out for 50 bucks a shot. I think at the end of the day he'd made like 500 bucks before she hung herself.

Really?

Yeah. (laugh)

She hung herself? How's come she hung herself?

I don't know. She wasn't happy. (laugh)

***

In their culture, it's really shunned upon if you get raped. I guess she would have been stoned to death by her people. It's fucked up.

She was fucked anyway, I guess. In more ways than one.

(more laughing)

***

You didn't get shit from the CO, did you?

No, not until those fucking pictures came out. After then the biggest rule was no fucking cameras.

***
End of Transcript

The information on the above videotape is collaborated by Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. He has maintained that the Pentagon has videotapes of boys being sodomized at Abu Ghraib prison. "The worst is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking," Hersh said. Seymore Hersh first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War.

More collaborative statements concerning the sexual torture of children at Abu Ghraib have been made by the surviving prisoners themselves. The following is an excerpt from a statement provided by Kasim Mehaddi Hilas, Detainee #151108, on January 18 2004:

"I saw [name deleted] fucking a kid, his age would be about 15 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets. Then when I heard the screaming I climbed the door because on top it wasn't covered and I saw [name deleted] who was wearing the military uniform putting his dick in the little kid's ass. I couldn't see the face of the kid because his face wasn't in front of the door. And a female soldier was taking pictures. The sodomizer [name deleted], I think he is [deleted] because of his accent, and he was not skinny or short, and he acted like a homosexual (gay). And that was in cell #23 as best as I remember."

The following is another testimony of sexual torture of Iraqi children from a statement provided by Thaar Salman Dawod, Detainee #150427, on January 17, 2004:

"I saw lots of people naked for a few days getting punished in the first days of Ramadan. They came with two boys naked and they were cuffed together face to face and Grainer was beating them and a group of guards were watching and taking pictures from top and bottom and there was three female soldiers laughing at the prisoners. The prisoners, two of them, were children. I don't know their names."

One of the most horrific incidents at Abu Ghraib is told by a 16 year old Iraqi girl in her own words. Nadia, in tears, narrated her story:

“I was visiting one of my relatives, and suddenly the American forces attacked the home and started to inspect it. They found some light weapons. So, they arrested all people in the home including me. I tried to explain to the interpreter, who was accompanying the American patrol, that I am just a visitor. However, my trials failed. I cried, begged them, and I lost consciousness from fear when they took me to Abu Ghraib prison.

Nadia continues “they put me alone in a dark and dirty prison cell. I expected that I will be released soon, especially when the investigation proved that I hadn’t committed a crime”

Nadia elaborated while tears poured down her cheek, a telling sign of just how much she has suffered.

“The first day was so burdensome. The cell was malodorous, humid and dark, and this condition increased the fear inside me more and more. The laughs of the soldier outside the cell made me even more scared. I was afraid of what would happen to me. For the first time I felt that I was in a difficult gridlock and that I had entered an unknown world that I would not get out of.

In the middle of these different feelings, I heard a voice for an American soldier woman who was speaking in an Arabic language. She said to me: “I didn’t imagine that the weapons’ traders in Iraq are women.” When I started to explain to her the circumstances of the situation, she beat me cruelly. I cried and shouted “By Allah! I am oppressed, By Allah! I am oppressed”

The soldier showered me with insults in a way that I have never thought possible or that I would ever be subjected to under any circumstances. Then, she started to deride me saying that she was monitoring me all the day via the satellite, and that they can track their enemies even inside their own bedrooms by American technology.

Then she laughed and said: “I was watching you when you were making love with your husband.” I replied in a confused voice “But I am not married”.

She beat me for more than one an hour and she forced me to drink a glass of water, and I knew later that they put a drug in it. I regained my consciousness after two days to find myself naked. I knew immediately that I have lost something that all the laws in the earth will not be able to return it to me once again. I had been raped. A hysterical fit attacked me and I started to hit my head violently against the walls till more than five American soldiers head by that soldier women entered the cell and started to beat me, and they raped me alternately while they laughing and listening to a loud music.

Day by day the scenario of raping me was repeated. And every day they invent new ways that are crueler than the prior ways.”

She went on describing the horrible acts of the American criminals:

“After about one month, a Negro soldier entered my cell and threw me two pieces of American military clothes. He said in weak Arabic language to wear them. After he put a black bag on my head, he led me to a public toilet where there are pipes for cold and hot water and he asked me to bathe. He then closed the door and left.

I was so exhausted and feeling pain, and despite the tremendous number of the bruises in my body, I poured out some water on my body. Before I finish my bath, the Negro soldier came in. I frightened, and I hit him in the face with the water bowl. His reaction was so tough. He raped me cruelly and spit on my face, then he left and returned with two soldiers who returned me to the cell.

The treatment continued that way, to the extent that sometimes I was raped ten times in a day, the matter which affected my health negatively.”

Nadia continued in revealing the American horrible actions made against the Iraqi women, saying:

“After more than 4 months, a woman soldier woman came, and I concluded from her conversation with other soldiers that her name is Mary. She said to me “now you have a golden opportunity, since an officer who has a high position will visit us today, if you deal with him positively, you would be released, especially because we are sure you are innocent.”

I replied, “If you are sure of I am innocent, why you don’t release me?”

She screamed in nervousness, “The only way that guarantees your releasing is to be positive with them.”

She took me to the public toilets, and she supervised my bath while she was holding a thick stick, hitting me by it if I didn’t perform her orders. Then, she gave me makeup, and warned me not to cry and ruin my makeup. Then she took me to an empty small room where there was nothing but a cover on the floor, and after one an hour she came accompanied with four soldiers who was holding cameras. She took off her clothes and she harassed me as if she was a man. The soldiers were laughing and listening to a noisy music, and taking photographs to me in all poses, and they were emphasizing on my face. The woman asked me to smile otherwise she is going to kill me, and she took a gun from one of her colleagues and fired four bullets near my head, and swore that the fifth bullet will be fired in my head.

After that, the four soldiers raped me alternately the matter which made me lose my consciousness. When I regained the consciousness I found myself in the cell and the traces of their teeth, nails and cigarettes are in everywhere in my body.”

Nadia stopped narrating her tragedy to wipe her tears, then she continued: “After one day Mary came and told me that I was cooperative, and I will be released but after I watch the film that they have shot. I was in pain when I saw the film, and she (Mary) said: “you have been created for the sole purpose for us to enjoy”. At the moment I became very anger and I attacked her although I was afraid of her reaction, and I would kill her except for the interfering of the soldiers. When the soldiers released me she showered me with hitting, then they left me.

After this incident, nobody harassed me for more then one month; I spent that period in the praying and invocation to Allah, the All-Mighty who has all power, to help me.

Mary came with some soldiers who gave me the clothes that I was wearing when they arrested me and took me to an American car. Then they threw me on the highway road after giving me 10,000 Iraqi Dinars.

I went to a home that was near the place where I have been thrown out and since I know the reaction of my family, I preferred to visit one of my relatives to let them know what happened after my absence. I knew that my brother had held a consolation board for me for more than 4 months, and they considered me as a dead person.

I understand the knife of shame is waiting for me. So, I went to Baghdad where I found a good family who lodged me, and I worked with this family as a maid and governess for their children.

Nadia wonders in pain, regret and bitterness:

“Who will quench my thirst? Who will return my virginity? What is the offense of my family and kin? I have inside me a baby, and I don’t know who his father is.”
---------------
End of Nadia's story

There is no doubt that the US has committed war crimes in Iraq of unspeakable horror. The fact is that what occurred at the Abu Ghraib prison have not been isolated incidents. Similar cases have occurred throughout Iraq. One of many cases occurred in Mahmudiya in March of 2006 when a 14 year old girl was gang raped after her parents and her 5 year old sister were massacred by drunk US occupation soldiers. The soldiers entered the young girl's home and forced her father Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, her mother Qassim Hamza and her sister Hadeel Qassim Hamza to an adjoining room. One soldier shot her parents and sister in the head and then all proceeded to repeatedly rape her. After raping her, the US soldiers poured kerosene on her and burned her to death. These rape and killings are among the most heinous in a series of cases by the US occupiers that have tarnished the American military.

Who should pay for these war crimes? Has there been justice in the Abu Ghraib torture crimes? Two of the worse Abu Ghraib torturers received mere 10 and 3 year sentences but one was only a sergeant and the other a private first class. How about the higher ups? Have they been responsible for these war crimes as well? How about Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and yes even George Bush?

 

---

UPDATE

One of our subscribers has located the above referenced disturbing new video that was deleted from YouTube.com. We are informed that the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division is presently investigating the allegations made in the video. Please be warned, the video below is extremely disturbing:

 (More)

Posted by geminimay_no 15:38 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(3) | Permalink

Shockibg But True Storires - Adulterated

31 January, 2007

Muslim fanatics issue another bikini ban in Malaysia Powered by CDNN - Cyber Diver News Network by Jonathan Kent TERENGGANU, Malaysia (16 Dec 2002) -- Malaysia has seen a sharp fall in the number of tourists visiting its resorts. Arrivals of tourists and scuba diving travelers has fallen by almost a third to between 100,000 and 300,000 visitors a month. The whole of South East Asia has seen a similar pattern since the terrorist attacks on Bali in neighbouring Indonesia two months ago. And now Malaysia's tourism industry - the country's second largest foreign exchange earner - is facing new challenges as the government asks sunbathers on its golden beaches to cover themselves up. Unimpressed It may be the off-season in Terengganu, but the beaches are even more deserted than normal. Two months ago the hardline Islamic state government announced that sunbathers would be asked to dress modestly. Sunbathers were not impressed. "For a man to come up to me on a beach and tell me to cover up I would be very embarrassed," one visitor said. Another agreed. "I wouldn't feel very good to be told that you should cover up on a beach. It would be a different matter if you were outside a mosque or a religious place." Sensitivity By the time I caught up with the state's chief minister, Abdul Hadi Awang, who also leads Malaysia's Islamist party PAS, he had toned down his message. "In isolated places, as in the beach where women and husbands want to enjoy themselves, it is OK to us," he said. "But in public areas I think that tourists should understand that they must take care also about the sensitivity of the people."   Thanks to the ban on bikinis in Malaysia, Muslim terrorists can concentrate on bombing tourist resorts without being distracted. The owner of a local resort said he wished the local politicians would think before they speak. "It is not very helpful when they make certain statements knowing that the regional and the world tourism industry is in such a sensitive situation. Anything that is misconstrued will actually add to the already grim picture of the worldwide tourism scenario," he said. "Terengganu does not need more statements like that." Key industry The order for tourists to cover up came just two days before the Bali bombings. A spokesman for the state's tourism industry confirmed the attacks have had a profound effect. According to the country's tourism minister, Abdul Kadir, visitor numbers have dipped by as much as 30% in the past two months and that is serious, he said, because tourism is one of Malaysia's key industries. CDNN Related News Bikini ban or Taliban?

Posted by geminimay_no 09:52 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(0) | Permalink

Shockibg But True Storires - US Soldiers Defenders Of Freedom or HardCore Pimps with the whole world as there Harem? Mr. U.S. Navy 1989-1993

31 January, 2007

revolutionary socialists in the United States

News & Views

Rape in the U.S. Military
By Amy Maki

This past month Amnesty International launched a major campaign against violence against women with a series of press conferences and other events. Violence against women is an international epidemic of horrifying proportions, but what was particularly eyebrow raising about Amnesty’s campaign was their announcement that a major component of their campaign would be against rape and sexual assault against women in the U.S. military.

According to Amnesty International, and other women’s rights groups working with it on this campaign, there has been an alarming rise in the number of rapes and sexual assaults against women in uniform, especially in Iraq. Who is raping American women soldiers in Iraq? Not Baath party loyalists, or the Al Queada terrorists allegedly pouring into the country – but their fellow American soldiers!

Dozens of women in uniform serving in the Middle East have reported being raped or sexually assaulted by their fellow soldiers. Advocacy groups, based on the number of women who have contacted them reporting rape but who haven’t reported it to the military, suggest that actual number of women in uniform being raped is in fact much, much higher.

Following an expose of this alarming situation by Amnesty International and newspapers like the Denver Post, a series of investigations and reports have been issued. The picture that is being painted is that while rape and sexual assault are by no means an unheard of thing in the U.S. military, it definitely seems to be on the rise, particularly in war zones. This is most likely the result of all of the stress and low morale that is affecting U.S. troops having to militarily occupy Iraq and Afghanistan in the face of daily opposition by the Iraqi and Afghan people. The general climate of violence that war creates of course doesn’t help.

Another part of the picture that is being painted is the woefully inadequate way in which the military handles violence against women, be they women in uniform or female dependents on U.S. military bases.

Numerous women have come forwarded reporting that their reports of rape were ignored or were only half-heartedly followed up on. One woman, recently raped while serving in Kuwait, reported that when she reported being raped to her superiors they threatened to charge her with adultery and fraternization!

According to Amnesty International, the Miles Foundation and others, in most instances when rape or assault is reported, the military does not transfer the accused from the unit of the accuser, creating traumatic situation for the victim. Victims of rape receive inadequate testing for sexually transmitted diseases. Trauma counseling is generally very limited, if available at all. And the military often makes public info about the victim, such as their name and location – making it possible for their abusers and attackers to find them again!

But perhaps worst of all is the way the military handles the rapist. According to the Department of Defenses own statistics 74-85% of soldiers convicted of rape or sexual assault leave the military with honorable discharges (meaning the rape conviction does not appear on their record!). Only 2-3% of soldiers accused of rape are ever court marshaled. And only 5-6% of soldiers accused of domestic abused are ever court marshaled. In fact several multiple homicides have recently taken place on military bases that have not even been criminally prosecuted!

The women who suffer from this treatment, and the groups working with them, describe a culture in the military where officers often cover up such crimes, or pooh-pooh it as “boys will be boys.” Victims are often treated coldly, and made to jump through numerous hoops to try and get their charges acted upon.

At a recent Amnesty International press conference aired on CSPAN, one woman came forward to give an example of the type of treatment women get from the military. Susanne Matucci was married to a sailor in the U.S. navy, and lived with their son on a naval base. Her husband, Frederick, had a long history of abuser her, and despite numerous complaints by Susanne to the Navy, little was done. Then one day her husband came home, tied her and their son up and tried to strangle them to death. Susanne resisted, and as a result survived. But her husband then kidnapped and murdered their son. Even after this horrific event, the Navy failed to adequately provide assistance to Susanne. She was unable to get legal assistance from on base lawyers, and had to fight tooth and nail to get help in moving.

The military’s response to all of these recent exposes has been to deny that there is a serious problem – which is exactly one of the accusations women are making. It claims it wants to prevent rape and abuse against women from taking place, but it fails to provide adequate resources, time, energy or anything else to the matter. The stories of these women alone, not to mention the stories of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, are a powerful condemnation against the attitudes and policies of the U.S. military. Lets not let these women suffer have been in vain!

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Posted by geminimay_no 08:27 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(0) | Permalink

Shockibg But True Storires - Rape in the Military

31 January, 2007

1 of 11 --> Being accepted into the United States Air Force Academy means you are the best of the best. Now the academy is being rocked by one of the biggest scandals in military history. This year, 61 courageous women broke the code of silence to allege that they were raped. Six of these women are shown here. In the last 10 years, 142 Air Force Academy cadets made formal charges of sexual assault. Not a single one of the accused has ever been prosecuted. It is estimated that 80% of these rapes go unreported, and the actual numbers could be in the thousands.

 

 

2 of 11 --> Sharon says that the culture of the Air Force Academy promotes a laissez-faire attitude toward sexual assault. Rape is treated as a part of a female cadet's life, she says. "From the day you get to the academy, you're told as a female that you are going to be raped. [Clinicians] push birth control on you. They tell you that you need to be on birth control in case this happens to you."   4 of 11 --> Beth says she was repeatedly harassed by an upperclassman, and eventually brutally raped and attacked by him. She says the Air Force knew that he had serious problems. "He was an alcoholic; the Air Force diagnosed him as a sociopath, and they didn't do anything about it." Instead, when Beth reported the rape, she received demerits. "She got a demerit for having sex in the dorms because she was raped," explains fellow cadet Sharon. "She got a demerit for fraternizing because the upperclassman who raped her was an upperclassman."   5 of 11 --> Kira believes that justice will be served only when the culture of the Air Force Academy changes. "This is a cover-up from top to bottom. They're still blaming the cadets. At first they blamed the female cadets. Once they realized they couldn't get away with that anymore, they just switched to blaming the male cadets. It's not a problem of a few bad cadets. It's a problem of a few bad generals, colonels, and majors. "We don't trust the Air Force to regulate [itself]. The Senate-mandated independent panel said as much: the Air Force cannot be trusted to bring justice to us. We need a chance to be able to work outside of the Air Force; we need a chance to be able to tell the senate all of what happened to us. Because so far it's not really being heard."   6 of 11 --> Hannah believes the Air Force Academy needs to take a different approach to changing its rape culture. "The changes they are making are doing absolutely nothing to fix the problem. The problem is about the culture, not about the training that we go through—and that's what they've taken out. "The rapes did not occur necessarily because of the training or because of the way that we lived. It occurred because the men knew they could get away with it. They knew they could get away with it—and not only that, they would be supported by their classmates." Mr. U.S. Navy 1989-1993 | 29/01/2007!This is the administrator of this site. Should you want to insult me on the basis of what I have proved here, I would be willing to give you a blow by blow count for that by I don't understand why you insult a man who has been deceased for the past thousand of centuries? You call yourself a soldier? You are nothing but a bigot! Hell you have not even accepted your own kind in your own country soldier? How can you accept any other race/creed/nationality or religion? You are telling me that the rapes mentioned here are very less than the per capita? That’s supposed to make it ok for them to be raped by animals who call them selves soldiers? You are nothing more than animals! You are worse than the people whom you claim are to be Tterrorists/Fundamentalists/Fascist. You rape your own kind just to get your kicks. How the hell are you going to save anyone else? You come into other peoples country on the basis of lies. Riding on your HumV’s and your Tanks and your Stealth Technology as well as your precision guided missiles and than murder everyone because everyone to you is a threat. Than you rape there wives, mothers, sisters and not to forget there brothers, as a lot of you are gays also who are working in the army/navy/airforce & the “Marine Core”. Who swing the other way and what better way to get there hardons than to screw some foreign ass who wont be able to complain to anyone and than you kill them after you and your comrades in arms have fucked the life out of them and make a story out of it of how you just destroyed the biggest terrorist plot with the head of Al-Qaeda who just five minutes ago was had your dicks inside him/her. Bravo Commander! I compliment you on how strong you are and how well informed you are about Mohammed (P.B.U.H.). if I was to be a pedaphiles, I would be fucking your kids in your towns and cities not you coming into my towns and cities and fucking my kids, my mothers, my sisters, my daughters, my SONS! So I guess you are the pedaphile here… Huh mate! Lastly I never have and I never will ever want to even spit in that stinking place called the U.S. Of A as its already full of assholes like you who have no idea what you have just done in IRAQ. You have no Idea how big of a mistake you have made. You guys used to remember your War Vets of Vietnam? Well pal, these Arabs they are like the camels. You fuck with them once and they never foget! Vietnamese are nothing compared to theses assholes. Your dead are already coming back in the black bags… just ask your DOD how many men have died? How many more are on the list? How many more will it take to clean this shit which people like yourself created? Body bags after body bags are coming and maybe down the lane your commanders might need you again for service to be rendered in IRAQ. Than I will see you down a barrel of an AK47 or maybe a sniper rifle or maybe I wont kill you. May be I will just fuck you as I would love to do that and tell the whole world that I fucked America in the ass.  I just want you to ponder on this last thought… You are going to be getting off of your high and mighty horse soon. You and people like you are going to be left in a minority and than where will you be? How will you protect yourself? Your families? As nearly everyone would like to do the same that you are doing to them right now. Just remember What Goes around… Comes Around.

3 of 11 --> For Laura, being raped was a traumatic experience. But when she reported the crime, she was ostracized within the academy. "From the moment I reported it, I was persecuted in my squadron. I was treated as a horrible cadet. They thought I was the worst person ever. I was accused of getting [my rapist] kicked out, but that never happened."

7 of 11 --> After the Air Force academy failed to seek justice for the rape victims, Jessica became a whistleblower. She sent 150 e-mails to reporters, congress members, senators, and news stations trying to get somebody to listen to the rape charges. Her e-mails led to the problem's exposure. "I pretty much said that I knew too many girls who had been sexually assaulted, including myself—and the Air Force Academy was so bent on keeping its image that we were being neglected and ostracized."

 

8 of 11 --> John Ferrugia, a reporter in Denver, received one of Jessica's e-mails and began investigating. He says once reporters dug deeper, they realized the issue wasn't simply the act of the rapes. "The issue was that the victims were being investigated and the system turned this whole thing around on the victims and made the victims feel as though, not only were they at fault, but they went after and prosecuted the victims, for lesser charges—for fraternization, for drinking, et cetera."

9 of 11 --> The Air Force declined an invitation to the show, but the new superintendent of the academy, Lt. Gen. John Rosa, did speak out on the allegations of sexual assault. "We've got a climate and culture here that is conducive to sexual harassment, which leads to sexual assault and in some cases rape. Our administration took over in April. Since April, 19 folks have come forward and said they had been sexually assaulted or raped. One of the frightening things for me is that in our surveys, young people told us that 80 percent of them did not report. Eighty percent. "There are cadets here, in fact one in five of our last survey, that think women should not be at the academy. And it absolutely floors me. I'd like the American people to know that we understand that we have a problem. We take this very seriously. We're working day and night to fix this problem. But I will tell you that the Air Force is intent on prosecuting criminals. They don't belong in our air force. And we'll do everything in our power to make sure these criminals are brought to justice."   10 of 11 --> Clara Bingham, who wrote about these six women in an in-depth article in Vanity Fair, says the Air Force is reeling from the scandal that was exposed. "So the question is, what is the Air Force going to do about it? I mean, that's really the question that has not been answered or really addressed by anyone yet. [The alleged rape victims'] educations haven't been finished and a lot of them need counseling and they need to be compensated. And the Air Force needs to pony up, or at least address what they think they can do to try to help them."   11 of 11 Joe Madonia is one of the attorneys for all six women. Oprah: Will any of the men who allegedly raped these women be prosecuted, ever? Joe: We hope so…but again, so far, out of thousands of rapes, there's never been one punishment rendered on a cadet for raping a fellow cadet. Oprah: In the history of the Air Force Academy? Joe: In the history of the Air Force Academy. Instead the lives of these ladies have been destroyed—no medical treatment, no continued education…The Air Force has not once apologized to these women. It has not once said anything about what are we going to do to make their lives better. Not once.

Posted by geminimay_no 07:44 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(0) | Permalink

Rape - A Myth or Fact?

28 January, 2007

Myths about Rape Myth 1: Rape is provoked by the victim. Women invite rape with their appearance or behavior. Women who are drunk are asking for it. Fact: A study conducted in Philadelphia by Dr. Menachem Amir indicated that 60 to 70 percent of rapes are at least partially planned beforehand by the rapist; the victim is often threatened with bodily harm if she resists. The problem with this myth is the way it takes the criminal blame from the rapist and shifts the responsibility for the crime to the victim. Walking and dressing in a way that is socially defined as attractive does not give someone else the right to commit a crime. Buying someone dinner and drinks does not imply sexual consent. No person’s behavior, state of intoxication, dress, or agreement to date gives another individual any level of sexual “rights,” let alone the right to commit rape. Myth 2: It won’t happen to me; only other types of women get raped. Only “bad” girls get raped. Only young, beautiful women are raped. Fact: A victim of sexual assault is a crime victim, a victim of violence. Victims are of every age, shape, race and social class; for example, 1 out of 10 adult men are sexually assaulted, 1 out of 7 boys are sexually abused (see http://www.raap.org/stats.htm). Read the newspaper: You will see stories of elderly, of handicapped, of male, of child victims. Women do not “ask” to be raped, regardless of what they are wearing or doing. Myth 3: Women are raped when they are out alone at night, primarily in dark alleys, so if women stay at home they’ll be safe. Fact: The majority of rapes are committed by acquaintances of the victim, in situations where the victim feels secure. Some rapes occur during home invasions. Any woman, regardless of place of residence, social or economic class, age, appearance, or other factors, can be a victim of rape. Among college women, most rapes occur in victim or rapist’s home. Most rapes occur in or around the woman’s house by someone she knows. Women are raped while engaging in everyday activities, such as sleeping, studying, working, shopping, or driving their cars. Regardless of activity, age, class, race, marital status, or occupation, all women are vulnerable to rape. Myth 4: Sexual assault occurs only among strangers. If I avoid strangers, I will not be raped. Fact: 1996 stats show: 67.5% of victims know their perpetrator. 1994: 28% of victims are raped by husbands or boyfriends, 35% by acquaintances, 5% by other relatives (see http://www.raap.org/stats.htm). When considering these statistics, it is important to remember that a woman is more apt to report being raped by a stranger than to press charges against a friend or relative. Myth 5: Any woman could prevent the rape if she really wanted to. No woman can be raped against her will. Fact: About 1 out of every 16 rape/sexual-assault victims reported that a firearm was present during the commission of the offense. Most victims (84%) reported that the offender used no weapon. However, the primary reaction of almost all women to the rape was fear for their lives. In view of a rape victim’s fear of injury or death, the loss of control over her life and body, and the humiliation that she undergoes-- it is amazing that so many people still believe the preposterous myth that victims really enjoy rape or are responsible for being raped. The newest form of rape occurs with the use of drugs (GHB, ecstasy, Roofies etc.) which, alone or combined with alcohol, take away a person’s ability to function and greatly impairs ability to remember. Rape drugs are also very dangerous as an overdose can kill. Myth 6: Rape occurs only in large cities. Fact: Although the reported number of assaults is higher in urban areas, sexual assault does happen in every area of the city, the suburbs and rural areas. 1993 National Victimization Survey statistics showed that: 66% of rapes occur between 6 pm and 6 am, 60% happen in own home or non-stranger home, and 50% happen within 1 mile of victim’s home. On college campuses in the U.S. which are about the size of K-State—about 10,000 women—350 rapes typically take place in a year (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/182369.htm.). Myth 7: Most rapes involve black men and white women. Fact: 1996 statistics (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abtract/soo.htm) suggest that most rapes involve a rapist and victim of the same race and socioeconomic class. Among victims 18 to 29 years old, two thirds had a prior relationship with the rapist. Four datasets (the FBI’s UCR arrests, State felony court convictions, prison admissions, and the National Crime Victimization Survey) show a remarkable similarity in the characteristics of those categorized as rapists: 99 in 100 are male, 6 in 10 are white, and the average age is the early thirties. Myth 8: Rape is an impulsive, uncontrollable act of sexual gratification. Most rapes are spontaneous (that is, a sexually frustrated man sees an attractive women and just can’t control himself). Fact: Amir found that 71 percent of all rapes were planned; the rapist had it in his mind to rape a woman (any woman) or he had a specific woman in mind. Eleven percent of rapes were partially planned; a rapist took advantage of a woman when she was alone, drunk etc. Only 16 percent were spontaneously or “explosive: rapes where the rapist had no prior intent to commit rape. Most rapists have access to consensual sex; rape is an act of power and control. Myth 9: Rapists are abnormal perverts or men with an unsatisfied sex drive. Only “sick” or “insane” men rape women. The primary motive for rape is sexual. Fact: Rapists have a normal sex drive, are generally sexually active and exhibit “normal” types of behavior, with the exception of a greater-than-average tendency toward expression of violence. Studies show the major motive for rape is aggression, not sex. Rapists can be married or have available sexual partners. Myth 10: Rape is a minor crime, affecting few women. Its significance is over-exaggerated. Fact: The FBI has reported that in 1994 rapes and sexual assaults in the US totaled 433,000. Some criminologists have estimated that only 10 percent of all rapes are reported. Therefore, one can assume that more than a half-million women are raped every year. Rape also affects all men—by lowering the level of trust women feel around men in general, and by injuring friends, family, and partners of men. Myth 11: Women say “no” when they mean “yes.” Fact: In order to have legal, valid consent to have sexual activity, an unintoxicated, clear, mindful “yes” must be communicated. Either party engaged in sexual activity has the legal right to stop at any point. There is no “point of no return.” Myth 12: Women frequently cry, “rape” that is, there is a high rate of false reporting. Fact: Studies show that only two percent of rape calls are determined false reports, which is no more than in the reporting of other felonies. Myth 13: Date rape is not that serious; women get over rape quickly, with no lasting trauma. Fact: Women and men are deeply affected by the invasion of intimacy and theft that is involved in sexual assault. Healthy, competent individuals are traumatized by assault and must deal with issues involving depression, anxiety, fear, relationship difficulties, physical illness, and other problems, both short- and long-term. Myth 14: Rape is a natural, inherent part of the human condition. Fact: Rape is not a natural act for men. A study by anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday found that in cultures with a high incidence of rapes, the economic, religious, and political structures are controlled by men. In Sandays study of 44 societies that were not patriarchal, there was virtually no rape. Adapted by the K-State Women’s Center from: Myths and Facts About Assault by the Department of Social Services, Missouri Division of Health, Section of Maternal and Child Health, Jefferson City, M) 65101. Around 1985, material has been updated using US Dept of Justice Statistics 1996 from http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abtract/soo.htm and using statistics from http://www.raap.org/ststas.htm. Kansas State University Women’s Center • 206 Holton Hall •(785) 532-6444 www.k-state.edu/womenscenter/

Posted by geminimay_no 09:00 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(1) | Permalink

Rape - Attrociously Insane

27 January, 2007

Posted by geminimay_no 08:26 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(12) | Permalink

Rape - Men's pleasure, women's pain: A dangerous sexual ethic is woven into cultural fabric

21 January, 2007

7 Responses to “Elementary School Principal Sexually Assaults Women, Seeks to Keep Job”

1. Mary Sunshine Says:
   January 18th, 2007 at 12:00 am

   Hi Heart,

   You asked:

   “I wonder whether those defending the principal would feel the same way if he’d sexually assaulted them, their daughters, their mothers? ”

   They probably would, if they were like my mother, and 90% of the mothers of women who have been sexually assaulted by our fathers.

   Daughter? Hell, no. Males? Hell, yeah!

   That’s what we’re up against, on *all* fronts, not just sexual assault.

   And of course, all of these folks claim to just *love* women.

   Mary S.

2. lafeminista Says:
   January 18th, 2007 at 7:47 pm

   The people defending this man are claiming that his actions have nothing to do with his work. At what age does a “girl” become a “woman” who he would assault? 12? 10? Would he assault a teacher, or other female employee at the school? I say fire him.

3. Sheelzebub Says:
   January 18th, 2007 at 8:32 pm

   You know, if he’s convicted, he may not be able to keep his job anyway. In my state, it’s quite common for HHS and public ed organizations to run a CORI check on applicants. A drug bust could keep you out, for Hades’ sake, but then, the rules are different when it’s a guy “only” having some fun.

   Sheesh. What that columnist said was right–most sexual offenders start off with “minor” offenses–peeping, flashing, or stealing underwear. Some eventually graduate to far more serious (in the legal definition, at least) offenses.

4. theobromophile Says:
   January 19th, 2007 at 6:46 pm

   Given that there were kids in the car with the two women, shouldn’t that be enough to prove that he’s not “just” scaring women, he’s also going after kids?

5. snowqueen Says:
   January 20th, 2007 at 1:13 am

   I have a friend who co-wrote a really interesting paper about the language used to describe the defendent and his actions in cases where he was *convicted* (from analysis of court records in Canada). There were plenty of references to his otherwise exemplary character, as if this was an aberrant, unusual act. Also the use of terms like ‘kiss’, ‘fondle’ etc. My friend suggested that these are words associated with affection and therefore were not accurate descriptors. Rather they should say ‘unwanted oral contact’ and ‘unwanted physical contact’. My friend also suggested that rather than ’sexual abuse’ one should say ’sexualised abuse’ because abuse is abuse and not actually sex - his (my friend is male) argument was that calling it sex because it involves a penis is like hitting someone over the head with a frying pan and calling it ‘cooking’.

   I am stunned that anyone could defend this guy’s actions and ‘right’ to work in a school. I don’t think that would happen in the UK quite so easily but I could be wrong.

6. Denise Says:
   January 20th, 2007 at 9:31 am

   Snowqueen, I think those are some terrific points your friend made in his paper. I wonder where those terms came from (kiss, fondle, etc.) — the defendant’s own pleadings or the court’s? I can imagine the attorney for the defendant trying to minimize the contact by using those “affection” words, but I’d certainly like to see the court use the more correct wording when handing down the conviction!

   Put me squarely in the camp that says this guy does not deserve to work with minors, especially girls.

7. snowqueen Says:
   January 20th, 2007 at 11:15 pm

   if you are interested here’s a link to the article: http://das.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/15/5/499
   or this one: http://www.springerlink.com/content/k79u647l7g25708x/
   or this one: http://jls.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/24/2/139

   I think these are all the same piece of research but with slightly different angles.

 (More)

Posted by geminimay_no 06:38 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(1) | Permalink

Rape - Men's pleasure, women's pain: A dangerous sexual ethic is woven into cultural fabric

21 January, 2007

Men's pleasure, women's pain: A dangerous sexual ethic is woven into cultural fabric

Robert Jensen
School of Journalism
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
work: (512) 471-1990
fax:  (512) 471-7979
rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu

copyright Robert Jensen 2002 

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, September 1, 2002, pp. D-1, 3

by Robert Jensen

It is not surprising that we want to separate ourselves from those who commit hideous crimes, to believe that the abominable things some people do are the result of something evil inside of them.

But most of us also struggle with a gnawing feeling that however pathological those brutal criminals are, they are of us -- part of our world, shaped by our culture.

Such is the case of Richard Marc Evonitz, a “sexually sadistic psychopath,” in the words of one expert, who abducted, raped and killed girls in Virginia and elsewhere. What are the characteristics of a sexually sadistic psychopath? According to a former FBI profiler who has studied serial killers: “A psychopath has no ability to feel remorse for their crimes. They tend to justify what they do as being OK for them. They have no appreciation for the humanity of their victims. They treat them like objects, not human beings.”

Such a person is, without question, cruel and inhuman. But aspects of that description fit not only sexually sadistic psychopaths; slightly modified, it also describes much “normal” sex in our culture.

Look at mass-marketed pornography, with estimated sales of $10 billion a year in the United States, consumed primarily by men: It routinely depicts women as sexual objects whose sole function is to sexually satisfy men and whose own welfare is irrelevant as long as men are satisfied.

Consider the $52-billion-a-year worldwide prostitution business: Though illegal in the United States (except Nevada), that industry is grounded in the presumed right of men to gain sexual satisfaction with no concern for the physical and emotional costs to women and children.

Or, simply listen to what heterosexual women so often say about their male sexual partners: He only seems interested in his own pleasure; he isn’t emotionally engaged with me as a person; he treats me like an object.

To point all this out is not to argue that all men are brutish animals or sexually sadistic psychopaths. Instead, these observations alert us to how sexual predators are not mere aberrations in an otherwise healthy sexual culture.

In the contemporary United States, men generally are trained in a variety of ways to view sex as the acquisition of pleasure by the taking of women. Sex is a sphere in which men are trained to see themselves as naturally dominant and women as naturally passive. Women are objectified and women’s sexuality is turned into a commodity that can be bought and sold. Sex becomes sexy because men are dominant and women are subordinate.

Again, the argument is not that all men believe this or act this way, but that such ideas are prevalent in the culture, transmitted from adult men to boys through direct instruction and modeling, by peer pressure among boys, and in mass media. They were the lessons I learned growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s, and if anything such messages are more common and intense today.

The predictable result of this state of affairs is a culture in which sexualized violence, sexual violence and violence-by-sex is so common that it should be considered normal. Not normal in the sense of healthy or preferred, but an expression of the sexual norms of the culture, not violations of those norms. Rape is illegal, but the sexual ethic that underlies rape is woven into the fabric of the culture.

None of these observations excuse or justify sexual abuse. Although some have argued that men are naturally sexually aggressive, feminists have long held that such behaviors are learned, which is why we need to focus not only on the individual pathologies of those who cross the legal line and abuse, rape and kill, but on the entire culture.

Those who find this analysis outrageous should consider the results of a study of sexual assault on U.S. college campuses. Researchers found that 47 percent of the men who had raped said they expected to engage in a similar assault in the future, and 88 percent of men who reported an assault that met the legal definition of rape were adamant that they had not raped. That suggests a culture in which many men cannot see forced sex as rape, and many have no moral qualms about engaging in such sexual activity on a regular basis.

The language men use to describe sex, especially when they are outside the company of women, is revealing. In locker rooms one rarely hears men asking about the quality of their emotional and intimate experiences. Instead, the questions are: “Did you get any last night?” “Did you score?” “Did you f--- her?” Men’s discussions about sex often use the language of power -- control, domination, the taking of pleasure.

When I was a teenager, I remember boys joking that an effective sexual strategy would be to drive a date to a remote area, turn off the car engine, and say, “OK, f--- or fight.” I would not be surprised to hear that boys are still regaling each other with that “joke.”

So, yes, violent sexual predators are monsters, but not monsters from another planet. What we learn from their cases depends on how willing we are to look not only into the face of men such as Evonitz, but also to look into the mirror, honestly, and examine the ways we are not only different but, to some degree, the same.

Such self-reflection, individually and collectively, does not lead to the conclusion that all men are sexual predators or that nothing can be done about it. Instead, it should lead us to think about how to resist and change the system in which we live. This feminist critique is crucial not only to the liberation of women but for the humanity of men, which is so often deformed by patriarchy.

Solutions lie not in the conservatives’ call for returning to some illusory “golden age” of sexual morality, a system also built on the subordination of women. The task is to incorporate the insights of feminism into a new sexual ethic that does not impose traditional, restrictive sexual norms on people but helps creates a world based on equality not dominance, in which men’s pleasure does not require women’s subordination.

  - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Robert Jensen, an associate professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, is the author of Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream and co-author of   Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality . He can be reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.

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Posted by geminimay_no 06:14 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(4) | Permalink

Rape - Types Of Rapes!

20 January, 2007

Types of rape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents [hide] 1 Acquaintance ("date") rape 2 Drug facilitated rape 3 Female rape 4 Gang rape 5 Male rape 6 Rape of children by parents, elder relatives, and other responsible elders 7 Rape as means of warfare 8 Spousal rape 9 Statutory rape 10 Footnotes

[edit] Acquaintance ("date") rape

Main article: Date Rape

The term "acquaintance rape" (or "date rape") refers to rape or non-consensual sexual activity between people who are already acquainted, or who know each other socially — friends, acquaintances, people on a date, or even people in an existing romantic relationship — where it is alleged that consent for sexual activity was not given, or was given under duress. The vast majority of rapes are committed by people who already know the victim.[1] Different countries have different rape laws. In many countries it is not possible to commit the crime of rape against one's own wife or husband. If two people are regularly sexually intimate, in many countries it is not a crime for one partner to have sex with their sleeping or drunk partner even though that partner did not give express consent. In fact, rape laws vary greatly from country to country.

[edit] Drug facilitated rape

Main article: Date rape drug

Various drugs are used by rapists to render their victims unconscious, some also cause memory loss.

[edit] Female rape

Although the exact numbers of female victims of rape is unknown, RAINN estimates that one in six American women are the victims of sexual assault. Like men many women find it difficult to come forward after being raped, for fear of humiliation and blame.

[edit] Gang rape

Group rape (also known as "gang" or "pack" rape) occurs when a group of people participate in the rape of a single victim. 10% to 20% involve more than one attacker. It is far more damaging to the victim, and in some jurisdictions, is punished more severely than rape by a single person. The term "gang bang" was a synonym for gang rape when public discussion of sexual activity in general was taboo; in the advent of the pornography industry and relaxed sexual tensions, it is now often used as a slang term for consensual group sex. The term "group rape" is now often preferred to "gang rape", as the word "gang" can have racial connotations when used against minority defendants.^{[citation needed]}

This is also related to Rape used in Warfare where the pack mentality is highly predominant.

According to sexual crime profiler Roy Hazelwood, gang rape "involves three or more offenders and you always have a leader and a reluctant participant. Those are extremely violent, and what you find is that they're playing for each other's approval. It gets into a pack mentality and can be horrendous."

[edit] Male rape

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest Nation Network (RAINN) one out of every thirty-three men has been the victim of sexual abuse. Many men find it difficult to come forward after being raped, for fear of humiliation. Many men find being raped to be a loss of masculinity.

[edit] Rape of children by parents, elder relatives, and other responsible elders

This form of rape is incest when committed by the child's parents or close relatives such as grandparents, aunts and uncles. It is considered incestuous in nature but not in form when committed by other elders, such as priests, nuns or other religious authorities, school teachers, or therapists, to name a few, on whom the child is dependent. Psychologists estimate that 40 million adults, 15 million of those being men (Adams 1991), in the United States were sexually abused in childhood often by parents, close relatives and other elders — of both genders — on whom they were dependent.

Children, including but not limited to adolescents, raped by their parents and other close elders are often called 'secret survivors' by psychologists, as they often are unable or unwilling to tell anyone about these rapes due to implicit or explicit threats by the adult rapist, fear of abandonment by the rapist, and/or overwhelming shame. Since the signs of these insidious rapes are usually invisible except to trained professionals these children often suffer ongoing offenses in silence until independence from the adult rapist is attained. By that time, the statute of limitations is often long-expired, the adult victim's repressed memories are often considered inadmissible as evidence and the teen-rapist is able to escape justice. (It should be noted that repressed memories are a hotly debated topic in the psychological community, and many psychologists do not believe in their existence. For more information, see the "repressed memories" article.) In addition, rapists who rape their own children are considered less culpable, legally, than other rapists in most US states.

[edit] Rape as means of warfare

During war rape is often used as means of psychological warfare in order to humiliate the enemy and undermine their morale. Rapes in war are often systematic and thorough, and military leaders may actually encourage their soldiers to rape civilians. Likewise, systematic rapes are often employed as a form of ethnic cleansing. During the Yugoslavian Civil War it was reported that Serbian soldiers hoarded enemy women into camps, who were than raped on a daily basis until pregnancy occurred.^[1][2]

Additionally, in China during World War II occurred the Nanking Massacre where rape was used as a tool to humiliate the civilians under Japanese oppression.

[edit] Spousal rape

Main article: Spousal rape

Also known as marital rape, wife rape, partner rape or intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA), is rape between a married or de facto couple.

It is often assumed that spousal rape is less traumatic than that from a stranger. Research reveals that victims of marital/partner rape suffer longer lasting trauma than victims of stranger rape,^[3] possibly because of a lack of social validation that prevents a victim from getting access to support; a problem that Domestic violence services combat.

[edit] Statutory rape

Main article: Statutory rape

National and/or regional governments, citing an interest in protecting "young people" (variously defined but sometimes synonymous with minors), treat any sexual contact with such a person as an offense (not always categorised as "rape"), even if he or she agrees to the sexual activity. The offense is often based on a presumption that people under a certain age do not have the capacity to give informed consent. The age at which individuals are considered competent to give consent is called the age of consent. This varies in different countries and regions, and in the US ranges from 14 to 18. Sex which violates age-of-consent law, but is neither violent nor physically coerced, is sometimes described as "statutory rape", a legally-recognized category in the United States.

[edit] Footnotes

Posted by geminimay_no 10:23 | Rape - Why it Happens? Who It Serves? What Happens to the Victims? | Comment(1693) | Permalink

Rape - Crime Against Humanity!

20 January, 2007

Rapist's loving family: Where did we fail our son?

By Candace Sutton and Eamonn Duff
September 8 2002
The Sun-Herald

For rape gang ringleader Bilal Skaf it could all have been so different.

The son of a long-time State Rail worker, he was just starting work on the railways himself when he embarked on life as a violent rapist.

In his freshly pressed State Rail uniform, 20-year-old Skaf looked younger than his age and nothing like the "menace to any civilised society" described by Judge Michael Finnane.

But the chilling fact is the young man who proudly posed for his father's camera on the morning of his first day at State Rail, ended up luring one of his victims from a train and eventually dumping her at Lidcombe station. That gang rape - one of three attacks resulting in 21 charges for which Skaf has earned a 55-year sentence - was the most callous and degrading of all.

Skaf led the three gang rapes while he was working at stations between Central and Burwood.
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