Judge's sex-assault comments spark rally

[Da ProfessorX]

About 100 people rallied at the Manitoba Law Courts building in Winnipeg on Friday, expressing anger about comments made by a judge during a sexual assault sentencing.
Carrying placards with statements such as, "No such thing as implied consent," the protesters also stormed inside the building chanting and calling for the resignation of Justice Robert Dewar.
They also called for Dewar to come down and speak to them before being escorted out by security.
The rally wrapped up after about an hour, at 1 p.m.
Dewar said "sex was in the air" when he spared a man jail time by handing him a two-year conditional sentence last week instead and allowed him to remain free in the community.
During the sentencing, Dewar also commented on the way the woman was dressed and her actions the night she was forced to have sex by a man in the woods along a dark highway outside Thompson, Man., in 2006.
The man and a friend met the woman, who is now 25, and her girlfriend earlier that night outside a bar under what Dewar called "inviting circumstances."
The judge pointed out the victim and her friend were dressed in tube tops, no bras, and high heels and noted they were wearing plenty of makeup.
Dewar called the man a "clumsy Don Juan" who may have misunderstood what the victim wanted.
The sentence was delivered last week in Thompson.
The victim, who spoke to CBC News on Friday, did not attend the rally but was aware of it and grateful to those who took part.
She said she remains traumatized from the sexual assault and is afraid to go places.
"I feel like I'm a prisoner in my own home and I can't trust anyone," she said, adding she is extremely upset with Dewar's comments.
"I don't think what he said was right. We were young and we were dressed classy. For him to say that the way we looked was basically asking for it is wrong and makes me angry."
The woman said she went into the bushes off the road to urinate and the man followed her in.
"I wanted out of there and he wouldn't stop," she said about the attack, which left her covered in bruises.
"I had to do what I had to do to survive because I was out there alone. I wanted to get away."
She agrees with protesters who called for Dewar's resignation, saying, "I think he should not judge again."
Then she added, "I think all rapists should be treated like a murderer because they take a part of your life."
Lorraine Parrington, who co-ordinates the sexual assault crisis program at Klinic, a community health centre in Winnipeg, said Dewar's remarks show there needs to be more education about how women should be treated in sexual assault cases.
Fewer than 10 per cent of sexual assault cases are actually reported and Parrington worries Dewar's comments will discourage future victims from coming forward.
"I'd like to say I was shocked. Unfortunately, I'm not after doing this work for lots of years," she said. "But I was appalled. I was outraged. I was disheartened."
Men have to learn women can change their minds, and no, at any point in an encounter, means no, she said.
"People have a right to change their mind. If I decide that I want to be engaged in certain sexual behaviour with somebody I can do that and I'm allowed to say, 'Stop, I don't want to do it any more.' That needs to be respected."
Angela Senyshyn, a burlesque dancer who was at the rally, told CBC News she dresses how she likes and there is no invitation to anything.
"I don't get dressed, you know, for a night out on the town in hopes to get raped."


Wow this one is going to cause a shit storm with woman's rights groups.

 

[Manah]

It doesn't work that way - consent can be withdrawn at any point before or during. For example, I took a guy home from a bar a few years back and things were going well until he kept trying for greek. I said no, he persisted, and I told him to get out of my bed. At that point, I had withdrawn consent, and if he had continued, it would have been rape. Unlike an airplane, I can get off the ride whenever I want to. (See: What is consent?)

You seem to be incredibly fixated on the idea that "rape-rape"* is a stranger pulling a girl into a dark alley. Might want to bone up on your information - according to RAINN.org, 2/3 of rapes were committed by someone known to the victim.

*See: Whoopi Goldberg on Roman Polanski; the notion that some rapes are "worse" or more serious than others; the notion that in order for rape to have really occurred, the victim must have put up a fight and/or incurred injury during the attack.

 

[Lilly]

I truncated to save space but yes, being a MAN you DO bear some responsibility for acting the way you did and putting yourself at risk. This is about women though and the argument here is that no woman should ever bear any responsibility whatsoever in any way shape or form for her actions. Simply because she's a woman.

The big problem here is that a judge had the audacity to actually come out and dare to admonish a woman for her actions. OMFG burn the fucker!

Here's a story for you:

When I was in my 20's I was really into physical fitness. I would jog every night and work out 6 times a week. One friday night I was at a friend's house downtown and had a few beers. I was getting antsy around 11 pm because I hadn't done my run.

I borrowed a pair of sweats and went off for a run. He tried to stop me but I said I'd be fine.

I was jumped by 3 guys, one a pro boxer and they beat the crap outta me. Broken leg, cracked ribs, hairline crack on my cheekbone, etc. They were caught.

During the trial they were found guilty and during his ruling the judge said to me directly (among other things) that I was foolish for going out in that area that late at night alone. No different than what this judge said at this trial. I bore some responsibility for my actions that night just like this woman here should bear some responsibility for her actions that night.



Since it seems that you're supporting the statements in this thread that women bear no responsibility for their actions, I gave you an example and would like to hear your comments on it.

If we are to believe that women do not and should not bear any responsibility for their actions, then in the example given, you should blame the guy who left the keys in his car, not your daughter.

 

[HolidayOnTheBuses]

Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Guaranteed to Work!

1. Don’t put drugs in people’s drinks in order to control their behavior.
2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!
3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!
4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.
5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!
6. Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.
7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.
8. Always be honest with people! Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don’t communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.
9. Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!
10. Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone "on accident"you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

 

[Punky (Eeeevil Atheist)]

Very few of us are completely safe from harm but it is our responsibility to minimize the risk.
If I were to walk through a notoriously dangerous neighborhood wearing a $5000 suit, gold rings and a huge gold chain around my neck it would behoove me to be very wary of ANYONE. I would be a walking target. (That may not actually be a great example as then I'd look like a mafia hit man...)
The same unfortunately would be true of a scantily clad woman hitchhiking in the middle of the night. Hopefully the lion's share of us here would give her a ride home and give her an earful about how dangerous it is but there may be some idiot who may look at her and just think "Oh ya, she's asking for it" and give "it" to her.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Well Gen, it turns out, from your link that the odd one is right: that most rapes are done by serial (repeat) rapists:

"while 76 of the 120 (63% of them) were serial rapists who accounted for 439 of the 483 rapes"


That is slightly more than half. So Gen, did you mean that most instances of rape (or those that rape) were single event offenders or as odd puts it: solo?

The links you posted were interesting reads but some of the data conflicts with what I've read previously and there they stated that most rapes were committed by someone once, and they didn't do it again. (I'll try and dig up the document).

Here's a question for the Masses (and Gen): From your links, they quite plainly state that if a guy goes out on a date, the girl gets drunk, and they have sex, even consensual, that's rape.

Is this really the case? I ask because I'd say that 99% of all the dates of ever been on involved the consumption of alcohol (even when I stopped drinking), and I'd say that 90% of the dates I went on ended with us having sex. According to that document I raped them all. Even if the woman was the instigator. I mean, even the woman who, when asked what she wanted to do now, said "I want to go home and fuck your brains out"????

If the document is true, then I'd say their stats are really LOW because on any given friday and saturday night there are people all over the country getting drunk and having sex. Little do they know that they are raping each other. According to that document anyhow.




No, most normal people post a link to the report they are referring to....not a vague hidden link buried in a paragraph in some other post 14 posts ago.....and for that matter, most people post a link as in the entire web address as opposed to hiding it in a coloured word (which I can't see because I'm blue/green colourblind).