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Policy Says Women Who Report Domestic Violence Can Be Evicted

Norristown, PA's “three strikes” policy is unbelievable, but, as one abuse victim found out the hard way, all too real. The policy states that if the police are called to a residence for “disorderly behavior” three times, the residents can be evicted, as landlords and tenants are penalized for these police responses. The horrifying twist to this policy is that this includes punishing victims of domestic violence.

Lakisha Briggs, a resident of this town and a victim of domestic abuse, was a victim of this disgusting policy. Afraid of losing her home, Briggs was forced into silence and did not report the violence she suffered at the hands of her now ex-boyfriend – even when he abused her with a brick and stabbed her in the neck with a knife. However, other people called the police during these instances, who threatened her with eviction over the incidences, even though she was the one who was the victim of these crimes.

Luckily, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and ACLU of Pennsylvania got involved, and, even though the city had threatened Briggs with eviction, they did not carry out said threats, and agreed to repeal the ordinance. However, they still quietly passed one that is virtually identical. Yesterday, the ACLU, ACLU of Pennsylvania, and Pepper Hamilton law firm filed a Federal lawsuit on behalf of Lakisha Briggs.

Though cities across the nation have similar laws to the one in Norristown, they violate the First Amendment right to petition the government, which includes calling the police. They also violate the Violence Against Women Act, which protects abuse victims from eviction. Further, it violates the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination based upon sex.

These laws, often called “crime ordinances” or “nuisance ordinances” are dangerous to women. They really show what a misogynist, “blame the victim” culture we live in, and they scare abuse victims into silence. No matter what things say on paper, we still live in a rape culture, in a culture of abuse and disrespect and discrimination against women, and laws like this only make women become afraid to speak up. Further, people who say that the women should leave these situations are simply deluded. Abuse is often the after-product of control, and the women in these abusive situations are likely controlled in other ways- namely financially. When this is the case, leaving is often not an option without help, and laws like these ordinances scare victims into silence, perpetuating a vicious cycle of fear and abuse, often costing them their very lives. Shame on the people who make and support these laws. You have blood on your hands. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/04/26/dangerously-stupid-policy-says
-women-who-report-domestic-violence-can-be-evicted/]

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Rape Culture 101: Dartmouth Students Threatened With Rape Over Protests—About Rape

All undergraduate and graduate classes in the arts and sciences at Dartmouth College have been canceled for Wednesday after a student demonstration sparked a backlash that included violent online threats against the protesters.

The controversy began last Friday, during an event for prospective students called Dimensions at Dartmouth, when around 15 students with signs burst in and began to chant, "Dartmouth has a problem!" Members of the group decried what they called incidents of homophobia, racism, and sexual assault on the Ivy League campus as several hundred prospective students—-admitted to Dartmouth but yet not committed to attending—-looked on.

After the protests, Dartmouth students flocked to Facebook and Bored at Baker—an online forum named for the campus library but not officially affiliated with the college—to share their opinions, many of which took on violent tones. The comments offered streams of profanity-laced insults about the protesters' ostensible sexual orientations and appearance, and included calls for physical violence against them involving razor blades and other weapons.

Examples such as, “Wish I had a shotgun, would have blown those fucking hippies away,” and “It’s women like these that deserve to be raped” and “Go die in a ditch” do little to disprove that extreme hatred exists at the college.

"We were well aware that attempts to speak truth about personal discomfort on campus are socially punished at Dartmouth," said Karolina Krelinova, a junior who was one of the demonstrators, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. "But we definitely did not expect anonymous death threats and other very hurtful comments and threats both online and in person from people we keep meeting on the sidewalks and in cafeterias."

That Dartmouth DOES have a problem has been well documented. Last year, Rolling Stone published an extensive examination of Dartmouth’s fraternity hazing as the source of much of the school’s culture of rape. Before that, in December 2010, The Dartmouth Review cited the results of a report on campus crime while criticizing the lack of action:

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“The report indicates that in the years 2008 and 2009, the combined number of reported sexual assaults at Dartmouth were the highest in the Ivy League… Distressingly, Dartmouth topped the list among a number of schools where the rates of sexual assault are already abnormally high: three-quarters of these elite institutions reported rates of sexual assault that were over 80% higher than the national rape average.”

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When a problem goes on and on over a period of years, it’s not surprising that some students–especially the victimized–are upset and demanding attention. What is surprising is the degree of invective that has been directed at the activists.

To the credit of Dartmouth’s administration–tardy as they may be–they finally responded to this latest, blatant outpouring of threats. They cancelled classes on Wednesday in order to offer a more valuable education. In a letter to students, the college said they would hold: “…alternative programming… that promotes respect for individuals, civil and engaged discourse, and the value of diverse opinions.”

And in an even more encouraging sign, the alternative programming, while not mandatory, was surprisingly well-attended.

http://chronicle.com/article/Dartmouth-College-Calls-a/138753/]
At least that one shows an attempt to at least face the problem...

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'You Deserve Rape' sign causes controversy on UA campus

A University of Arizona student holding a sign that read “You deserve rape” ignited outrage across campus Tuesday, on the same day of a sexual assault awareness event, but administrators declined requests to remove him or his sign.

Dean Saxton — also known as Brother Dean Samuel — regularly preaches on the UA Mall in front of Heritage Hill and the Administration building. On Tuesday, his sermon drew the attention of onlookers, several of whom either personally confronted him or complained to the Dean of Students Office.

Saxton, a junior studying classics and religious studies, said his sermon was meant to convey that “if you dress like a whore, act like a whore, you’re probably going to get raped.”

“I think that girls that dress and act like it,” Saxton said, “they should realize that they do have partial responsibility, because I believe that they’re pretty much asking for it.”

Saxton’s sermon came ahead of the “Take Back the Night” event held Tuesday night, which aims to unite people against sexual violence. He said his decision to create the sign and display it was tied to the event and to the fact that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

“[Saxton] is part of a larger societal culture that tolerates rape, and that’s exactly what the Oasis Program Against Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence is here to counteract,” said Megan McKendry, a violence prevention specialist with Oasis, a program out of Campus Health Service. “His message is an awful one that we condemn. No one deserves to be raped.”

http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/article/2013/04/you-deserve-rape-sign-c
auses-controversy-on-ua-campus]

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Off The Battlefield, Military Women Face Risks From Male Troops

Dora Hernandez gave a decade of her life to the U.S. Navy and the Army National Guard, but some of the dangers surprised her.

"The worst thing for me is that you don't have to worry about the enemy, you have to worry about your own soldiers," she says.

Sitting in a circle, a group of women nod in agreement. All are veterans, most have spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they're also survivors of another war. According to the Pentagon's own research, more than 1 in 4 women who join the military will be sexually assaulted during their careers.

"I was assaulted while I was in boot camp in the Army, and I was raped when I went to the Navy," says Sabina Rangel, who is hosting the group in her living room outside El Paso, Texas.

The women introduce themselves with similar short, shocking accounts of their military careers. It's the first meeting of a group set up by Grace After Fire, an organization designed specifically to work with female vets on their journey back from active duty to civilian life. Not an easy task.

A 'Culture Change'

About 19,000 sex crimes take place in the military each year, according to the Pentagon's most recent estimate. Many of the victims are male, but men in the service face the same risk of sexual assault as civilian men do. It's a different story for women. Women who join the military face a much higher risk of sexual assault than civilian women.

"It's a complex problem because it involves a culture change," says Maj. Gen. Gary Patton, the head of the Pentagon's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. "We have to see a culture change where those victims of this crime are taken seriously at their unit level by every member of their unit, so you don't see the divisiveness and the lack of support and the feeling of isolation that these victims feel."

That isolation, and the uphill fight to even get the crime of rape reported, is what drives a high number of women like Sabina Rangel away from a planned career in the military.

Rangel signed up after high school to serve her country and earn money for college. It started from day one, with her drill sergeant at basic training.

"I thought he was trying to mentor me, but it was 'How close I can get?' " she recalls.

Rangel didn't enlist in the Army after boot camp. She didn't talk about the attack — almost to convince herself it never happened.

The Pentagon estimates that only 14 percent of sexual assaults get reported. Many victims say their rapists outranked them, and sometimes the perpetrator was the same official they'd have to report the crime to. This was the case for Rangel.

She was young, and after the assault she moved on with her life, got married and had a daughter. She later divorced, and in June of 2000, she tried the military again, thinking it could lead to a better job, this time in the Navy Reserve. She was assigned to an Army joint command in El Paso.

Red tape held up Rangel's paychecks, and when she got called in to her command sergeant major's office, she thought he was going to help her solve the problem.

"He let me know that if I would meet up with him in a hotel he would give me money. And I was like, 'No, I just need my paycheck,' " she says.

But the propositions didn't stop.

"I finally asked his secretary that when he called me and closed the door [to] please knock on the door. And she said, 'Sabina, it happens to everybody,' " Rangel says.

Dozens of women interviewed for this story spoke about a culture where men act entitled to sex with female troops. One joked that rape is part of the job description. Rangel says she tried to avoid ever being alone with the sergeant major, but he greatly outranked her.

"Then I had a mission that I had to go on, and this command sergeant major was there," Rangel says. "He and another sergeant major outright told me that we were going to have sex."

She reported the rape to her superiors, including a female officer, and was told to keep quiet. Other officers started hinting that they knew about the rape. Another sergeant major asked her for sex.

Rangel says she was trying to fight and stay in the military. "Finally one day I thought, what am I fighting for? For these people to abuse me, to sexually assault me?" She says she knew it was time for her to leave.

"I was really at a breaking point; I was becoming depressed. I contemplated suicide," she says.

A Pervasive Crime

Women in the military face a higher risk of being raped multiple times, according to the Pentagon's research. Rangel was doing well; she got two master's degrees in the military, and she'd earned medals and citations for her work. But she left in 2006 feeling angry, like a failure, and thinking she'd never be able to trust anyone.

Rangel says serial sexual predators move up through the service while women like her are driven out.

She adds that the predators seek out vulnerable women who they think will keep quiet for the sake of their military careers, and women who come from abusive family lives who have sought refuge in the military. Much more at http://www.npr.org/2013/03/20/174756788/off-the-battlefield-military-w
omen-face-risks-from-male-troops]
And lastly, the fallout from Stubenville STILL continues:

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Steubenville Rape Case: Teens Charged With Making Online Threats Against Victim

March 18 (Reuters) - Two teenage girls were arrested in Ohio on Monday and accused of using social media to threaten the young victim in a high-profile rape trial that concluded this past weekend, state Attorney General Mike DeWine said.

A 16-year-old girl is charged with aggravated menacing after using Twitter to threaten the life of the victim, DeWine said in a statement. A 15-year-old girl is charged with one count of menacing after making a threat on Facebook, he said.

The charges came a day after a juvenile court judge found Steubenville High School football players Trent Mays, 17, and Ma'lik Richmond, 16, delinquent in the Aug. 12 sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl at a party while she was in a drunken stupor. More at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/18/steubenville-rape-case-twitte
r-threats_n_2904463.html

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As most of the articles show, the public and organizations are reacting to the problem, but how do we change the individuals who continue to live in a culture where rape is thought about as something women deserve and to which men are entitled?

We still have a very, very long way to go...