Is There Such A Thing As A Rape Culture?

[LazyGun]

There has been a series of unconnected but high profile incidents recently which share some common features, all of which point to a sort of casual acknowledgement that No does not necessarily mean No, that young women are "asking for it",being underage is not necessarily a barrier to sex, and that if they dress/act provocatively or flirtatiously they bring it on themselves.

Even more alarmingly it would seem that, in at least some of the recent cases, people appeared more sympathetic to the boys in question, partly because of their prominence in a local football team in the case of Steubenville, and in this most recent incident the police dropping the case with a hint of a suspicion it was because the boy in question was both popular and influential ( father or grandfather a state senator)

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/10/19/rape_culture_what_do_steubenville_rehtaeh_parsons_and_frosh_chants_have_in_common.html

An interesting article from Canada here. What do you think? Does it exist? Is it a new phenomenon? And if it does exist, what can or should be done about it?

Some other recent cases that prompted the question;
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/18/missouri-maryville-rape-case-op-ed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steubenville_High_School_rape_case
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/08/19/coronation-street-chris-fountain-rape-rap_n_3781023.html

[sandyRoe]

Maybe this is developing as a consequence of all the on-line porn that children are said to be watching.

[woofgang]

I don't think that the belief that "girls ask for it" is in any way new.

[pixie373]

I think it's a very old belief, which the majority of people have "outgrown". But there will always be some who persist. As there is with racism, sexism, etc.

[pixie373]

//Less than 0.5% of sexual assaults result in a conviction//

I don't understand that statement. In theory, if there's not a conviction, there is no proof of assault. No?

[woofgang]

ok, "less than 0.5 of allegations of assault result in conviction"

[LeMarchand]

I was recently helping out on a stall at a festival and jokingly pointed out the Charlotte Church merchandise as a possible purchase to one young man who replied that he'd go on a "rape date" with her. The fact that such a phrase exists and that someone would think acceptable to use speaks volumes...

[FredPuli43]

Not new but also far worse in the past than now. At Lewes Assizes, back in the 1970s , I actually heard a the High Court judge say that when a woman says "No" she often means "Yes" and he was, he said, sure that the jury would accept that. He stopped the case because he found that there was not sufficient evidence from an independent source ("corroboration"), so his remark was completely gratuitous. Corroboration in sexual cases has since been abolished, a sign of more modern thinking; in no other class of case was it required before the accused could be convicted, save for some really strange offences; I seem to recall that failing to repair a bridge for which the accused was liable, was one !

[atalanta]

I worry about young sportsmen who may be taking steroids to bulk up their muscles. Steroids in such cases can increase aggression, and particularly sexual aggression. The most sexually-aggressive young men may well be those who are most successful and who therefore come to see themselves as invincible, possibly even godlike; with their inflated egos, they may see success ( and women) as being theirs for the taking.

[New Judge]

“…if there's not a conviction, there is no proof of assault.”

Er…not quite so, pixie. Many criminal charges are brought which end in acquittal and in all of those cases there is indeed proof to support the allegation (or the CPS would not have authorised the charges). The problem is that often the trial fails to produce sufficiently strong evidence to convince the magistrates or jury “beyond reasonable doubt”. This is a very high burden of proof. As with “innocent until proven guilty” innocence in this context is a legal convention, not necessarily a fact. Only if the offence was not committed by the accused is he truly innocent.

[beso]

Beyond the allegations there are many, many more sexual assaults that go unreported for various reasons.

One common reason is family connections between the perpetrator and victim. Another is the fear that the case would not be successful.

[pixie373]

I do understand that, nj and have said exactly that on other threads. But it seems wrong to claim that something has definitely happened without a conviction. There is always a chance that it didn't happen.

[emmie]

in gangs, as been highlighted before. whilst watching one recent documentary, the figures for young girls being raped were horrifying, that it's part of some macho driven rite, be in a gang and you are fair game.

[emmie]

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/feb/18/being-raped-by-gang-normal

[keyplus90]

When people astray from God's dos and donts then societies break up. And before a society breaks up caertain things or incidents happen there as warning signs. Few take the warning signs, accept them and sort themselves. Whereas many will just ignore and then become a part of history books which few other people would read about.

[Hypognosis]

Is that Shadenfreude by any chance, keyplus?

Society breaking up? Is that wishful thinking? The religious and faithful to prevail?
Rape has been happening since before civilisation and society simply carries on with its daily business and tries to tidy up the fallout from it. Given the prevalence of religious observance in the USA, I would venture to suggest that possessing faith is insufficient to prevent a person from committing horrendous crimes.

@LazyGun

I've not stopped to read the articles yet but I think I've heard of the Steubenville case. It's a pretty sick culture that cares more about the success of its local football team than administering justice to one of its 'most valuable players'.

It's the same culture which endorses anti-bullying campaigns but is stymied when the bully turns out to be the most productive person in the workplace.

[society]

"keyplus90
When people astray from God's dos and donts then societies break up. And before a society breaks up caertain things or incidents happen there as warning signs"

Not necessarily and I disagree with you. This thread speaks volume - http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Society-and-Culture/Religion-and-Spirituality/Question1284241.html

[chakka35]

I hope that New Judge isn't a real judge because he (she?) plainly doesn't understand what proof is. Proof is absolute about which it is impossible to have any reasonable doubt. If the CPS brought only cases which could be proved then there would be no acquittals.

What the CPS does is bring cases where they think there is sufficient evidence to convince a jury, and they are often wrong. You only have to look at the very long list of miscarriages of justice to see that cases are often brought where there turns out to be no evidence at all when all is revealed.

[chakka35]

PS to my last... I hope that's not a gavel that New Judge is holding. They are not used in British courts.