Aug

25

NY Times: Victims “Hurting Themselves” By Being Raped

Filed Under media, misogyny, patriarchy, rape and sexual assault, slut-shaming, violence against women and girls  | Posted by Cara |

Whoa.

So I was reading this (I think rather silly and generalized) article on “bad behavior” of young British people while on vacation.  And though I know that victim-blaming is often found in odd places, I was still pretty shocked to read this (emphasis mine):

“The government of Britain has to do something,” Mr. Lagoudakis said. “These people are giving a bad name to their country.”

They are also hurting themselves in the process. A recent report published by the British Foreign Office, “British Behavior Abroad,” noted that in a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007, 602 Britons were hospitalized and 28 raped in Greece, and that 1,591 died in Spain and 2,032 were arrested there.

Except that if 28 British tourists were raped in Greece, that’s not a reflection on those British tourists, it’s a reflection on whoever raped them.  When you are the victim of rape, you were not “hurting yourself” — you were hurt by another person.  Really, this is quite simple.  And the only way those rapes had to do with “British Behavior Abroad” is if those 28 rapes were committed by British rapists.  But you’ll notice that it doesn’t say “28 men committed/were accused of rape.”  Nope, instead 28 British victims, almost certainly mostly if not all female, are mentioned instead in the government report on “British behavior” and referred to by the Times as “hurting themselves.” (The article also doesn’t say why 602 Britons were hospitalized in Greece, or 1,591 died in Spain, but one would presume that at least some of the events had to include violence committed against them or were due to causes unrelated to binge drinking and otherwise rowdy behavior.)

What fucking bullshit.

If you’d like, you can go here to write to the Times about how victims are not “hurting themselves” by being raped by someone else.


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Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. Kristen on August 25, 2008 4:57 pm

    Oh, for the love of kittens, what the fuck is that? I think these people fail logic. *sigh*

    Although in retrospect it appears from this blog that a major part of humankind fails logic.

    I say we demand news outlets require their writers to pass a logic course before allowing them to publish anything. That way at least my head won’t explode. And my husband (he teaches logic) will stop sending me several emails a day with “IDIOT” in the subject line.

  2. Lemur on August 25, 2008 7:08 pm

    What… the… fuck!? *Storms off to write scathing email*

  3. Pop Feminist on August 26, 2008 4:21 pm

    Is this a joke? My god, reading your blog is such a wake up call…

  4. SunlessNick on September 15, 2008 12:05 pm

    When you are the victim of rape, you were not “hurting yourself” — you were hurt by another person. Really, this is quite simple.

    A few posts back, I said this sort of framing portrayed rape as an effectively autonomic response in men (and therefore that it’s responsible for the “all men are rapists” meme). Now I’m wondering if I’m giving it too much credit – it’s treating rape as more like an environmental hazard – equivalent to sunstroke.

  5. SunlessNick on September 15, 2008 12:06 pm

    Sigh.

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