From the category archives:

Europe

Scotland Anti-Rape Ad Tackles “She Was Asking For It” Myth

by Cara June 29, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism. A few months back, I wrote an article for the Guardian’s Comment is Free about a U.K. study, which showed a significant number of respondents thought that some rape victims were at least partially to blame for their attacks. The various reasons that respondents blamed women were the unsurprising — [...]

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UK Health Group Wants to Test All Pregnant Women for Smoking

by Cara June 24, 2010

Just last week, I was defending the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK for its recommendations regarding age-appropriate sex education. This week, I find myself needing to ask what in the hell they’re thinking. NICE has recommended that all pregnant women should be given carbon monoxide tests in order to determine whether [...]

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On Police Violence and “Rotten Apples”

by Cara June 18, 2010

In the U.K., a traffic police officer was just sentenced to time in jail for repeatedly contacting women he had pulled over for traffic offenses and harassing and coercing them into sexual activities in exchange for not pursuing their infringements. In total, the trial encompassed the victimization of eight different women: Jamie Slater, 33, of [...]

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Group Suggests Age Appropriate Sex Education? Time to Freak Out.

by Cara June 17, 2010

Well, here we go again. Every few months or so, some public official or organization makes a common sense observation that sex education is largely useless unless we start it early, and thus expresses support for age appropriate sex education for kids as soon as they start school. Cue the outrage, as a variety of [...]

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Anti-Domestic Violence Campaign Centers World Cup and Misses Its Mark

by Cara June 7, 2010

Trigger Warning for violent imagery, discussions of intimate partner violence, and victim-blaming. A new campaign against domestic violence has just been launched in West Yorkshire, England. According to police, domestic violence increased by 30% during the last World Cup in 2006. They’re looking to prevent that from happening again this year. Let me say, first [...]

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Boys Aged 10 and 11 Convicted of Attempted Rape as Apologists Deny Assault Was Possible

by Cara May 25, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism. Linked articles contain descriptions of sexual assault. Out of the U.K. comes an extremely disturbing case in which two young boys, aged 10 and 11, have been convicted of attempting to rape an 8-year-old girl. I’ll let that sink in for a moment. The case raises numerous ethical conundrums and [...]

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England and Wales Move to Grant Anonymity to Rape Defendants

by Cara May 21, 2010

In England and Wales, there’s a plan underway to grant anonymity to those who are accused of rape but have not been convicted. Yes, under this plan, the name of the alleged victim would not be the only one withheld from public knowledge for reasons of safety and privacy. And understandably, local anti-rape activists have [...]

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Rape Apologism in Action: “She didn’t say anything at all.”

by Cara April 20, 2010

Trigger Warning for rape apologism and graphic descriptions of rape, especially in linked article. An ongoing UK rape case presents us with a perfect example of rape apologism, and the grave cultural misunderstanding over what exactly constitutes both rape and consent. Jack Tweed, the widower of a reality show star, is charged on two counts [...]

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Being a Male Victim of Domestic Violence: Like Having No Genitals?

by Cara March 30, 2010

In the UK, the National Centre for Domestic Violence has launched a new campaign focusing on men who are the victims of domestic violence. Sounds great, right? The fact that, while women are mostly the victims of intimate partner violence, they are not the only victims of intimate partner violence, is still an issue not [...]

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UK Report: Honest Information Harms Rape Victims

by Cara March 16, 2010

In the UK, a recent government review on how rape cases are handled has come to some surprising and controversial conclusions about how the statistic that only 6% of reported rapes result in a conviction has been used: Baroness Stern’s independent report into how rape complaints are handled called for politicians and campaigners to stop [...]

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