Europe

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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Turkish Activists Demand Action on Transphobic Hate Crimes

by Cara February 26, 2010

There are exceedingly few places in the world where trans people are truly safe. Turkey, then, is only one of many, many countries where trans people, usually trans women, are violently attacked and murdered at epidemic levels simply for being who they are. The abuses there, however, could be considered particularly bad — and regardless, [...]

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Alleged Victim Slut-Shamed, Rape Case Thrown Out

by Cara January 15, 2010

A particular rape case has been making the rounds lately, for its especially ludicrous and misogynistic outcome. In short, a U.K. woman made allegations of a gang rape by five perpetrators. The case made it to court. And then, the judge ordered the jury to return a not guilty verdict when “evidence” was presented — [...]

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Swedish Court Decides Sexual Assault is Not a Crime

by Cara January 14, 2010

Trigger Warning for descriptions of sexual assault, apologism, and victim-blaming At a New Year’s party in Sweden, a 17-year-old girl laid down to sleep on a sofa. The 49-year-old father of the boy hosting the party proceeded to lift up her skirt while she was unconscious and photograph her genitals. He then, in some unspecified [...]

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Man Allegedly Murdered Albanian Woman Because She Was Trans

by Cara November 16, 2009

Trigger Warning for transmisogyny and discussions of violence against women In September, Kristina Muça was brutally murdered in Tirana, Albania. Her neck was slit, allegedly by a man she had only just met. The alleged motives for the crime were, according to prosecutors and to defendant Sefedin Hoxha’s now recanted confession, transphobic hatred towards the [...]

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Lawyer Claims Rapist “Misread the Situation”

by Cara October 26, 2009

In Scotland, a man was convicted of raping a woman who fell asleep on his couch. She was unconscious throughout the assault, and woke to find herself partially undressed. Craig Byars admitted to the rape and has been sentenced to four years in jail. But in spite of that confession, his lawyer is still making [...]

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Teacher Groomed 13-Year-Old Girl Through the Internet, Raped Her

by Cara October 1, 2009

This case is appalling on multiple levels. In the UK, 24-year-old man — a man who worked as a teacher — groomed a 13-year-old girl through the internet using a 15-year-old female alter ego, and then met her in person and raped her. After Matthew Knott raped her, the girl reported the attack, and he [...]

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Greek Woman Allegedly Set Attacker’s Genitals on Fire

by Cara August 8, 2009

A woman in Greece was out at a club. A man, a British tourist out at that same club, allegedly exposed his genitals and started waving them around and making obscene gestures and remarks. He then allegedly forcibly fondled the woman, including between her legs. During the course of this alleged assault, the woman allegedly [...]

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Russian Trans Woman Murdered By Her Boyfriend

by Cara June 26, 2009

Trigger Warning Via Womanist Musings, I’ve just learned the devastating news that yet another trans woman has been murdered in an apparent hate crime.  (Note: because of transphobia in the article, I am not quoting directly from it. Please read at your own discretion.) The woman’s name was Kamilla; the only English language report I’ve [...]

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UK Officials Assigned to Fight Rape Actually Promote Rape Myths

by Cara June 17, 2009

It’s no big secret that the rape conviction rate in the UK is utterly and depressingly low.  And that unfortunately is something that will not be fixed over night. But, while I would never be so foolish as to become optimistic, I was indeed hopeful when I learned that the Home Office was working on [...]

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