A "prank" it would seem. If the victim is male of course. If ever the justice system were to be accused of sexual discrimination in sentencing, this case would have to be a prime example. Now one would assume such an act should receive the harshest discipline. But no. Not in this instance. In what the defence lawyers referred to as a "drunken escapade", the judge took it one step further, referring to it as a "prank". Now, I don't know about anyone here, but a rape is never a "prank" or a "drunken escapade". Would you consider it a prank if one night while you were passed out drunk, your friends raped you with a sex toy with such vigour that you would surgery? A prank is shaving off their eyebrows. A rape is a rape. There is a difference. Somehow, I don't think sorry woul have cut it. So what harsh punishment did the rapists receive from our fair and just justice system? I wonder if the same sentence would have been handed down if the victim had been female. I would be willing to bet it would not be called a "prank".
OK, that is just as appalling to me as the rape victim in SA getting 200 lashes. Where the hell is this poor man's justice? Can he bring civil suits against them?
Yes. But at what cost? There is a lack of respect and understanding of rape and rape victims in the Australian justice system. This is why so many men who are raped never come forward. This is also why many women who are raped do not come forward. It never ceases to astound me how when something like this happens to a man, it is deemed to be just hijinks while drunk with friends.. the whole 'boys will be boys' thing. It is not so much the sentence that annoyed me with this case. Similar sentences have also been handed down to rapists whose victims were women. When that happens, there will usually be a huge public outcry. What is the most disturbing in this instance is the manner in which the judge virtually dismissed the victim's rape as being a mere "prank". He admits the victim suffered emotionally and physically from his rape, but referred to it as a "prank". The sentence only took it further.
I was going to ask what the hell is wrong with Australians, but I suppose I have part of the answer. Is this just an institutional issue, or does this mentality affect a large portion of the general culture in Australia?
Well yes there is a double-standard in sexual misconduct cases but it doesn't sound as if his 'friends' really intended to harm him, they probably didn't think they were raping him only sticking some plastic up his ass. The clothes pins does sound harsh though. Remember the 30 something teacher who had a affair with her 14 year old male student? Well it was called an affair and not sexual abuse because the child was male. Now if the child were female and willingly entered the affair as was the case with the boy it would still be deemed child sexual abuse.
Indeed, industrialized societies have some strange notions about sex: I can't speak for Melissa, but I don't find this latest development from Australia encouraging. I think the point is to take rape more seriously in general than to minimize it. There was a joke in Kotzwinkle's Book of Love (the movie, at least, as I never read the book, which is aka Jack in the Box) in which Angelo Gabooch and friends tied Schank to a cot and stuck a pink tapered candle up his ass, lighting it and singing happy birthday. They leave the candle where it is, and eventually the tough guys fall asleep. Jack and Crutch decide to help Schank, but want to move him so as not to wake Gabooch and pals while they work the manacles, resulting in a scene where they carry the cot, Schank, and the candle, through the woods expressly so that they can apologize to Schank for having to light the candle in his ass again in order to see where they're going. I admit, it's a funny scene, but we would do well to wonder why. This kind of joke depends on the minimization of rape (and also the marginalization of homoerotica, but that's for a different discussion).
The quirks of third-world, tribal societies exist in a different context. While that context is no less valid either in and of itself, or as an object of examination, it is, so to speak, a slightly different beast. It would be a bit like having a psychologist examine my penis instead of a urologist. Sure, I call the psychologist "Doctor", but it ain't the same thing. The boundaries, customs, and definitions are different. The sort of sex crime we're talking about here is largely an issue of the industrialized world. Of course, I could be wrong. Are the aboriginal tribes making a killing producing sex toys and porn films? I recognize my definitions could be askew here, but they're not that far askew. And remember: the myth holds that the first world, the industrial world is the civilized world. Yet, strangely, for some, things like rape aren't important until it's them or their children.
From personal experiences, it is both. Had the judge made the same comment in a case where the victim happened to be female, there would have been a public outcry. In this instance however, there was none. There is the misconception in many circles of society that when something like this happens, and the victim happens to be male, it was all just for fun. I remember a similar instance while I was working. The snorts of laughter from the investigating police officer resulted in the male victim withdrawing his complaint. My bosses decided to not press the issue. I remember calling the victim and trying to convince him to file a complaint and he refused... not only was the poor guy embarrassed and humiliated beyond reason, he felt his humiliation would be further exacerbated if it did get to court. Especially after the investigating officer laughed at what had happened to him and literally asked him if he was 'sure it was a rape'. The guyhad a bottle wedged up his backside while asleep on a fishing trip with friends, resulting in fairly substantial anal tearing and just about everyone thought it was a joke.. because it was amongst friends. Whether harm was intended or not, the victim was raped and sexually assaulted, to the point where he needed corrective surgery for his injuries. To dismiss his rape as a mere 'prank' sends a terrible message to society in general, and also sets a dangerous precedent. To then hand down a sentence such as he did, that is just another slap in the face for the victim. There have been many instances where female teachers who had sex with their male students have received a much lighter sentence compared to male teachers who did the same to a female student. Comments following instances where a teenage boy had sex with his teacher tend to go along the lines of 'lucky you.. I wish my teacher did the same to me'. In Australia, at least, we need to ensure the rules apply to everyone equally. A rape should never be dismissed as being a mere prank. Regardless of the sex of the victim. And while the whole belief of 'boys will be boys' pervades society and the criminal justice system, these kinds of rulings will continue.
One thing I never hear about are rape cases where both the rapist and the victim are female. I wonder what the trend is regarding criminal charges for that instance and how the trend compares. In response to the OP, I agree with the general disgust at the double standard in place.
Some further reading on this story. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22842402-2682,00.html I shudder to think that one of them was a police cadet at the time of the incident. It would appear the judge deemed it to be a "drunken prank that went too far". He was a lot more concerned with how the victim found out and the deceit of his 'friends' than with the fact the victim was raped. So he gives them a suspended sentence. The victim gets a life sentence and they get a suspended sentence and have to pay $1000 good behaviour bonds. It is no wonder why so many rape victims just refuse to come forward.
Tiassa So rape is only a rape if it entails porn and sex toys? Rape is exists in every society only what would constitute a rape would differ. In some societies a rape of a married woman is an injustice towards the husband and not the wife. In others one cannot rape a wife. And yet in others raping a male is impossible etc.
I can just imagine how hard it was for this guy to come forward. Guys are stigmatized. And then to basically be told "we were just kidding! Take it like a man" Why does Australia have this view?
What the FUCK????????? Raping someone with enough force that he needs surgery is a 'prank'??????!!!!!!!!!!!!! Those people need to be locked up.
Just an idea: We need better ways to teach people to respect each other. Whole industries have been created around the practice of disrespecting other humans, their needs, their desires, and their happiness. This disrespect is virulent, damaging, and backed by interpersonal violence and restrictive laws. It is presented to the public as some necessary part of civilization. Well, when you learn to disrespect someone for being black, or female, or male, or for wearing white socks, or whatever, that disrespect works like a disease. Then we also get rape.
well i can be disputet if this is a rape but under german law it could go under "grievous bodily harm" (translation from dict.leo.org) since object were involved...
