Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

**thehod** · 05-11-2012, 08:04 AM

I know we've got past this part of the discussion, but can I just put forward this piece from todays Mirror for those who are in any doubt about what rape consitutes.

The nasty truth about rape: To those of you who think a 12-year-old girl from Rochdale in a short skirt can't be raped - you're very wrong

NINE Asian men went to jail this week for sexually abusing young white girls.

The girls were poor, from care homes and extremely troubled - so of course, it was their own fault.

On Question Time last night Tory writer Peter Oborne said the victims had "accepted the advances" of their attackers and blamed modern social decline. He added: "What does it tell us about what's happened to our society that we have 12 year old girls, 13 year old girls, who are happy to give up their affection and their beauty to men in exchange for a packet of crisps?"

I don't think any of them were happy about it, Peter. And I'm pretty certain child abuse isn't a recent thing.

Then a man of the cloth in the front row piped up that young girls in Rochdale, where the abuse happened, "go out dressed as if they are looking for that sort of issue to take place".

Oh fine. The clergy never abuse children of course - unless they dress like they want it. Those choirboys can be very provocative!

The ringleader of the gang, when jailed for 19 years, accused the judge and jury of racism rather than defend or admit his actions.

The views of all three men are equally abhorrent. And similar opinions are being expressed on Twitter, in pubs and offices up and down the country because of the belief that the only kind of rape which counts is when a man in a mask jumps out, armed with a knife, and a woman screams and fights while he has sex with her.

I've sat through an awful lot of rape court cases and interviewed dozens of victims, I've had friends who've been attacked, and I can tell you the reality is very different. When that stereotypical rape happens sometimes a woman is so desperate to get away she will pretend she's enjoying it so he doesn't kill her. It doesn't mean that she is - she's just trying to survive, and it's still rape.

In about two thirds of cases a woman is raped by someone she knows - a boyfriend, a husband, a mate. It happens in her own bed. And more often than not, once the protests aren't listened to and they realise they can't get away, the victims stop fighting because they don't want to make things worse. To get through it, to get away, to minimise their injuries. It's still rape.

In the vast majority of stories I've dealt with the woman is too drunk to uncross her eyes, never mind her legs. A man protests she was fine with it, and juries split over whether he was merely unchivalrous. He feels hard done-by, she feels abused, and it's still rape.

Training children to not fight you off doesn't make it consensual. It's grooming, and it's rape. Over a period of time these girls were plied with alcohol, money and drugs, bullied, and made to feel reliant on their abusers. They were extremely vulnerable, with damaged childhoods that made them glad of any attention no matter how vicious and wrong it was. Because the abuse was being spread among friends it was normalised, but nothing detracts from the fact the men who carried out those acts are rapists.

It doesn't matter what colour they are, or how they went about it, how long it took or how much money they spent on drugs and booze, or whether crisps were offered. Rape is rape. I've long thought the best way of making women safer would be to make the punishment include having the word 'RAPIST' tattooed on a guilty man's forehead. They'd all be a lot more chivalrous then, and maybe the guys with the knives would think twice too.

In the absence of being able to stop bad men being bad, the main issue now is how those girls were victimised while they were in our care.

The abuse was first reported by the girls a decade ago, but nothing was done. When one teen was lured away from her care home repeatedly and bullied into sleeping with up to 25 men in one night, the social workers looking after her just sent her a text message asking when she was coming back. They didn't try to find out what was going on, get her to trust them enough to reveal the abuse, or show any of the care they were being paid to even though she disappeared for up to two weeks at a time. She ended up having to write them a letter about it before they took any notice at all.

Another girl was sent to visit the men by her own father, a heroin addict who used the money she brought back afterwards to buy his drugs.

One of the victims, Victoria Agoglia, ran away from her care home 21 times in two months, was found by the police five times, and on the same night she was picked up from the care home by a gang of men in a car she died from a heroin overdose. She was 15 years old.

There are suggestions another four of those girls have died since. And what are we doing about it?

OFSTED have launched an investigation. And that's it. There are 65,000 children in care in the UK today - how many of them are perfectly safe?

These 'homes' are anything but. They're either run on a shoestring by a local authority or a private business, neither of whom want to devote cash or attention to troubled children who need both. The people who work in them aren't able to enforce curfews or take a degree of parental responsibility. And they are being run in our name, with our money, and are failing our children.

It's a national scandal of appalling proportions which demands an inquiry. There won't be one, because people who need our help the most are left to fend for themselves while politicians badger for inquiries into their pet projects.

The nasty truth is that too many people of wealth and privilege believe that a 12-year-old girl from Rochdale in a short skirt simply cannot be raped.

And they damn well can.

**Michael P** · 05-11-2012, 09:14 AM

There's a special place in Hell for people who pull that "blame the victim" shit when the victim is a 12-year-old girl.

**USArmyParatrooper** · 05-11-2012, 09:29 AM

"To those of you who think a 12-year-old girl from Rochdale in a short skirt can't be raped..."

Who are the "those of you" who think that?

**thehod** · 05-11-2012, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by USArmyParatrooper

"To those of you who think a 12-year-old girl from Rochdale in a short skirt can't be raped..."

Who are the "those of you" who think that?

You could try reading the article, as it explains that in the first few paragraphs.

**Cavemold** · 05-11-2012, 10:01 AM

That's really unfortante but a grown woman should know better

**Puma** · 05-11-2012, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Cavemold

That's really unfortante but a grown woman should know better

"know better"

condescending much?

how about a man SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO STICK HIS DICK IN A CHILD OR A WOMAN WHO SAYS "NO"! that work for you?

**thehod** · 05-11-2012, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by Cavemold

That's really unfortante but a grown woman should know better

How is that comment not utterly obvious trolling?

**Michael P** · 05-11-2012, 10:26 AM

He might be so stupid as to be sincere.

**Cavemold** · 05-11-2012, 10:30 AM

Of course a man should not do that. The reailty of situation there are some males out there cannot control themselves and females who dress up very skimpy are more likely to be raped. Basic logic. Condescending ? From you ? Take a good look at yourself before you proclaim anyone else to be condescending........

**Jeff Brady** · 05-11-2012, 10:31 AM

What "grown woman"? There wasn't one mentioned in the article.

"Known better" than to do...what, exactly?

**Puma** · 05-11-2012, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Cavemold

Of course a man should not do that. Reality of situation some males out thier cannot control themselves and females who dress up very skimpy are more likely to be raped. Basic logic. Condescending ? From you ? Take a good look at yourself before you proclaim anyone else to be condescending........

Bullshit. A woman has every right to wear whatever she choices, dance how she wants to dance, drink as she wants to drink. We are equals. Stop with chauvinism.