Monday, April 03, 2006

News in my part of the world

Bismarck girl raped outside of elementary school
Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. - A 15-year-old girl was raped outside Rita Murphy Elementary School.

The girl was on her way home from playing basketball at the school on Saturday evening, when a man came up behind her and forced her into the bushes beside the school, according to the Bismarck Police Department.

She was sexually assaulted, and the man ran when a car approached, Lt. Dan Donlin said.

The girl described the man as a blond, white man about 30 years old with a goatee. She said he has a medium build and is about 6 foot 2 inches tall. At the time of the attack, he was wearing a black, hooded jacket.

The assault occurred between 7 and 8 p.m. on the east side of the building. The suspect fled south from the school at 611 N. 31st St.

The girl returned home and was taken to Medcenter One by her mother. Police went to the hospital at 9:40.

The school district will cooperate with police, Bismarck Superintendent Paul Johnson said Monday. The elementary schools do not have video cameras outside, like middle or high schools do.

The police do not have a suspect.

Happy news!

Check out this SITE for a cool example of how women fight back against rape.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for her for reporting it and giving a good description.

Lets go find the guy and throw used tampons at him until he turns himself in. Or maybe surround his car with 200 angry, silent, grim faced women that he has to get through before he can get to his car. Who's with me? :)

Anonymous said...

No offense, but I don't see how a case of rape is connected to feminism. Rape is against the law, I don't think the general population thinks it should be otherwise.

Point, please?

Tobes said...

I posted this because it's important to recognize that the crime of rape is still prevelant and it is happening close to home--
my home in this case.

Some people out there think rape isn't happening that often but it's important to draw attention to the fact that IT IS COMMON and remind ourselves that it's happening everyday, every hour, in our hometowns and states. While I was studying for school, this young woman was being raped. It's a reminder to all of a us, that it is often dangerous to be a woman.

If the police do have any leads in this case, it will hopefully be easy to prosecute since this sounds like a case of stranger rape and those are often easier to prove because prosecuters can't make the suggestion that because the woman knew her attacker she someone wanted it, deserved it, asked for it etc... sad but true fact. I pray they find the man who did this and can bring him to justice.

The article also went with the next part of the post, which linked to a site that talked about taking back power after sexual assault by skydiving. It's very interesting. I thought it would be nice to link the two stories.

Anonymous said...

Point is that in a lot of cases you get a harsher sentence for stealing a car than for rape.

Other point is that the definition of rape is getting awfully shady these days.

Anonymous said...

While you were studying, Tobes, there was probably a person murdered, and I'm sure several people managed to be starved to death. But, they were probably ALL women, right?

It's dangerous to be a human, not just a woman.

And adrienne, if you can actually show me a police report where a first time offender gets more time in jail for stealing a car than for raping somebody, I'd be positively amazed. Why? Because that isn't the case 99% of the time. Whenever you see a sensationalized article about crap like that, it's because the person stealing the car violated probation and was a repeat offender.

The law isn't soft on rapists. A sex offender is forced to introduce him/her self as such around the neighborhood and is even registered into a national database where ANYBODY is about to see where he/she lives. Match that with appropriate jailtime, and I become a little unsure what the hell you're even trying to say.

"the definition of rape is getting awfully shady these days". How? The definition of rape in the eyes of the law is simple: Unwanted sexual encounter. But I'm sure you're old enough to realize that it isn't black and white like that. No doubt you've heard of cases where a woman was unsure if she wanted to have sex or not, and perhaps decided halfway through that she didn't want it. Fair enough, tell him to stop, and he better oblige. But don't think it hasn't happened that a woman has a less than benevolent agenda and will try to spin the story to her advantage.

I currently share an apartment with a convicted sex offender who was victimized by just that sort of thing. The girl went half-way, then said no, he did. Later that week, she reported him to the police stating that he had forced her to have sex. Let's be serious, even if he was found innocent (he wasn't, there was barely even a trial. All she needed to do was cry before the jury), it wouldn't matter, because the general public snubs people who are even accused of rape, let alone convicted.

So adrienne, before you go spouting off about "shady" definitions, made you should just TRY to look at it from both sides... and while you're at it, maybe you can think of something WORTH saying.

Anonymous said...

The definition of rape is shady these days. Did you know that spousal rape is the most common form of sexual abuse, and the reason it happens so often is because women/men don't realize that they've been raped, even if they were brutalized. Same with statutory rape, most girls/boys don't realize that they've been raped, no matter how traumatizing it was, because it doesn't fit the standard Lifetime for TV after school special definition.

If that is really the case with what happened to your friend, then I feel bad for him. I really do. And you should know that I think that probably every woman in the world would look with disdain upon a girl who would cry rape when it didn't really happen. However, in most cases, that kind of situation can be tricky. Maybe she had been saying that she didn't want to have sex for months and months, and felt like he manipulated her into it-- like in the case of a male friend of mine, who had a girl say she would kill herself if he didn't have sex with her. That qualifies as duress and is technically rape.

It's true that people are murdered every day, and starve to death, etc, and I think that it's both terrifying and sad. However, the fact is that rape is an issue that is probably 85% related to women being victimized, and THAT'S why it is related to feminism.

Also, it is so important for us to talk about rape because the reason so many people get away with it is because so many victims are so ashamed that they never report it. It's because of attitudes that DON'T think that rape is a big deal that these women never come forward, and that is unacceptable.

I did mispeak when I said that a person gets a harsher punishment for stealing a car than for rape. What I meant was that it is much easier to convict a person of stealing a car than of rape. There is a stigma attached to being a victim of rape, especially since most people are raped by people they know. I personally know a woman who was raped in her home and then told him to take her car, specifically so that she could at LEAST prosecute and get him convicted of that. So, thus, the penalty for stealing a car IS bigger, since most attackers know that they will never be convicted of sexual assault.

PS--
I marvel at how people can turn a plain discussion into a personal attack. For example, I personally think that it is really silly, and not very responsible, for you to form your opinions on rape based solely on the fact that you live with someone who may or may not have gotten the short end of the stick, since that is ONE isolated case. But why would I bring that into a discussion that we're having-- since we are, after all, strangers, and since you have no idea who I am and what MY personal experiences with rape may or may not be.

Just because I dont' agree with you doesn't mean that I have nothing worth saying. In my opinion, you saying that you don't see how rape is connected to feminism is not worth saying. How could it be anymore connected?

Tobes said...

Thanks for your comment Adrienne. I hope you don't mind me publishing a comment with such arrogant words that you have "nothing worthwile to say."

I also adressed Antsy's arrogance in a new post... thanks for standing up for feminism, Adrienne

Anonymous said...

No worries, tobes. I understand that part of democracy is giving equal play time to the other side of the coin... :) And, actually, I believe that everything is worth saying, no matter how stupid it may seem. Good ideas are born out of a lot of really bad ones. So no offense here.

Tobes said...

Well that's the only reason I chose to print it, because I wanted to address the point Antsy was making. But it upset me that he kind of got snippy with you. I mean, low blows are just lame.