Rape culture in the Alaskan Wilderness

[Blue_In_AK]

This is a long, but important and moving, article about the culture of rape and abuse that prevails in Alaska's villages and how some brave girls are stepping up to bring attention to the problem. Well worth the read.

http://news.msn.com/us/rape-culture-in-the-alaskan-wilderness-1

One night a few years ago, when Geneva was 13, a man she’d grown up with stumbled into the room she shared with her two sisters in Tanana, Alaska, a tiny village northwest of Fairbanks, and climbed on top of her. He was stumbling drunk and aggressive.

“He tried getting into my clothes,” she recalls. “He tried putting his hands under my shorts and inside my shirt.” She struggled and pushed, but he was years her senior and made of muscle; he pulled her on top of him. She kept pushing and yanking until she suddenly shot backwards and tumbled off the bed. “He was so blacked out, he was like still asleep; his eyes were closed,” she says. “I was watching his face, but his face didn’t move at all. His breathing was normal, but his hands…” She pauses, and the word hangs thickly in the air. “His hands felt like he was awake.”

Afterward, she ran into the living room and burst into tears, stuffing her face into a pillow so her parents wouldn’t hear. She didn’t tell them, then; she was scared and ashamed. “I guess I just felt like I was dirty. I guess that’s what victims feel like. They feel dirty and just want to clean everything off.”

<snip>

In fact, Geneva says, she’s been grabbed, chased, followed, and molested so much in her short life that she’s now made it a habit to lock the bedroom door at night and shove a chair under the knob so no one can come in; she’ll wait up, trembling, until everyone at a party is passed out cold before she can comfortably fall asleep. She’s learned to avoid being alone with friends’ dads, or with grandpas at village potlatches, or with boys at basketball games, who’ve repeatedly groped her breasts and buttocks. “It’s just random, like, you’ll think everything’s all normal and then you’ll feel something on your backside,” she says. “You just freeze.”

<snip>

[Stargleamer]

1. hmmmm. . .

that's twice this morning this connection was explored: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025530704#post1

[Blue_In_AK]

2. It's a very serious problem up here

compounded by the fact that law enforcement is very difficult in the bush and our governor has antipathy toward tribal government.

[uppityperson]

3. Yup. k&r

[niyad]

4. k and r and bookmarking for later reading. I remember hearing something about this months ago,

so thanks for the information.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. It really does an excellent job of explaining why enforcing these laws

in the Bush is such a serious issue.