Assange and Steubenville: Excusing Rape

[BainsBane]

"One of the Swedish women who accused Wikileaks founder Julian Assange of sex crimes has spoken out about the ordeal she said she suffered at the hands of her alleged abuser’s mother and other supporters.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that she became a target for both her former allies and opponents who, along with her alleged abuser’s acolytes, turned against her and presumed she was lying about the allegations she made.

“Three years ago I was the victim of an assault. Former allies, political opponents, the Sweden Democrats, anti-feminists, Jew-haters, the man’s friends and mother quickly decided that there was something fishy. That I lied,” she wrote on her blog."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/i-was-targeted-after-i-made-assange-sex-crime-claim-says-accuser-of-wikileaks-founder-8613006.html

For years, residents of Steubenville covered up rape by football players because of the reverence they had for local athletes. They sheltered rapists and shamed victims. Now some on the "left" are doing the same to the women who have lodged rape allegations against Julian Assange. Assange has fled prosecution of unlawful coercion and two counts of sexual molestation. He escaped extradition from the UK by seeking shelter in the Ecuadorian embassy. So-called leftists insist the Swedish women are part of a CIA plot, or that the rape charges amount to nothing more than his "personal life" or a private sex scandal on the order of Clinton-Lewinsky. Tell me how are they different from the community in Steubenville that protected football players? Both shelter men they admire from charges of sexual assault. If not for the video on Facebook, the Ohio rapists would never have been prosecuted. Swedish prosecutors did move against Assange, but the accused has defenders across the globe willing to shield him--physically, in the case of Ecuador, and through moral support in the blogosphere. Are the apologists for Assange any different from those who allied themselves with the Steubenville rapists? If only men people don't admire are subject to prosecution for violence against women, there can be no protection from sexual assault. Through the defenders of the Steubenville rapists and Assange, we see rape culture in action.

[patrice]

1. Honestly, I have always had trouble seeing Assange as an altruist, in ANY way, let alone a hero. nt

[MAD Dave]

2. Thank you

I had not taken the time to think about these incidents and link them. My opinion wrt the Assange case has changed.

The Rethaeh Parsons story from Nova Scotia is another Steubenville-esque example of rape culture that changed my mind.

[riqster]

3. Well said!

[BainsBane]

5. Thanks

This has been getting under my skin. The casual way people dismiss the rape charges against Assange is disturbing.

[Arkansas Granny]

4. I have found the differing attitudes about these events to be troubling.

[ismnotwasm]

6. It is exactly rape culture

Last edited Mon May 13, 2013, 07:18 PM - Edit history (1)

As far as Assange, I lost respect for him prior to the rape accusations. I can't stand that so many automatically assume the women are lying.

Edit to remove content inappropriate for HoF (in my view. )

[BainsBane]

8. I think there is a point separate from whether the Wikileaks

document dump is a good idea. Many who support the release of those US govt docs support Assange in spite of legal charges of rape against him, in spite of the fact he is evading prosecution for sexual molestation and coercive sex against women in Sweden and has not been charged with anything by the US government. So say this were the Pentagon Papers instead of the Wikileaks dump, that wouldn't make a charges of sex crimes any less serious. My point is that admiring Assange is not a valid reason for victim blaming and denying the validity of charges against him. Those rape victims deserve their day in court, just as the girls in Steubenville did.

[ismnotwasm]

10. I agree, I was hesitant to post that here

It's part of my own references on the man. There are many men who I would consider dishonorable who are certainly NOT rapists. I think I react to the pedestal he's placed on. Women are collateral damage in this case.

[BainsBane]

9. I appreciate the link though

I may have already read this article, but I'll definitely look at it again.

[seabeyond]

21. i totally agree with all you say, even the part that you took out. for me,

all this has gone beyond hero worship to blindness.

[MadrasT]

7. I see similarities.

Assange is a rock star to some on the left, somehow thought to be above reproach... and the women who accused him became targets of his supporter's ire.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

11. K&R n/t

[Luminous Animal]

12. I do not agree with the personal attacks but now both women have stated that they were not raped.

On April 24, 2013, AA, the woman referenced in the article tweeted that she has never been raped . She quickly took the tweet down but not quick enough for someone to archive it.

http://archive.is/OTQWI

nej, jag har inte blivit våldtagen, men jag anser ändå att djur har rättigheter och att människor är djur, tagga ner!

This translates to: no, I have not been raped, but I do believe that animals have rights and that humans are animals, tag down!

[BainsBane]

13. That's not true

This report is from yesterday, and charges are still pending. Amazing what people will believe. Anyone could have sent that tweet, and it probably was an Assange supporter. If she were to withdraw the police complaint, that would be another matter. That tweet is proof of nothing.

[Luminous Animal]

14. I am not sure what you are claiming is untue.

It is the state that brings the charges. Not individuals.

And yes. AA did write that tweet. I saw it on her feed the day she wrote it. So no, ANYONE couldn't have written that tweet.

SW interview with the police was cut short because she became upset and claimed, at the time, that she had not been raped and she refused to sign the statement that was written for her.

[BainsBane]

15. the state doesn't bring charges without a complainant

and there is more than one woman involved. They don't bring sexual assault charges without a victim. They are among the most difficult cases to prosecute.

The Independent article is from yesterday and it refers to a very recent blog. I don't know who AA is or the names of any of the rape victims, but there is no way I'm taking some tweet as evidence of anything. That's absurd. Moreover, Assange's own lawyer ADMITS Assange forced the woman to have sex. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/12/assanges-lawyer-admits-sex-acts-were-disturbing-disrespectful/

The US is not after that guy. This country has issued no warrant for the arrest. The only thing he is wanted for is sexual assault, and is he on the run as a sex predator and nothing else.

[ismnotwasm]

16. Isn't he still in the Ecuadorian embassy in London?

Hardly under siege.

[Luminous Animal]

17. Let me rephrase that. Your link leads people to believe that

Emmerson was describing his own interpretation of the night. He was not. He is quoting from the police report. You can find it here: http://www.slideshare.net/swedenversusassange/110630-skeleton-argument

He did say the words "disturbing" and "disrespectful" in regards to Assange's approach. Because intercourse may be disturbing and disrespectful does not mean that it was rape.

[ismnotwasm]

19. Then he should go face charges

I just spent time reading the police transcripts, it sounds as though both women were very concerned that he took off, or tore condoms during sex, and at one point, one of the women woke up with him already inside her. She felt uncomfortable but allowed him to continue. Whether that is coercion or not (to me it is) as a legal matter in Sweden I don't know, but I'm guessing yes. The transcribed interviews are no doubt embarrassing for all concerned.

According to what I read--( I'm not totally confident about the source, otherwise I'd link )the women initially wanted him tested for STD's because of the condom issue, not nessisarily have him prosecuted. So while I personally find his behavior abhorrent and creepy and fucked up, I think he should just get this over with.


I also read about the extradition laws that would force him to the US, and it's not nearly as easy--or as legal-- as he and his supporters are making it out to be.
He's got strong supporters all over the world. He's not going to Guantanamo.

Wikileaks Austrailia just started a platform that would 'protect sources'. Wikileaks is still going strong.

Mr. Assange needs to move forward.

[seabeyond]

22. thanks for typing it all out. that is how i see it also. also, at one point he "held down" a woman

because he was having sex with her, without a condom and she was insisting on it. that sounds like "force" to me. she is trying to get away. she is wanting a condom. he is holding her down against her will.

[ismnotwasm]

23. What the woman said

Was to the effect "he'd already started and they just wanted it over with" it says something about women's sexual agency, that they didn't feel empowered to tell him to 'get the fuck off me' because of previous sexual contact. A way you slice it, he comes off as a creepy bastard at BEST.

[Luminous Animal]

18. I am not fully apprised of the Swedish system but the state certainly does bring charges without a

complaint. I am most familiar with domestic violence cases where the women wants to retract but the police and the state continue on despite "hostile" noncooperation.

[seabeyond]

20. thank you bains. you are right on. i believe there is just one poster on du that continually

brings this up and good for them.

i have not liked the man from day one. he is all about ego. but that ego serves him will pulling in the suckers to allow him to avoid having to face his day in court.

i see him no different than polanski and how many people and liberals defend that pig.

"but it isnt rape rape." my ass.