Oh, I have no doubt that the rape charges would quickly disappear if he weren't wanted by a bunch of different countries for things that aren't actually illegal in most of them. Really, though, that's part of the problem; rape isn't important enough to prosecute on its own, apparently. Adding the voice of a prominent feminist saying that no, that doesn't meet the definition of rape, is just icing on the cake of the lack of justice for the young woman involved. She's being used six ways from Sunday, by governments and individuals with a soapbox, and it's just as wrong as what happened to her to begin with.
Uhh... are you talking about the woman who Assange 'raped' while sleeping? The one who woke up with Assange rubbing on something or another in a bid for sex, and tacitly agreed? Or are you talking with the other woman, who Assange 'held down' and 'ripped the necklace off of'? The one who held a party for Assange a few days later, let Assange stay in her house afterwords, and maintained a friendly relationship with Assange until the police pressed charges?
Really, saying this is "rape" is insulting to actual victims of rape.
When I was 13 we moved into an apartment in a shady part of town. The night before we moved in our next door neighbour's apartment was broken into and the 12 year old daughter taken outside and sodomized. She was broken. It changed her life. To compare her experience with these women who Assange 'raped' is obscene.
In full disclosure, that wasn't the last time I experienced rape, either. I also volunteered for a rape crisis centre. I'm not interested in 'speaking for' any of those women. They have their own voices - just like the women who Assange had sex with. They have voices of their own. However, those who believe them to be victims of 'rape' are construing them as powerless victims. And that's a bridge I'm not buying.
It's really not that abnormal for people to maintain friendly relationships with people who have hurt them, especially with a motivation like believing in the guy's political organization. If the woman Assange woke up with sex is claiming rape, she obviously did not "tacitly agree" to the sex. This is why education efforts on sexual consent now focus on phrases like "ask first" and "yes means yes"--because a lot of people are really, really hurt by sex that the other person probably thought they "tacitly agreed" to, to the extent that their experiences can be reasonably described as rape.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-22 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-22 09:16 pm (UTC)Really, saying this is "rape" is insulting to actual victims of rape.
When I was 13 we moved into an apartment in a shady part of town. The night before we moved in our next door neighbour's apartment was broken into and the 12 year old daughter taken outside and sodomized. She was broken. It changed her life. To compare her experience with these women who Assange 'raped' is obscene.
In full disclosure, that wasn't the last time I experienced rape, either. I also volunteered for a rape crisis centre. I'm not interested in 'speaking for' any of those women. They have their own voices - just like the women who Assange had sex with. They have voices of their own. However, those who believe them to be victims of 'rape' are construing them as powerless victims. And that's a bridge I'm not buying.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-22 11:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-12-22 11:51 pm (UTC)