General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRape Culture exists because Law Enforcement Agencies encourage it.
http://m.clevescene.com/cleveland/roofie-island-a-summer-of-reported-druggings-and-rapes-on-put-in-bay-lake-eries-party-destination/Content?oid=4345726&showFullText=trueIve ranted oftentimes over the years about how sexist prosecutors and lazy/preeve cops fail to protect citizens from sexual predators; and have been duly informed that I was blowing things out of proportion, yadayada. In response to those who say such rape-enabling twaddle, I hereby submit yet another example: the sleepy little town of Put-In-Bay, Ohio.
There is so much rape happening there, its been re-named Roofie Island From the above article (which you really ought to read):
Since May, there are have been at least a dozen documented incidents of people suspected of being dosed with date-rape drugs at Put-In-Bay bars, with no arrests. In that time, there have been at least three reported rapes of drugged or heavily intoxicated women and only once when police came upon a 27-year-old Mentor man in the act, with several eye witnesses who spotted him tackling her to the ground has somebody been arrested so far.
On Saturdays this summer, EMS has had to regularly transport girls from the popular pool bar Mist to the hospital after someone slipped date-rape drugs into their drinks.
In early May, a trauma nurse at a southeast Michigan hospital called Put-In-Bay police to report a woman was raped on the island that weekend. According to the police report (where the victims and suspects names have been redacted), the nurse relayed the story: a Mr. Eds manager asked a female bartender to have drinks with him after work on a Saturday. Once out with him, she lost consciousness, only to come-to at 2:30 a.m. with her boss on top of her, yelling at her to take her fucking clothes off. She told him no, the report says, and that she was on her period. But he pulled down her pants, pulled out her tampon, and had his way with her. The police report says the woman declined to pursue charges because she didnt want to lose her job, but that turned out to not be true.
Just before 4 p.m. on July 7, they were dispatched for a drugged female at the pool, only to have one of her friends pass out at the same time EMS was treating her, stoking EMSs fears that more women have been and will be drugged: The EMS worker informed me that it was most likely ruphy (sic) and stated there will probably be a lot more individuals getting ruphied (sic). The police report notes nothing further in terms of an investigation.
The local police chief is not only doing nothing about these crimes; he is under investigation himself for excessive force and other offenses. Sound like Steubenville on an island? Yup. It shows, yet again, that America has a big problem with rape culture that the country refuses to address.
I have been criticized for advocating harsh penalties for convicted rapists. If that seems cruel to you, ask yourself if the current state of affairs is any kinder. It is not. By ignoring crimes of sexual violence, our government is giving tacit approval to such behavior, and until severe and visible punishment starts harshly and consistently raining down upon the perpetrators, rape will continue to terrorize our culture.
Mercy to the guilty is truly, as Adam Smith said, cruelty to the innocent. Time for the cops and judges to unleash some cruelty on the rapists and their enablers, and to save the mercy for their victims.
el_bryanto
(11,804 posts)go after rapists diligently instead of back-burnering the problem.
Bryant
riqster
(13,986 posts)Evergreen Emerald
(13,069 posts)The laws continue to evolve in attempts to curb the violence. Unfortunately, law enforcement /prosecution are the last resort. It needs to start with society.
Where I live, the government is vigilant in protecting victims of violence.
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)Firstly, you are also generalizing based on an anecdote.
Secondly, police are not the recipients of cultural change: they actively contribute to it, so to act as though the cops should only be asked to do their jobs after the rest of society has fully evolved is a specious notion, to put it mildly.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Most come from a blog of mine (currently on hiatus). Each post contains links to source material, so you needn't read my rants if you'd rather not: just click on the embedded links:
http://www.wavaw.ca/what-is-rape-culture/
http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/12/13/steubenville-south-tallahassee-cops-help-cover-up-rape-state-ag-is-asked-to-take-over/
http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/rape-enabling-judges-are-letting-child-pornographers-off-the-hook/
http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/06/20/too-many-american-rapists-go-unpunished-that-means-america-is-ok-with-rape/
http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/convicted-serial-rapist-is-free-to-rape-again-while-his-victims-live-in-an-abusive-hell/
http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/first-they-raped-her-body-then-they-raped-her-soul-now-they-are-spitting-on-her-grave/
http://bluntandcranky.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/we-need-anonymous-to-ensure-justice-for-rape-victims-sadly-yes-yes-we-do/
There IS a negative impact caused by lack of law enforcement, contrary to your assertion that the causal chain finishes there: when laws are not enforced, the message society receives is "this crime is no big deal". Far from letting law enforcement off the hook until the rest of society achieves enlightenment, we need to recognize the impact they have on society and work to correct their culture.
TIMETOCHANGE
(86 posts)We need to shift how we enjoy ourselves. Most rapes around my way happen as a result of binge drinking and from the OP, that sort of is how it looks too to some degree. Binge drinking allows predators to slip drugs into drinks and attack their victims. Maybe its time we start counseling people openly to stop drinking alcohol. It endangers their health from liver damage and other health problems, it can lead to deadly accidents, and it also leaves victims vulnerable to rape.
Maybe instead of staying out all night and drinking to have fun, we go enjoy nature, help our communities, etc.. That might help a great deal in reducing the frequency of random/stranger rapes (most rapes are by known persons as I recall). There are more solutions and we need society to change before the police will change.
On a side note; going out to bars and clubs when it comes to rapists is like swimming in the ocean where you know Great Whites like to hang out. You aren't guaranteed to get attacked, but the chances are good. Stay out of the Great White's feed grounds. Parties with friends can be a lot safer and getting out of the club before 11:00 p.m. is smarter and safer than staying till closing.
riqster
(13,986 posts)The idea that law-abiding people should stay away from taverns and pubs, to me, puts the shoe on the wrong foot. Far better to bust the motherfucking criminals instead of making good people limit their choices.
Also: I have stood in front of a lot of bar audiences, and made a lot of money by so doing. Advocating such limits on people's behavior would negatively impact the livelihoods of people who make their living working in such establishments.
Again, let's focus on making the places safer by kicking rapist asses instead of telling decent people to limit their recreational choices.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"happen as a result of binge drinking..."
No... they happen because of rapists. Learn cause and effect.
riqster
(13,986 posts)niyad
(113,213 posts)rapes will drop if we stop going to clubs? go out in nature (hillside strangler, anyone??) instead of blaming the victims, which is what you are doing, how about blaming the damned rapists, and the culture that supports and encourages them?
but then, this kind of victim-blaming is hardly surprising. offensive as hell, but not in the least surprising.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Victim-blaming is SUCH a load of horseshit.
TIMETOCHANGE
(86 posts)Rapists don't achieve a sense of deterrence just because some rapists go to jail or get brutalized in prison. They are sickos with pathological conditions that make them victimize without mercy or compassion. I know a lawyer who specializes in defending rapists, none of them were ever deterred by other rapists going to prison or getting shot by their victims.
Yes law enforcement needs to step up pursuing rapists. Rapists are predators. Pure and simple. So why go to where the predators hunt? Why be their prey? What's more important, folks conducting themselves so they aren't prey, or pursuing criminals after they have raped someone?
I won't argue for the moral high ground, we've probably never stood on the same mountain so to speak. I'd rather folks use their time and money to avoid being possible victims and help their community, experience nature, and do something other than consume alcohol to excess.
riqster
(13,986 posts)And that is very sad indeed.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Not the only disgusting post from that poster. I think he took a wrong turn somewhere on the internets.
riqster
(13,986 posts)The article was about people being drugged, not drinking to excess.
Not that it matters, of course. Rape is rape. But when someone shows that they haven't even read the article being discussed.. .
WCLinolVir
(951 posts)There really is an element in the police that do not want to be bothered. So much denial still exists, along with a clear message that women being victimized don't matter much.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Take one hit off a bong and you are jailed: rape someone and the cops shrug.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)That is the purpose of date rape drugs: To leave the victim incapable of legally prosecuting. However, if these establishments are becoming such a nuisance 1) warn people to stay the hell away from them and 2) perhaps launch an undercover effort. Once they've ID'ed the perpetrator(s) make a very public example of them. Perhaps even the establishment owners bears a civil culpability.
riqster
(13,986 posts)So far, nothing has changed. The laws need to be enforced. The locals are not doing so.
In the linked article, a 16-year-old girl was taken out due drinks and dosed. The man who did the deed not only slipped the kid a Roofie: he bought an underage person booze. He was not prosecuted for that either.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)You wouldn't want anarchy, would you?
riqster
(13,986 posts)But then, BBQ is legal where I live, and I grill year-found, even in the snow.
A bit of heavy physical restraint applied to violent rapists during an arrest might be problematic, I guess: but a chokehold put on a violent criminal during an arrest would at least mean an arrest had occurred. Right now, arrests aren't happening, and the victims are getting a lot worse than chokeholds.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)that women have consented to have sex.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)redqueen
(115,103 posts)It is the presumption of innocence which does it.
Perhaps we should consider rape a different type of crime, and assume non-consent as the default.
riqster
(13,986 posts)...in well over 90 % of social interaction, I would think.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)evidence is a requirement. Evidence will always be a requirement for securing a conviction.
Near as I can see the problem in the OP is the police are not exercising every available avenue to collect that evidence, i.e. undercover officers or actually pressing charges when the evidence is obvious, i.e. the case of the 16 year old. Re-classifying rape isn't the issue; getting the cops to stop choking-out weekend grillers and dealing with actual crimes is the issue.
conservaphobe
(1,284 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)Hope that happens here.
niyad
(113,213 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)niyad
(113,213 posts)In_The_Wind
(72,300 posts)riqster
(13,986 posts)Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)You do not need to 'unleash cruelty' on perpetrators in order to give 'mercy' to the victims. You merely need to actually investigate, arrest, and actually put the perpetrators into jail under existing legal sentencing.
If police and prosecutors do their damned jobs, the perpetrators will receive the punishments that prevent them from adding to their prior crimes.
In that particular bar, btw, I'd recommend a lot of hidden cameras. Get eyes on potential perps, and get in there and collect the evidence and make the arrests.
riqster
(13,986 posts)I have a lot of anger on the topic, so I might get a bit too pissed off when writing on it.
Per the linked article, the bar manager is a frequently- named perp, so I doubt such cameras go up anytime soon.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I just don't do the 'cruel or unusual' thing.
I wonder if there's any way to shut the place down? One of the local hotels around here was shut down, at least for a while, because of the crimes committed and the criminals drawn to the area. (Drug dealing and prostitution.) With a bar, losing the liquor license might be the way to go.
riqster
(13,986 posts)So the Cleveland media is pushing the story now.
joeglow3
(6,228 posts)Looks like a fun little island. Hope they solve this.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Usually, day-trippers don't have an issue.
joeglow3
(6,228 posts)Rented a golf cart, got lunch, took the kids around the island, rented a jet ski, etc.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Already not planning on hitting the bars, so my fam is safe. It's other people I'm worried about.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)Because "the victim acted like a typical victim". Won't present it to a grand jury.
So what would be an atypical victim??
I think it's protecting the good ole boys.
riqster
(13,986 posts)It permeates law enforcement culture at every level.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)She's busy protecting the right people, obviously.
I'm not sure what a Non-typical victim would have to do to qualify.
The perp got his massage license yanked, because the deputy who took the complaint filed a complaint with the state board, but he can still feel up women for free. He has gospel music playing in the background and is a good Christian. He's actually a serial sexual offender that thinks he is doing women a favor!!!
niyad
(113,213 posts)hysterical, and sobbing incoherently, then you obviously are NOT a rape victim in the minds of many, including police, da's and courts.