Telling people not to say or do things because they might discourage rape victims from reporting their rapes is not constructive. Instead of suppressing false allegations and male rape victims, campaign to encourage rape survivors to report the people who raped them. Creating positive encouragement is a far more powerful and effective action than trying to ensure a lack of potential discouragement.

nationalpost:

Victim of hours-long gang rape on New Delhi bus in stable condition after several operationsThe 23-year-old student who was the victim of a brutal, hours-long beating and gang rape on a New Delhi bus is now in stable condition after undergoing several rounds of surgery, doctors said Thursday.She’s not out of danger yet, the chief of New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital said, but her recovery is going well.“She is a really brave girl,” said Dr. BD Asthani, the BBC reports. “She has immense fighting spirit. Today is the fourth day since her grievous injury. She has withstood the treatment [well]. (AP)

Victim of hours-long gang rape on New Delhi bus in stable condition after several operations
The 23-year-old student who was the victim of a brutal, hours-long beating and gang rape on a New Delhi bus is now in stable condition after undergoing several rounds of surgery, doctors said Thursday.

She’s not out of danger yet, the chief of New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital said, but her recovery is going well.

“She is a really brave girl,” said Dr. BD Asthani, the BBC reports. “She has immense fighting spirit. Today is the fourth day since her grievous injury. She has withstood the treatment [well]. (AP)

The Big Military Story No One Wants to Talk About Right Now: Rape

sinidentidades:

Salacious details of Gen. David Petraus’s adulterous relationship with biographer Paula Broadwell—and all of the attendant sexist framing—have eclipsed a much more important military story.

Yesterday, the Air Force imposed what it calls a “wingman policy” requiring its trainees at the Lackland base in San Antonio, Texas, to be with at least one classmate at all times. The move comes in response to an Air Training and Command investigation that identified 23 instructors on the base who had allegedly raped, sexually harassed or had “unprofessional relationships” with 48 trainees.

Lackland trains all Air Force recruits, [Bloomberg reports.] So far, five officials have been convicted in court martials on charges ranging from adultery to rape and others could face criminal charges.

Of course the epidemic of unpunished rape within the U.S. military—and the routine silencing of and retaliation against enlisted survivors who dare to report it—isn’t new. Due in large part to the release of the Academy Award-nominated “Invisible War” documentary, the sustained activism of Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), and several high-profile class action civil suits filed against former and current Defense Secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Leon Panetta, the issue has captured headlines. In April, the Pentagon made several changes to its dysfunctional sexual assault protocol, such as extending evidence retention for 50 years and granting service-people who have been assaulted immediate transfers so that they don’t have to report to or interact with their attackers while the crime is being investigated.

These shifts are the bare minimum.

In 2010 alone, there were at least 19,000 intra-military sexual assaults, according to the Defense Department. Further enhancing the trauma, there remains a ban on military insurance coverage of abortions even in the case of rape and incest.

I haven’t seen sexual assault reports broken down by race. What I can say is that a disproportionate number of servicewomen on active duty are black. They make up a whopping 31 percent of the active-duty population compared to the 15 percent they comprise in the general population. (Fifty three percent of women on active duty are white, compared to 78 percent of female civilians.)

In the coming days or weeks, Congress will take up the National Defense Authorization Act and it has the opportunity to lift the ban on military insurance coverage of abortion in the case of sexual assault. It’s way past time to get rid of class-based restrictions on abortion access, including those for military women and Medicaid recipients via the Hyde Amendment. Now that “women’s issues” are all the electoral rage, we should make that demand, straight no chaser.

Extras:

Consider using the Center for Reproductive Rights’s handy letter to your Congressperson urging him or her to lift the cruel, backwards ban on military insurance coverage of abortion in the case of rape or incest.

Michelle Chen’s still-relevant, excellent 2008 Colorlines feature “Home from the Military” explores some of the contours of military service and sexual assault for women of color living on low incomes.

For more context, read the (potentially triggering) September 2011 class action suit filed by 28 very brave female and male sexual assault survivors against former defense secretaries Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.

The Boston-based Military Rape Crisis Center provides survivors with information, support and opportunities for activism.

justsomecrazydreamer:

distractedbyshinyobjects:

Probably my favorite tweet of the night so far.

Already favorited this tweet, I love that my wrockers double as well informed and witty additions to my twitter feed.

aboutmaleprivilege:

Male privilege is ridiculing a female protagonist as unreliable because she “claims to be ugly even though she gets sexually assaulted several times in the novel” and not understanding why this is an incredibly problematic and offensive statement because “I never have to worry about that sort of thing!”

fromonesurvivortoanother:

strugglingtobeheard:

cresscross:

dptrclb:

[serious trigger warning: explicit descriptions of child sexual abuse, rape, violence]

Angel Haze’s take on Eminem’s Cleaning Out My Closet is a brave reliving of a childhood rife with sexual abuse and the ongoing affects that the acts had on Haze long after the abuse had finished. Raw, it packs an emotional punch, Haze’s delivery and execution shows why she is such an exciting talent to watch.

I want everyone i’ve ever met that thinks that term survivor ( in terms of sexual assault) is overly dramatic or doesn’t believe in the power abuse has in shaping your life for years to listen to this track. this song is so raw and painful but i really appreciate it. angel haze is making that REAL music.

This song really hit me in the gut. She is so good tho and the writing is just, damn.

this is really good, but yeah it was tough to listen to

missgingerlee:

I’m just gonna leave this here.

(Source: sexgenderbody)

Romney continues to back Mourdock in spite of Senate hopeful's rape remarks

[TW: Rape] SIGNAL BOOST. A RAPE VITIM IS GOING TO BE EXECUTED FOR KILLING HIS RAPIST. PLEASE READ AND TAKE A EITHER A SECOND TO REBLOG OR A FEW SECONDS TO SIGN THE PETITION.

agender-queer:

neurobeetle:

http://www.change.org/petitions/governor-tom-corbett-pa-board-of-pardons-district-attorney-seth-williams-grant-clemency-to-terrance-williams-survivor-of-child-sexual-abuse?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10675&alert_id=haqebjIzZe_pAbEWFZzIF

EXECUTION IS ON OCTOBER 3RD. PLEASE SIGN!

Fuck.

This person shouldn’t even be in prison.

(Source: schizocoatyl)

Still think telling rapists not to rape doesn't work? Read this. (TW)

The Big Military Story No One Wants to Talk About Right Now: Rape

Romney continues to back Mourdock in spite of Senate hopeful's rape remarks