Comments on: Silence is the Enemy

By: Do You Know The Enemy? | The Intersection | Discover Magazine

Do You Know The Enemy? | The Intersection | Discover Magazine — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:12:18 +0000

[...] Cosmic Variance [...]

By: Just can not understand !

Just can not understand ! — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:41:46 +0000

This truly is a horrific thing to happen to any girl My wife grew up in her home where her mother left them with their Grandparents because of a bad home life to get a better life going for a while . This man the grandfather was very strong in the community where people feared him and those in politics came to him to help get in office but he rapped his grand children at the young ages of 5 and 6 years old with his wife in the other room knowing , and helping get her ready she always thought . Him mean to the bone beating her if she did or asked for something but these children of this age could of done nothing provoking in anyway I see this as just an evil person . It has effected my wife in a very bad way , she was in her late 20s before she even spoke of it the first time to me . She tried talking to her other sisters after that but they wont talk about it and the man is a saint in the mothers eyes . Years later one of his own sons finely shot and killed him for something I can’t remember at the time as I try not to think about him anymore . But rape has nothing to do with the victim as they don’t chose to have this done to them not once or over and over which ever happens to them , and it’s an insult to them for anyone to even insinuate something that is or might of been .

By: The Web Just Got Louder | The Intersection | Discover Magazine

The Web Just Got Louder | The Intersection | Discover Magazine — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:26:41 +0000

[...] here, email me. The facebook group will soon surpass 4,000 members and the official website is close to [...]

By: A few causes to be aware of « Shannon Turlington

A few causes to be aware of « Shannon Turlington — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:47:54 +0000

[...] Silence Is the Enemy – An initiative to speak out in support of victims of sexual violence, particularly in war-torn regions of Africa. [...]

By: RD

RD — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:37:01 +0000

Thanks Sean for highlighting this problem.
I am saddened by some of the comments that trivialise what is a huge problem in my home country (South Africa), as elsewhere.
Going by experience here we need to broaden the definition of rape. Every time a man refuses to use a condom, that is rape. Every time a man uses his status or economic power to ‘persuade’ that sexy young thing to have sex, that is rape. It is rape because she is desperate for the hope that something, somehow will lift her out of her circumstances.
Women here have been reduced to circumstances where they cannot refuse, they cannot even insist on a condom. Because they have no power. Power has been concentrated in the hands of men.

And this is why Sean is right when he says it is about power and domination. Power and domination allows them unfettered satisfaction of their impulses. Power allows them to control public perceptions so that suspicion always falls on the women. Sadly for women, the man’s satisfaction of exercising power multiplies the satisfaction of sex.

By: The Coalition Grows… | The Intersection | Discover Magazine

The Coalition Grows… | The Intersection | Discover Magazine — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:57:26 +0000

[...] Cosmic Variance [...]

By: diogenes

diogenes — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:18:48 +0000

J.D. : you seem to be entirely correct. Rape, like most things, is seldom “about” any one thing.
The primary reason the meme “rape is about power” has survived (against lots of evidence that it’s much more complicated than that) is that it’s politically correct. It DOES make the victim feel better about her (him) self. That’s obviously a good thing, it’s just as obviously not necessarily true (what if there was overwhelming evidence that it WASN’T true, not in the slightest, would that make rape any LESS despicable? Would that make the victim responsible for the crime? I hardly think so.). I put this meme in the same category with “addiction is a disease”. Thinking this may help (or possibly harm) some people, but that doesn’t make it true.

By: Andrew from Chicago

Andrew from Chicago — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:19 +0000

Take a listen to the new Green Day album, and in particular: “Know Your Enemy”

“Do you know your enemy?.
Do you know your enemy?
Well, gotta know your enemy, wah eh..”
…..
“Silence is the enemy.”
“Against the urgency”
“So rally up the demons of your soul”

By: daisyrose

daisyrose — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:28:26 +0000

Bad fortune brings more Bad luck !

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:35:16 +0000

Re 5: Hassan
If the world was at it is supposed to be, people wouldn’t be assaulted at all.

Here on Earth, though, crimes happen, and the victims are often targeted for further abuse, blamed for their own misfortune, or patronized and ignored.

In many countries, it is a crime to be raped.

In many universities, sexual harassment units protect the institution’s reputation at the victim’s expense.

In many situations, admission of being attacked can invite further trouble.

So there are plenty of rational reasons for victims to be wary.

On a more visceral level, it is hard for anyone to admit being harmed by others. Kids find it hard to admit they get bullied; investors find it hard to admit they’ve been ripped off. Sexual crimes are much more emotionally charged then the examples above are.

So her post is incredibly brave.