Our current legal system discourages people from taking full responsibility for their actions and their consequences
In November 2011, a group of young men allegedly raped a very drunk fifteen-year-old, snapped a photo, and circulated it, kicking off bullying that preceeded the girl’s suicide. On Thursday, one of them was sentenced to twelve months of probation and a mental health assessment. Whether or not this was an appropriate sentence – he was not on trial for rape, but for distributing a nude photo of a teenager – it’s not sufficient to make this young man take responsibility for what he did, or to discourage a repeat performance. Why don’t sentences for accused sex offenders teach them to treat women like people?
In 2011, 15-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons attended a small party, she drank too much and began vomiting. While she was incapacitated, four boys allegedly assaulted her. One boy took a picture of another giving a thumbs-up sign while allegedly raping her as she vomited, and the boys circulated the photo around their high school. Instead of being horrified at the boys’ actions, Parsons’s classmates began bullying her and calling her a slut. Outside of school, strangers texted her and messaged her on Facebook asking for sex – after all, they said, she had already had sex with their friends.
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.
In November 2011, a group of young men allegedly raped a very drunk fifteen-year-old, snapped a photo, and circulated it, kicking off bullying that preceeded the girl’s suicide. On Thursday, one of them was sentenced to twelve months of probation and a mental health assessment. Whether or not this was an appropriate sentence – he was not on trial for rape, but for distributing a nude photo of a teenager – it’s not sufficient to make this young man take responsibility for what he did, or to discourage a repeat performance. Why don’t sentences for accused sex offenders teach them to treat women like people?
In 2011, 15-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons attended a small party, she drank too much and began vomiting. While she was incapacitated, four boys allegedly assaulted her. One boy took a picture of another giving a thumbs-up sign while allegedly raping her as she vomited, and the boys circulated the photo around their high school. Instead of being horrified at the boys’ actions, Parsons’s classmates began bullying her and calling her a slut. Outside of school, strangers texted her and messaged her on Facebook asking for sex – after all, they said, she had already had sex with their friends.
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 8 hours ago.