Listowel: rape apology that the rest of Ireland will not tolerate

I've a new post up on GlobalComment:

A figure sits shivering in the drafty courthouse. She is only twenty two, alone except for the counsellor from the Rape Crisis Clinic. She waits for the judge to enter and sentence the man who sexually assaulted her. She must give her victim impact statement, and maybe then, she can concentrate on healing and taking care of herself. The courtroom door opens to reveal a line of men and women. Danny Foley, in the defence chair, receives condolences, handshakes and some tears while she, the state witness, the young woman who was found drugged and half naked by the police, gets dirty looks.

Continue reading here.

Jay Smooth on Polanski

As usual Jay brings it

No jail time for child abuser maybe because he's an award-winning author?

According to Judge Moran, the abuser's needs supersede the victim's rights. What a wonderful fucking justice system

Desmond Hogan has been given a two-year suspended jail sentence, placed on the sex offenders register and ordered not to have unsupervised contact with children after he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy...

“This is a very serious matter . . . this was an incident with a young boy who was under age, it’s completely unacceptable, it was an abuse of a relationship between a young boy and a considerably older man,” Judge Moran said.

However, he believed society would benefit more from Hogan continuing with his treatment than from sending him to jail where he might meet like-minded people serving sentences for similar offences.

“He is a person with a complex make-up and if he continues his underlying therapeutic treatment, in all the circumstances, society is probably better served than if he is sent to jail,” Judge Moran said.

This word does not mean what you think it means

From the Irish Times by Donald Clarke on Polanski

You’ve heard the arguments already. Nobody contests the assertion that, 32 years ago, the director had sex with a 13-year-old girl in Jack Nicholson’s Hollywood home. After his arrest, when his lawyer realised the authorities seemed unlikely to honour a plea bargain, Polanski fled the US for life as a celebrated émigré in France.

No not "had sex with", the word you are looking for is raped. Polanski raped a child. Read her Grand Jury evidence, if you can stomach it.

I have not blogged on this before because it has been so horrible to see rape apology is the global media. It is revolting how many denizens of Hollywood are coming out to support this child rapist.

• Martin Scorsese
• David Lynch
• Harvey Weinstein
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Debra Winger
• Pedro Almodovar
• Wes Anderson
• Natalie Portman
• Kristin Scott Thomas
• Darren Aronofsky
• Diane von Furstenberg
• Tilda Swinton
• Gael Garcia Bernal
• Penelope Cruz

So many talented people are eager to associate themselves with a child rapist because of how he earns his living. The wailing and gnashing of teeth because of the death of art is pretentious rape-apology bullshit.

People regularly deny that the western world has a rape culture. Remember that rape is rape. Claims of PCness gone wild or over sensitivity display that you ally yourself with the rapist. Remember that next time you hear

• She deserved it
• She was drunk
• She had a short skirt on
• She shouldn't have been in that part of town
• etc

and you say nothing, you condone rape. So wake the fuck up and learn these rules

• If a woman is drunk, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is walking alone at night, don’t rape her.
• If a women is drugged and unconscious, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is wearing a short skirt, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is jogging in a park at 5 am, don’t rape her.
• If a woman looks like your ex-girlfriend you’re still hung up on, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is asleep in her bed, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is asleep in your bed, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is doing her laundry, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is in a coma, don’t rape her.
• If a woman changes her mind in the middle of or about a particular activity, don’t rape her.
• If a woman has repeatedly refused a certain activity, don’t rape her.
• If a woman is not yet a woman, but a child, don’t rape her.
• If your girlfriend or wife is not in the mood, don’t rape her.
• If your step-daughter is watching tv, don’t rape her.
• If you break into a house and find a woman there, don’t rape her.
• If your friend thinks it’s okay to rape someone, tell him it’s not, and that he’s not your friend.
• If your “friend” tells you he raped someone, report him to the police.
• If your a guy at a party tells you there’s an unconscious woman upstairs and it’s your turn, don’t rape her, call the police and tell the guy he’s a rapist.
• Tell your sons, god-sons, nephews, grandsons, sons of friends it’s not okay to rape someone.
• Don’t tell your women friends how to be safe and avoid rape.
• Don’t imply that she could have avoided it if she’d only done/not done x.
• Don’t imply that it’s in any way her fault.
• Don’t let silence imply agreement when someone tells you he “got some” with the drunk girl.
• Don’t perpetuate a culture that tells you that you have no control over or responsibility for your actions. You can, too, help yourself.

If you argue that Polanski should be freed, expect me to treat you like I would a child rapist.

Read other posts on this

When Fame Gets in the Way of Culpability

Does Being an “Artist” Trump Being a Rapist

Her Reasons Are Not Yours

Reminder: Roman Polanski raped a child

Rape Apologists: Roman Polanski’s Rape of a Child Not That Bad

Letters From Hollywood: Roman Polanski's Rape Of Child No Big Thing