In today's massive, massive, massive FAIL...

[misscam]

Dear Saudi Arabia,

FAIL.

Imagine: You're 19. You get raped. Gang-raped, even. 14 times. You're brave. You report the rape. You get sentenced to 90 lashes because at the time of the rape, you were hanging out with a man that wasn't related to you and this is a crime in Saudi Arabia. He also gets punished even though he was attacked as well. You find this a bit unfair. You appeal. Your appeals gets you 200 lashes and six months in jail and your lawyer gets his licence revoked for trying to draw attention to this just being a tad wrong?

FAIL, FAIL, FAIL AND WTF HOW CAN YOU MANAGE THIS MUCH FAIL WITHOUT FAIL IMPLODING. (P.S FAIL US GOVERNMENT TOO. You let Saudi Arabia get away with this shit because they're an "ally" in the war on terror? FAIL.)

Then I read some reactions from BBC readers and I present to you Mike from Sacramento, USA:

Clearly, in many criminal events there are no clear-cut victims and criminals, quite often both sides are guilty. Saudi law clearly criminalises unchaperoned one-on-one contact, as a public safety measure, designed to prevent the occurrence of exactly this kind of situation. Saudi Arabia must be congratulated for their low crime rate. Scurrilous attacks on the judiciary such as the one committed by the alleged victim are deserving of punishment.

...........

Hi Mike. You're a fucking ass of FAIL. If there ever was a crimininal "event" with a clear-cut victim, rape is bloody well it, you ignorant idiot of a human failure. "Public safety measure"? I'm sorry, but since the majority of rapists are in fact men, why are women the ones punished? Following your "logic", you should start campaigning for men in leash. You know, public safety measure.

(Oh, and in case you missed it, Mike: FAIL. IT'S NOT THE VICTIM'S FAULT HE/SHE GOT RAPED EVER. IT'S THE RAPIST. NO, I DON'T CARE IF HE/SHE WAS HANGING OUT WITH MEN "UNCHAPARONED". NO, I DON'T CARE WHAT HE/SHE WAS WEARING. NO, I DON'T CARE WHAT HER/HIS PREVIOUS "SEXUAL HISTORY" IS. IT IS NOT HER/HIS FAULT. EVER. STFU.)

This case has so many fails I feel ill. The fucked-upness of Saudi Arabia's laws in the first place, the increased sentence, the fact that lashing exists as a punishment in this day and age, the lawyer getting smacked too, the looking the other way shown by several governments, the message this sends to sexual abuse victims, the message people like Mike support, the fact that this girl gets this on top of having to deal with being gang-raped and so does her friend (and believe me, getting over sexual assault or abuse is bloody fucking hard)... So much fail.

Fucking hell. We got so far to go still. So far. Blaming the victim is increasing the problem because fewer report, more rapists get away with it - and are free to do it again. You blame the victim, you are pretty much helping rapists.

Don't. They deserve your scorn. The victims don't.

(Oh, and in case you missed it, Saudi Arabia: RAGE. OH SO MUCH RAGE.)

Comments

To all non-American readers of this journal (and misscam herself)

[freezer818.livejournal.com]

I want to assure you that 99.9% of Americans think Mike from Sacramento is as big a wankstain as you do.

That same percentage also thinks it's shameful that our government isn't speaking out against what is violation of basic humanity on every level.

Yes, that 0.1% means that there's around 300,000 asshats like Mike. But we're working on that.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Oh, we got people like Mike in Europe too. There are Mikes all over the world, sadly. It's just always a bit of painful rediscovery when they come out in the light. And I'm not sure it's just 0.1% some days. A lot of subtle blaming-the-victim goes on - not as repulsively as Mike, but in many ways just as harmful.

[colorstoobright.livejournal.com]

Ugh. This is oh so wrong. :( It makes me sick.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm torn between wanting to throw things and wanting to cry. Just... WHAT.

[denorios.livejournal.com]

It's just sickening, isn't it? That poor girl. And the fact that neither the British or US governments have condemned it is disgraceful, all because of oil and the war. I can't believe our governments are tacitly condoning this kind of barbarism.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

If it was Iran, the US would so have seized on it in five seconds to use in "oh look, they're evil and we're good". But can't upset an ally, you know.

Makes it rather seem like you can get away with everything, long as you agree with the US on a few tactics.

[miss-andromache.livejournal.com]

This is one of the most awful things I have ever heard.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Just fills you with warm feelings about humankind, doesn't it?

[wendymr.livejournal.com]

If it was anywhere other than Saudi Arabia - say, somewhere like Burundi or Burma - this would be considered an extremely oppressive regime with lack of human rights and we'd have escapees from the country being granted refugee status when they escape to safer places. As it is, I get clients who've gone through a long, slow, expensive process to emigrate from Saudi Arabia, and they've told me the reason they did it is so their families (daughters especially) won't have to grow up in this kind of repressive society.

It makes me sick.

[misscam.livejournal.com]

Quite frankly, if you got allies like this, you're fighting the wrong war. Then again, the US has been sliding on human rights as well somewhat. It's just disturbing to the thousand.

We're supposed to be progressing, not regressing.

[aervir.livejournal.com]

I can't even begin to count the ways in which this news story disgusts me. Things like this make me physically ill.

[manicr.livejournal.com]

Shit, this makes me want to puke and to kick some ass.

[neongreenleaf.livejournal.com]

Wow. This is absolutely horrible, and Mike is an ignorant douchetwat. It's sad knowing there's people like that in the world.

[cincoflex.livejournal.com]

The US "let" Saudia Arabia get away with this? I didn't know we were responsible for the justice systems of other countries, Cam. And if that's the case then yes, I'd call that a fail too, but as a rep for my country, I'd like to see a few other nations out there stepping in and bitchsmacking Saudia Arabia while we're at it.

I agree with you on SO much in this post, but I'm sorry--I'm not gonna let the entire US get pointed at as somehow part of this stomach-turning situation.

[brilliantomega.livejournal.com]

Unless anyone denouced it I give a FAIL to the whole Western (and then some) World. Not just the US.

[anckyria.livejournal.com]

ANY civilized country should denounce this kind of outrageousness. Loudly.

[fannishnonsense]

Holy fuck.

[brilliantomega.livejournal.com]

My biggest problem outside of the natural RAGE that this occurrence sparks within me is that one crime does not eclipse another. Ok, Saudi Arabia has a horrible law about women being unchaperoned. FACT. But do they have not have a law that makes rape illegal?!?!? If you’re going to follow the law – follow all of it for all parties involved. I am incensed that the rapists had no legal retribution against them and that the victim was punished. This should never happen. (I don’t agree with the chaperoning law in Saudi Arabia, but if we’re dealing within the confines of the laws they have enforce the laws upon both or at least not on the victim of a violent crime!)

Rape is about power and control, something that the men in Saudi Arabia must feel that don’t have even with the obsessive oppression of women they pratice. I hope the 19 year old applies for asylum somewhere and gets the hell out of there. I’ve been to the embassy for Saudi Arabia in the states and talk to the ambassador before. Even my acerbic tongue cannot describe my distaste for them (not the people on a case by case basis – some are really nice an not stuck in the social black hole their country is in.)

As for stupid people – the internet breeds them. ::Throws really big books at Mike:: Asshat.

To US people: Print this article and send it with a letter to your Representatives and Senators. Ask why we as a country are condoning this type of action? Make it clear that not speaking out (not bombing) is the same as condoning. The actions of the Saudi Arabian courts is not the act of a democracy, it is tyranny in a very bad sheep’s costume. Tell them that at the very least you want them to public denounce this action by the Saudi Arabian courts and that sanctions or such should be considered (again no bombing, dumbshits.) Demand that they take notice – and tell them if they choose not to – you’ll not only vote against them, you'll give and raise money for their opponent in the next election and boot their asses. I think pretty much everyone in the Western world can do the same as well.

I hope that rant was coherent.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Actually, the rapists have been punished with prison sentences and lashes, so there is retribution for them as well. Doesn't make what's happening to the woman any better.

[brilliantomega.livejournal.com]

I glad to hear that they have had some sort of punishment. (Thank you for letting me know, I haven’t had the time to read up on the occurrence.)

I abhor victims of any violent crime being punished or blamed. This is a terrible, horrible thing.

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

That's just horrible.

[maureenlycaon.livejournal.com]

I've been seeing a lot about this one lately. I've kind of avoided reading about it simply because it makes me fly into a rage -- which can't be good when I already have a high fever.

So let me just contribute a couple of other people's macros to the discussion, to show what I think.

[maureenlycaon.livejournal.com]

Oh, and totally unrelated, but this might interest you.

[honorh.livejournal.com]

Apparently, they feell that getting gang-raped wasn't bad enough and she deserves further pain for her "transgression." Then they come out with this statement that "the charges are proved," not understanding that the civilized world doesn't care if the "charges" are true or not--it's the law itself that's outrageous.

I'm actually surprised the rapists aren't being executed. One would think homosexual rape in a Muslim country would be an open-and-shut death-penalty case.

As for Mike from Sacramento--just shut up, dude, shut up. Actually, a lot of crimes aren't complicated at all. The victim is going about her ordinary life. The attacker sees an opportunity. Whether it's simple assault, robbery, rape or murder, THE ATTACKER IS ENTIRELY AT FAULT! What's so hard about this?

[starsong24.livejournal.com]

Sooo...the girl is in a car with an unrelated man. In the assumption that the law was introduced to prevent rape crime, the most obvious culprit would in fact be the man, not the woman, since no woman would willingly increase her chances of being assaulted.

In addition to which...if you wanted to insist on punishing the woman...give the poor girl a break! She's been raped fourteen times, isn't that beyond awful enough?

[falena]

Humanity seems to be made mostly of fail, some days. *sigh*

[siraj.livejournal.com]

*gets out his notepad* "Note to self... drive back down to Sacramento... find where Mike lives... beat with a whale on Cam's behalf..." *closes notepad*

That being said, ZOMGWTFBBQ FAIL SAUDIS!

[kittycatness.livejournal.com]

If the chaperoning law is there to keep the crime-rate down, then why the hell are women still getting raped?
We all know that rape is all-too-common in this society, but the fact that victims of rape are punished for coming forward without witnesses and end up having their sexual history put on trial because of said rape IS MADE OF MORE FAIL THAN FAIL ITSELF.

People irritate me.
It would be great if we could catch every scumsack who decided that raping someone was the best way to get themselves off because they know that they may not be caught because, hey, a lot of people are afraid to come forward for whatever reason.
It would also be great if every rape victim came forward without fear of governmental retribution because they were "breaking a law" put in place "for their own good".


That's just my opinion, though.


♥

[bodldops.livejournal.com]

Officially apologizing for my IDIOTIC and morally unstable fellow Californian. I swear most of us aren't like this. Gah.

[silmerin.livejournal.com]

This is just . . . sickening. Disgusting. THE ENTIRE WORLD SHOULD BE UP IN FLAMES O' RAGE. There aren't enough words in ANY language to express the many levels of wrong here.

Fuck this shit -- I'm moving to Mars (but only after the 2008 election. Gotta get some freaks out of the White House).

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

...
...
*is speechless with rage*
...
*clings to you*

majlCOtGJygWvKgAW

[(Anonymous)]

Ljf4wC hi nice site http://peace.com

CNBTJllyjNbbZCp

[(Anonymous)]

OeNqRb nice site thx http://peace.com