My family member had about rough year and a half after her attack and it's aftermath, i.e. the bullying from her classmates and her attacker & lack of support from the school district. Her parents found a local rape victims advocacy group which provided all of them with therapy and legal advice, that group helped my…

I like the idea of "techno-utopian" and share a similar desire for data and tested solutions (although I SUCK at numbers of any sort). Sadly I think the combination of a growing dismissal of scientific knowledge, the tearing down of the idea of a "Great Society" (which was not without problems) and the refusal to…

Well, that's what a feedback loop is, actually. It's a control mechanism. If it's a re-enforcing, or positive feedback, it grows endlessly. Negative feedback is control. So, where there's increased pressure not to intervene or report transgressive behavior there's ever increasing pressure to not report and to not…

I meant insular, I think, so yeah. Any place where the whole of the average experience ends nearby. This is sort of why kids in isolated cul-de-sacs can become horrible monsters - the universe ends at the adjacent road and complicated sense of consequences beyond that universe or a moral compass bigger than that…

I think it make sense but would be very difficult to measure. Because rape cluster communities might have lower rates of reporting, so they appear to be the safer communities. It certainly makes sense. It looks like the rapists in Steubenville were stunned that they were considered to have done something wrong;…

A thirteen year old child. And these guys are eighteen. Um, not just rape needs to be discussed here. There's another charge or two that could merrily follow these alleged assholes.

I think the only people who can sway a boy or man one way or the other about rape is another boy or man. Straight male authority figures from the same area are a vector for transmission of messages about violence against women, minorities, GLBTQ, about respecting people who are not straight men, and other…

Their victim was 13. As none us of here has the power to decide their case, I can call them whatever I want. And the first thing you thought to do was mention false accusations? If the MRA shoe fits...

A family member of mine was raped when she was in high school by her school's most popular senior boy. All involved lived in a fairly well to do suburb of a major city and the boy that attacked my family member was from a wealthy family he was a known druggie and had a few robbery convictions prior to the attack in…

I doubt that their lives will be ruined by the experience if the charges turn out to be false. The Duke lacrosse team members received tons of support, an extra year of eligibility in the NCAA, and many went on to hold good jobs or pursue graduate school. Meanwhile, they brought civil charges against the prosecuting…

The second point is a really provocative one. As you say, the initial vectors of rape may be evenly distributed, but there are certain atmospheres (the poor, the isolated, the disenfranchised; I'd also add places with rigid command structures like the military) which enable more rape, because the social costs and the…

Another day, you know, in the world. A world where globally 1 in 3 women is or will be a victim of sexual violence in her lifetime.

Most schools have honor codes that would require they'd at least be benched if they're under investigation.

I believe its a cultural thing. I know, for instance, that there is a staggering frequency of sexual assault on native reservations, I would guess that works the same way in other communities - though to a lesser degree - since the mores and culture are probably more similar to the rest of the country.

This mess of a comment proves you do not understand what rape culture means. Rape culture doesn't mean every guy is out there raping freely and feeling great about it. Rape culture is a huge and complex issue - but the issue that pertains most to this article is victim blaming.

So victim-blaming only happens in cases of sexual assault and rape because the accused are treated like the accused of other crimes by...being named? You realize that doesn't make a damn bit of sense, right?

I would have no problem believing that a rape cluster could spring up in an economically depressed township where a local sports team was viewed as the sole source of pride and hope. Such an environment is a hothouse of athletic privledge and insidious erosion of basic human worth.

When the Steubenville case came out, there were some profiles written about the town and its history of covering up sexual assaults, largely because of its sports culture. So when Traci Lords talked about her experience there, I wasn't surprised at all.

yeah, i feel the same. this is what frat boys and football dudes are known for. not to say they all do it, but i'm kind of surprised that people are so surprised by this. my small-town high school's football team got more attention than our academics did.

Surely the question should be 'What were 18 year old guys doing hanging around with a 13 year old child?'