Tag: sexual assault

The Religiosity of Silence by John Erickson

In a repetitive culture of abuse and silence, is it really shocking to find out that an individual who preached such hate and discontent for others actually perpetuated other forms of heinous abuse against others?

John Erickson, sports, coming out.In 2013, I wrote an article about the then latest reality TV scandal featuring A&E’s Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson and his rampant foot-in-mouth disease that caused him to express, in the pages of GQ, his true distaste for the LGBT community and specifically for the sexual proclivities of gay men.

Now, two years later in another reality TV show, TLC’s ’19 Kids and Counting’, it isn’t star Josh Duggar’s anti-LGBT statements getting him into trouble but rather his sexual assault and molestation of 5 girls, including two of his sisters. However, while the Internet explodes with attacks against Josh Duggar and his Quiverfull background, it is vital to remember that the silence that he and his family inflicted upon his victims since 2006 has not only been ongoing since then but is also being reemphasized today with each keystroke focusing on the assailant rather than the victims. Continue reading “The Religiosity of Silence by John Erickson”

What We’ve Learned from Steubenville by Gina Messina-Dysert

Gina Messina-Dysert profileThe nation has watched over these last several months as the rape case in Steubenville, Ohio has unfolded in the media.  On March 17, 2013 the verdict was announced and the two teenage boys accused of raping a 16 year old girl were found guilty on all counts.   Although the verdict was just, all other circumstances surrounding the case, including the sentence, support the existence of a rape culture.  What we have learned from Steubenville is that the humanity of women and girls continues to be of little importance in today’s society.

To begin, the assault itself was horrific.  While two teenage boys took turns raping and abusing the body of Jane Doe, the other boys present took great pleasure in watching, taking pictures, texting, tweeting, facebooking, and video recording the brutality.  It was a scene out of The Accused (the film that recounted the real life rape of a woman while a crowd watched a cheered) all over again–this time with the “benefit” of modern technology.  Not only were those in the room witnesses to this gruesome attack, the entire world became voyeurs as video, pictures, and text went viral. Continue reading “What We’ve Learned from Steubenville by Gina Messina-Dysert”