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In reply to the discussion: Horrifying New Details On the 'Viral' Rape of 16-Year-Old Jada [View all]Generic Other
(28,979 posts)but suggests all of our work toward equality is undermined by the fact that we are still not safe from those we should be able to trust.
Even here at DU, we had a poster confess to treating girls like this is high school. I recall it happened to a cheerleader at my school. The guys involved never faced any retribution. They made up songs, spread gossip. It was all over the school about the poor girl. There were times in history, men were lynched for this kind of behavior. Fathers and brothers killed others who harmed their women in this way. There were also times when such behavior was sanctioned by government, as well as times when it was socially acceptable (or at least politely ignored) as something engaged in by a low class of woman and thus somehow excused.
There are psychologists who suggest repressed sexuality is involved in this kind of group male violence. I don't know about that, but it seems that some young boys who probably still fear attempting a one-on-one relationship with a girl draw strength from the mob mentality that allows them to display (like animals) and commit sexual assault on a helpless victim without revealing their own insecurities (or so they think). They were largely shielded in the past by the reluctance of victims to come forward and accuse boys (often from upstanding families in their communities) of such a crime. In the most brutal fashion, the internet has made it much harder for girls to suffer in silence. Conversely, it has also made it much harder for teenage boys to distance themselves from such behavior. What was easily dismissed in the past as rumors or lies is more difficult to conceal when a trail of evidence exists online that will follow a young man for the rest of his life. The court of public opinion is harsh.
This is what happens when parents and teachers neglect to provide information to young people about sex. They learn from the only other available sources -- their peers, TV, movies, or porn.