March 18th, 2013 
James Shotwell 
One story that has captivated our staff and nation in recent months is the tale of a sixteen-year-old girl from Steubenville, Ohio who was raped by two high school football players last summer. Yesterday morning, an Ohio court found the two teens charged in the case, Trent Mays (17) and Ma’lik Richmond (16), guilty and sentenced them to at least one year in juvenile jail. They could be held until they are 21 years old. Mays was sentenced to an additional year for a charge related to distributing nude images of a minor. More details on that can be found here.
As you can probably imagine, the reaction to this conviction has been loud and divided, with many turning to their internet to vent. One of those people, punk legend Henry Rollins, posted a lengthy blog yesterday afternoon focusing on the verdict and what the case means on a much larger scale. You can read his words below.
03-17-13
For the last couple of hours, I have been thinking of the verdict that was reached in what is now known as the Steubenville rape case.
Since all involved are minors, I won’t use anyone’s name. Two juvenile males were found delinquent of the charges and will be, as far as I understand, incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility until they are twenty-one years of age.
There is, I guess, cell phone generated video content of parts of the crime. It went “viral” on the internet and brought attention to the events.
I got through a few minutes of it but was too disgusted to watch the rest.
The case, the verdict and the surrounding circumstances open up a huge conversation.
These are a few of the things that I have been thinking about.
After reading several posts online, I was not surprised at the vast range of sentiments expressed. Many of the postings were of outrage that the two found delinquent were not tried as adults so they would face much longer sentences. You might not know, but in some states, this sentence would be decades long. Many of the posts spoke of the damage done to the victim and the life she will have now. One person suggested caning the two young men. Many others were angered at the deification of high school football players and how they often receive special treatment. You can read this stuff all day if you want.
After reading posts for quite awhile, I thought first about the two young men. I wondered if the years in the facility will “help” them. What, exactly does one “learn” in one of these places? That is to say, after five years locked away, does the idea of assaulting a woman seem like the wrong thing to do, more than if you were incarcerated for one year? Would you be “more sorry” about what you did? Is that possible? Or, would you just be more sorry for yourself about where your actions landed you? At what point do you get “better”, how many years in one of these places does that take?
What made these young people think that that what they did was ok? What was in their upbringing, the information and morals instilled in them that allowed them to do what they did, minute after minute, laughing, joking, documenting it and then calling it a night and going home? Out of all the people who were witness to what happened, why wasn’t there someone putting a stop to it?
What I am attempting to get at, and I apologize if I am not being clear enough is that this is a failure on many levels. Parents, teachers, coaches, peers all come into play here. I am not trying to diffuse blame or lessen the awfulness of what happened but I want to address the complexity of the cause in an effort to assess the effect so it can be prevented.
Some might say that the two going to the youth facility are as much victims as the young women who was assaulted. I do not agree. The two are offenders. What they did was obviously wrong. That being said, we cannot end the discussion at that point and expect things to change.
I have yet to say anything about the damage done to the young woman involved. It is ironic and sad that the person who is going to do a life sentence is her.
As a testament to the horrific power of sexual assault, I encourage you to see, yet cannot recommend the documentary The Invisible War about sexual assault in the military. http://invisiblewarmovie.com/. The reason I say that I cannot recommend it is that it is so well done, so clear and devastating that it will put you through quite a wringer. I do hope you see it but damn, it’s hard. In the interviews with women who have been assaulted by fellow members, the damage that has been done to these good people is monumental.
Many people are angry that more time was not given to the offenders. This seems to be the prevailing sentiment. I understand the anger but don’t know if adding a decade onto their sentences would be of any benefit. To me, the problem that needs to be addressed is where in the information chain were the two offenders made to understand that what they did was not wrong on every possible level? You can execute them both tomorrow but still, there is a problem that needs to be dealt with.
It’s a situation where you would like to be able to point a finger and say, that’s the reason and be done. You have to be careful when you do this because it’s easy to miss.
I think to a great degree, we humans still divide ourselves into two species, even though we are monotypic. There are males and females. We see them as different and not equal. Things get better when women get more equality. That is a bit obvious but I think it leads to better results up the road. If it’s a man’s world as they say, then men, your world is a poorly run carnage fest.
It is obvious that the two offenders saw the victim as some one that could be treated as a thing. This is not about sex, it is about power and control. I guess that is what I am getting at. Sex was probably not the hardest thing for the two to get, so that wasn’t the objective. When you hear the jokes being made during the crime, it is the purest contempt.
So, how do you fix that? I’m just shooting rubber bands at the night sky but here are a few ideas: Put women’s studies in high school the curriculum from war heroes to politicians, writers, speakers, activists, revolutionaries and let young people understand that women have been kicking ass in high threat conditions for ages and they are worthy of respect.
Total sex ed in school. Learn how it all works. Learn what the definition of statutory rape is and that it is rape, that date rape is rape, that rape is rape.
In the spirit of equal time, sites like Huffington Post should have sections for male anatomy hanging out instead of just the idiotic celebrity “side boob” and “nip slip” camera ops. I have no idea what that would be like to have a camera in my face at every turn, looking for “the” shot. I know what some of you are saying. “Then why do they wear clothes like that unless they want those photos taken?” I don’t know what to tell ya. Perhaps just don’t take the fuckin picture? Evolve? I don’t know.
Education, truth, respect, equality—these are the things that can get you from a to b very efficiently.
It must be an awful time for the parents of all three of these people and their relatives and I hope they all get to a better place soon.
What else? That’s all I’ve got. Thanks for reading this. Henry
(source)
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Tracy Lords and her mother both claimed to have been raped in Stupidville,,,that is the title of Tracys song! so i say fuck you Henry and your ghost writer
sorry,, i did not read your entire post still believe it to be ghosted. Have a good Night
That is a wonderful statement to make if you have never gone through it. Not everyone can go through it the same way. It is one of the most traumatic experiences you can ever have. The person has been already made a victim, why make them a victim and judge me again. NO RAPE COUNCILOR WILL EVER TELL the person they have to report, NOT ONE! How dare you, though I understand and education is part of this all.
The famous Clinton argument… riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
What so many people don’t recognize is hat even though these young men will have to register as sex offenders the general public will not know about it. Under the Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act, any JUVENILE conviction can’t be publicized due to laws designed to protect juveniles. When they’re 30 years old they will still have to register but the only people who will know will be those they tell or those who know of this case.
Here’s the thing. These boys are psychopaths. Rape doesn’t happen because rapists lack education but because they lack empathy. You can’t teach a psychopath to feel empathy or remorse. We CAN show them that society won’t stand for the crime and that committing it will have very serious consequences for them. Most psychopaths lead law-abiding lives. They want to appear normal and successful. They only do horrible things like rape and murder if they think they can get away with it and it won’t disrupt their own life and social standing. They think they can get away with rape because they do get away with it. Saying rape is bad does nothing when getting off easy says a thousand times louder that it’s okay. A person lacking a conscience can only judge the severity of a crime by the severity of the consequences. Consistently harsh penalties are the only thing that will teach them that rape is unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated.
Incarceration is needed not only as a deterrent but also to separate rapists from the public they threaten. I watched a documentary on John Wayne Gacy recently. He murdered all of his victims during the time he was supposed to have been imprisoned for rape; his 10-year prison sentence had been reduced to just 16 months. In this case, locking him up for a decade would have spared the victims he murdered and raped during these years.
Mind you, Gacy’s victims, like most murder and many rape victims, were male, so it wasn’t the case that society failed to teach him respect for women, but rather society failed to lock him up and take the testimony of surviving victims seriously. It is simply naive to think that people rape because they didn’t take a women’s studies class in high school. For any normally functioning individual, it doesn’t take a diploma to know that having sex with someone who’s unwilling or passed out is wrong. A victim may be confused into thinking it was their fault but a perpetrator knew what he was doing because he planned the crime carefully. Rape is intentional, premeditated, and never an accident. Nor is it a crime of passion–rather, it’s born out of an absence of emotion. Rapists are not ignorant but calculating. This is why education cannot cure rapists, nor is it a substitute for punishment.
This isn’t to say that education has no role to play in mitigating the problem of rape. Education about the facts of rape and the different kinds of rape will help people to learn that it’s the rapist’s fault and not the victim’s. We also need to discourage the popular notion that rape is less of a crime when the perpetrator is a star football player, coach, singer, etc. or when the victim is a prostitute, homosexual, partyer, etc. In this way, education may help the community and law enforcement to take victims more seriously and regard them with sympathy. Only then can more victims feel safe enough to come forward and more rapists can be held accountable. If victims are too afraid to come forward, that is society’s fault. In some cultures, if a woman is raped, her family, friends, and husband all shun her and no one else will marry her. She is completely ruined. Why then would she ever admit to being raped? Things are not this bad in the USA, but they could still be a lot better.
To summarize, we can’t change the brain of a rapist, but we can change the heart of society through education. We need both education and much harsher sentencing to deter rape.
Well big history buff….When was the last time you heard an African-American go postal at an African tribal chief? The slavery their ancestors lived and the contempt is still here in our society. It is a fair comparison!
The best way to heal in life is to say “I’m sorry”, make amends, don’t repeat your mistakes and learn from them. I was a victim once and I can assure you, that the biggest part of moving on in life is accepting that it’s not your issue. I find the thing that keeps people victims for the rest of their lives are the people around them. People who don’t understand what it is to be the victim. I still believe that pedafiles and repeat sex offenders have no place in society because most of them even if they say they are sorry never stop. However, in the instance of these 2 boys, that is not the case. I believe that in the end, everyone was a victim. They all did bad things. But I can assure these boys did not need to be labelled and thrown in jail to never repeat their crime again. The girl may be able to move ahead because she received an apology. Don’t you think that there would be so much more to gain for these young people had they been educated instead of sentenced? I feel sorry for the girl, because not only was she humiliated by the incident, but now with her friends sentenced and labelled, she will carry it forever with her just as they will. It would have been so much better considering that they are all minors that this would have been dealt with seriously and discipline administered, but not the way it was done in court. That is just my opinion from someone who knows what it is like to be a victim and of a far more serious crime. People make mistakes, you don’t carry it forever unless you really want to. Forgiving is truly all about forgetting once you have recieved a sincere apology. And sometimes even without an apology, you still forgive so that you can forget and enjoy life. I do hope these boys receive the proper education about how to treat women and are given the opportunity to prove they can be better.
Wow! I have such a greater respect for you today Mr. Rollins. Your comments are spot on.
Brilliant blog post!
I love your lines: Out of all the people who were witness to what happened, why wasn’t there someone putting a stop to it?
And the other one: If it’s a man’s world as they say, then men, your world is a poorly run carnage fest.
I like that you ask why extend the sentence? what use would it be? As a student in college, I studied drama, and our play writing teacher worked with people in Prison’s – helping them with their writing, but in particular with those that were serving the last 3rd of a life sentence. He told us a great deal about how it was in prison – particularly that everyone has a breakdown of some sort after 5 years, it was a given. He said that many of them were very different people to who they were when they went in. He talked about them as people. He then wrote a play which he brought to our college for us to see called Rule 43 – which is the rule of voluntary solitary confinement, where an inmate basically decides to shut down entirely.
We don’t have a concept of what goes on inside any facility other than what the media portrays, and when they are ‘braying for blood’ on a given case, they will always paint that it is some sort of hotel or holiday resort.
But in regards to your blog post, it concerns me a great deal who few people step up when a crime is going on right in front of them – and in the case of rape specifically how few people see it as actual rape. The film Accused highlighted this back in the late 80’s.
The Ancient Egyptian’s believed that anyone witnessing a crime should be punished equally as badly as the criminal if they did nothing to stop it.
I can’t offer solutions to the dreadful state of affairs we call ‘civilisation’, but it just seems to go from one horror to another.
But thanks for sharing and giving us all food for thought.
wait someone correct the record if im wrong but these boys didnt rape her as in penis inserted into vagina they raped her as in finger in vagina. that was the charge, raped her digitally as in a digit as in finger. does that make anyone else think differently about the case? clearly they should be punished but does that make anyone else think differently about the severity and intensity of the case. again, clearly they should be punished….
Paul, Her drinking has nothing to do with what happened. Those boys would’ve trolled for any girl they felt was weaker than them. Rape is about power and control, not sex. She could’ve been drunk and naked lying on the couch and that still gives them NO right to do what they did! They should’ve been tried as adults. They knew right from wrong and they knew that what they were doing was wrong!
So in your mind, any underage girl who drinks and gets drunk is saying it’s okay to rape her? What about the thousands of women that are of age that go to a bar to get drunk and raped, they’re to blame as well? These boys looked for someone they could control, if it hadn’t been her it would’ve been someone else! The fault is completely on those two boys, NOT on the the girl!
Being that they were tried his juveniles, and unless it was agreed to by both parties, they will not have to file as sex offenders. They will do their time, get out, and most likely raped again at some point. Her sentence is a lifetime sentence! I do understand what you’re trying to say, but your comments are the reason why most rape victims do not report their rapes.
Porn makes men view women as objects to be used.
Rollins is a ego-maniac and all his theories are rubber bands in the sky solutions…. The fact of the matter is, had the group Anonymous not got involved in saying they would expose all who were involved, this whole thing would never gone the way it did and these “respectful boys” as they were portrayed in their community would have gone on to have another victim, after all, they did call themselves “the rape crew”…
Loved your article and the straight talk but confused as to your confusion. The industry you are in (entertainment) has as much culpibility as any in shaping attitudes towards women. How many songs do I hear about pimpin hos and bangin this chick or that? Take one of the number one shows from the last 10 years “Two and a Half Men”. The women on the show are: a fat lazy housekeeper, a crazy manipulative ex wife, an even crazier and manipulative mother, a crazy neighbor and countless bimbos, sluts and hookers. Not one role model of a woman. You want to know why society is changing why we have so many gun shootings and misogynistic attitudes towards women? Look to the daily programing we are feeding kids and young adults. I’m not blaming TV execs I’m blaming our thirst for shock and awe (pun intended).
It is disgusting all the pornography on the internet and the violence in movies and games. It is as Sir Thomas More puts it “For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be
corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which
their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but
that you first make thieves and then punish them.”
I was born a feminist. I became a humanist over time. I believe in equality. Rape is violence…PERIOD. AND how do we coach young people to behave? We have such an hysterical attitude about the human body and specifically twisted ideas about sex that this crime in my view reflects an all American social disease. These young men most likely got their information about sex from viewing pornography online from the time they were old enough to be curious about it. All young women in America are coached from birth to manipulatively display their sexuality and like a power tool. Add Alcohol=disaster. This case examples a larger social problem in our country. When you drive a car drunk and kill or injure a person, you can be charged with involuntary manslaughter (for example) Why is there no consideration for drunken sexual misconduct? I am not a rape apologist, I’m genuinely curious and would like feedback.
Thank G-D that they are being punished and lessons will be learned not only by the two young men but as importantly by others in the hope that the punishment will aid to restrain more of this type of unacceptable behavior.
Very pleased with the conviction and admire the strength of the young lady in speaking up.
Nuthouse3, I would give you a hundred votes up if I could! These boys were educated. Like you said, they knew it was rape and knew it was wrong. What they didn’t know was that they would get caught and punished! They even say so themselves. In addition to teaching people what rape is and that it is wrong, people need to be shown that rape will be punished so they will think twice! And they need to be incarcerated so they can’t hurt anyone else. I’m tire of all the excuses and blame-diversion. These boys weren’t 7-year-olds picking the legs off of grasshoppers, they were 16-year-olds who knew about right and wrong but didn’t give a fuck because no one was going to do anything about it. It’s a very lofty idea that education can cure all social evils, and maybe educating people about rape can help a lot, at least with the way victims are viewed. But what really is in need of reform is the broken justice system, which humiliates victims and trivializes rape, especially if the rapists are famous, rich, talented, or influential.
Most boys who get drunk, stagger, laugh, and pass out. They do not undress a woman and rape her.
Well spoken, well thought out. Yep, this shit doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Thanks, Henry.
Very thought provoking. Thanks.
now things are different. i told back in the 70’s, too. it IS different now thank god
You should never talk to a rape victim like this. Having worked with rape victims for a while now, some are simply too frightened to come forward or have problems coming to terms with their own rape. What you are doing here is a form of victim blaming and you should feel ashamed. Yes, she should come forward because it may help protect women or others in the future, but telling her she has a hand in future rapes is wrong.
fuckin aye, pi
Paul, you’re an idiot. And if you’re not 15 you’re a complete imbicile
note to Paul: There is no law against walking in alleys at 3am, there’s a law against assault
fuck you.
No one ever said any of this was acceptable. But it happens. So rather then walking thru life with blinders pushing the accountability of ones actions onto someone else even tho their actions led them to the situation. Its a hindsight concept but we can use the hindsight of others examples to pave the way for our own paths and lead ourselves away from situations. That’s personal accountability that you can control. Yes there are a million things in this world at any time we cannot control. We can’t control someone else running a red light and hitting us. But we can look both ways before running out into traffic to be sure the coast is clear.
No its not different, already two young ladies have been arrested for sending threats to the victim in this case after the verdict. The town is still divided and the news media has not done anything but blame the victim in subtle ways.
Yeah no shit. You don’t hold yourself accountable for every action you take in your life? No one else moves your body. No one else decides if you want to take a drink. No one else chooses the path you take every day. So yes, every situation, every day you should consider your surroundings and what is appropriate. Maybe you should be the one thinking.
I think Paul is challenged
wow so are you for blaming the victem
bite us all, Paul. Women are not going to live incomplete lives so they can protect themselves from assault. Go live in Saudi Arabia
I really think all the massive “modern” porn online affect young male´s and females minds in a horrible way. I´ve of course seen some and and know what it is. It´s so much of it who isn´t pleasant sex in equality between male/female: It´s male power in a “predator way” where the highlights is to humiliate the females as worst as possible. I could use a lot of keywords who most males in the modern world knows what is, who fewest women want and dream about in the first place (t.ex. “bukkake”). Sex should actually be a beautiful act in equality respect – but it isn´t any more. I have many times told my younger female family members and their female friends that the “sex” on the net is far out and they shall never expect or accept this kinds of wishes from a male in the first place. When young female she this sick porn they starts thinking that this activities is expected from them at – and the males think this is what they have to achieve for being a “real man”. I mean: where do they got this ideas? from their fathers or sexual teaching at school? Almost all young men get their sexual preferences from this porn. It fucks up their minds.
the POINT is, telling women they have to watch out or they’ll be attacked keeps us locked up in a prison. Please open your mind
Felt her up? I don’t think you have all the facts on this case. For one, she was completely undressed, and there was manual penetration. There’s more. Go read about the case!
thank you
no, not much. you can stick something in even if you don’t have a dick
You didn’t make any points. That’s why they were missed.
U r Stupid.
Just stop posting you’re an idiot.
I trained mine to be a feminist. I hated the boys don’t hit girls line from his teachers. My son’s rule was no one ever hits anyone ever. Works like a charm. He’s 24 now, and respects women and would never tolerate any such situation
Yeah.. SHE got HERSELF so drunk she could hardly stand. But that’s totally not her fault, she had no part in that I’m sure. No responsibility for that action lays on her shoulders.
Oh no you don’t Granny. NO. Do NOT blame this girl like that. Have you seen what they put young women who report they have been raped through? It takes incredible bravery to report it, but don’t you DARE put that on Enuma. It’s not HER fault, it’s the fault of that rapist bastard that can’t keep himself in his pants.
Thomas, in Ohio, that is LEGALLY rape. So do us all a favor and fuck off.
Then you would be as wrong as they were.
I did not report my rape either because I was fifteen and was drinking and I felt like I would have gotten in more trouble than he did. Even though I later found out that there was date rape involved Now that I’m 21 I feel helpless because it is too late to report it. Reading things like this (from people who actually care about the topic) gives me *SOME* hope for the future.
NO, I’m am absolutely NOT saying that “whatever happens to you is your fault”. You are putting the wrong words into my mouth that I never said.
And I most certainly did not even use the word “crime”.
What I am saying, is that RISKS exist.
The risk is in even living. Risk includes crime of course, but also natural events like tornados, and accidents such as falling into a river.
People can take *some* measures of protection against known risks…but that sometimes bad things will still happen to you or your body.
But there are *some* situations in which one can reduce risk. Does it prevent all crimes and accidents and risks? NO, of course not.
But it reduces the liklihood of such incidents happen.
If you or I or anyone, is completely passed out drunk, and we leave our body somewhere, is it more likely that something bad will happen to it? YES.
Of course we would want and hope that a good samaritan, or a friend, or a social crowd of people, would help.
MOST PEOPLE WOULD HELP.
The fact that this whole crowd of people did not help this poor girl, in fact, took photo/video, egged it on, posted it online, etc, is a Major Social Problem that needs to be dealt with, but is a separate issue that no one on here is mentioning.
What I say, is that there are consequences to some choices.
If I make the choice of passing out drunk in a roadway, is it my *fault* if I get run over by a truck? NO, because generally, a cautious driver might see my body and still be able to miss hitting me. But is it more likely that I MIGHT be hit by a truck if my body is in the roadway and I’m not paying enough attention to my own body to protect it? 10 motorists might change lanes and go around my body, but it would only take 1 texting driver on her cellphone to not see me and hit me anyway.
If I pass out drunk in the woods, is it my *fault* if I get eaten by a bear? NO, but animals will be animals, and again, leaving my body in a situation that is known to be riskier than other situations means that I might expect that something might happen to my body. Most of the times, my body will be left alone. 10 bears could go by and leave me alone. but all it would take is 1 hungry bear.
If I pass out in a public place, or in a guy’s bedroom, is it my *fault* if I get raped?
NO NO NO
because the rapist still has the choice to not rape me, or to call for 911, or to leave me alone.
but if the rapist chooses to rape, it is totally the rapists fault!
AND IN THIS CASE, THE RAPISTS GOT CAUGHT, GOT ARRESTED, GOT TRIALED, AND GOT PUNISHED WITH JAIL TME.
At no time do I say, or advocate at all, that it was ever this poor girl’s fault.
But, can everyone reasonably say, that passing out in public – for anyone, including me – (not just her, but anyone, like me) is increasing the KNOWN RISK of something, anything, happening to my body?
Can taking an open drink from a friend or a stranger increase the
RISK that it was adulterated, over taking a sealed drink from the fridge and opening it yourself?
It IS the fault of the 2 rapists!
And I will add, it is also the fault of every single person in the crowd that witnessed that activity! Every single one of them should be getting some type of criminal charge – at the minimum a disorderly conduct charge with probation. (it is not a jailable offense per se, but there should be something on the record for every attendee of the event that did nothing to help this poor girl.)
But what I am saying, is that there are known RISKS, and there are consequences of not minimizing known risks.
It is not her fault that she got raped, bcs anyone could have chosen not to rape her, or not to photo/video her.
This girl made unfortunate choices in so-called friends. This girl made a choice to go out and drink rather than play board-games with her parents. The girl made the choice to drink too much. The consequences, sadly, was that something bad happened.
But she has to deal with all that. And she can. It certainly is a life lesson. And she is still alive to continue with her life, to get an education, to work or volunteer, to have a family, and so on.
The 2 rapists also made a choice that night – to rape.
They ARE PAYING a consequence too….they got sentenced to a prison term. They surely have screwed up somewhat on their future education, which I hope they can overcome. Because, if anything, these 2 boys need more education!
These 2 boys could have also chosen not to go out that night…not to drink…not to take their pants off…not to stick there “”” you know where….but those 2 boys made those bad choices, and they are also now facing the consequences thereof.
What they did was wrong, and they are paying a price for their wrong decisions. They got JAIL TIME.
Everyone is up in arms about the 2 rapists and their jail term. They GOT JAIL! what is the problem?
My actual big issue is – and no one is talking about this here – is that crowd of spectators!
Those spectators all made bad decisions by continuing to allow the rapes to happen, and in fact, to photo/video it all, or to post it on the internet, and so on.
I seriously believe they ALL broke the law as well, by not at least calling for 911 help…but maybe Ohio doesnt have a good samaritan law, but my state does, and people who witness a crime and do not try to make at least some minimal effort to reduce the severity of the crime, can be charged by the law.
These spectators are the people that so far, are not facing the consequences of their bad decisions, and their illegal actions of not reporting a crime, of underage drinking, of manufacturing/posting under-18 sex/pornography, and multiple other charges that I’m sure could be prosecuted.
These are the people that society should be outraged against!
Because, even if no one person felt powerful enough to intervene directly against a football player, any one person had the power of a cell phone to call 911.
Just the same as when I witnessed a woman and her baby being physically attacked by a man at a bus stop …. I wasnt strong enough to get in the middle between them, but I was immediately on my phone to 911, and the lady let me have her baby to hold so I did the best I could, I took the baby to the other end of the platform to at least protect it best I could…the police were there pretty quick and took care of the guy (who turned out to be her father).
Did I know the whole situation. No. Did I have to do anything? (well, yes in this case, bcs my state has a good samaritan law). Could I by myself completely stop him from hitting her – no.
but I was able to call for police and help. and protect her baby. And any single person at that rape event could have done the same thing.
And not a single person did.
THAT IS WHERE THE OUTRAGE SHOULD BE!
Seriously? No one is going to tell me that I am at fault. You do not live in reality if you ACTUALLY think this….