Unless you have been visiting the Himalayas and not able to get an internet connection or for some reason you haven’t been watching the news because you’ve been busy elsewhere or maybe you’re not in the same country as I am then you wouldn’t have known about the sixteen year old who was gang raped at a rave party over the weekend at Pitt Meadows, BC.
Yeah. A sixteen year old was gang raped at a rave party over the weekend at Pitt Meadows, BC. In particular circumstances, the victim usually goes to her parents to help her report the crime to the police if not her go to cops directly. But based on the news reports the cops were able to learn about the rape only the following day after another teen saw the photos on Facebook, printed them and brought them to police.
Apparently another sixteen year old was present while the teenage girl was being assaulted and took photos, shared them with friends via cellphone and the pictures were eventually posted in Facebook. Now, no degree or level of education will deter from pointing out that there is seriously something wrong with the moral compass of these children.
As a rape victim, I can empathize with the horrendous ordeal she is going through. It is not easy to move forward to and it is not something one ever forgets. But to have her photos during her abuse be viewed, shared, saved, and reposted numerous times is like reliving the incident again and again. Every time someone views this images she is judged, she is pitied, she is raped all over again by voyeurs and the mini-feed that Facebook has makes her life fodder for more unnecessary tabloid. To say that what they have done (rape) is disgusting, morally corrupt and criminal those who have spread her pictures and made it viral in the internet to be visually consumed by all forms of people makes it vile, cruel, and makes her horrendous ordeal seeming trite.
I don't know which is more difficult. To have your pictures taken while you are drugged and being sexually assaulted and have it posted in the biggest social networking site in the entire world OR have the same people who posted it, people who do not know the victim, people who are “friends” of the victim made comments in Facebook about the sex assault victim being a willing participant to the hellish experience. Seriously! I speak for all women when I state: WE DO NOT WANT TO BE RAPED! WE ARE NOT WILLING PARTICIPANTS TO SEXUAL ASSAULT! AND WE DIE IN SHAME WHEN WE ARE VICTIMIZED BY ANY FORM OF ASSAULT! BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT SOCIETY WILL SAY IT’S OUR FAULT, WE HAD IT COMING, THAT WE WANTED IT DONE TO US. These people that say she voluntarily wanted to be assaulted (despite physical and medical evidence disproving their bold claims) talk as if they were not born from a woman... if it happened to their mother or their sister I bet they'd whine and whimper and cry foul.
I am angry. For the heinous assault that reflects the rotten core of our permissive society. For how easily a social networking site can be used as another form of bullying and assault. For how parents nowadays kowtow to their children’s whims rather than impose order and provide a God-based direction for them to follow. For the double standards we are using against people and fooling ourselves that we are much better than the rest. For our self-centered society has lost its moral compass.
We have learned to fly to the moon but our characters have plummeted to the pits of hell. We have worked on saving the planet but more souls are dying from immorality. We have learned to use quick fixes to remedy problems that require long term solutions. We have learned to love ourselves so much that we’ve lost the ability to love others and behave in a dignified manner towards are fellow human beings.
Somehow despite the technological advances of the 21st century human beings regressed and eliminated the humane side of our beings that we are now simply just “man”. It’s about time to re-establish our ethical boundaries that we’ve crossed and instead of just harping about it, living it in our homes and in our own lives.
Ginang | September 21, 2010 at 1:47 PM
i think of this all the time d.
it happens everywhere, but in our society it is considered more "sinful" to give your children a path to follow, than it is to have them find their own way. it is something i deal with every day in rearing my children. i teach them to be respectful in a whole society that teaches them to respect only themselves. difficult. (and i grew up here, i have a right to say it). we try to shape their worldview in a society that says that that is ignorant to do. we attempt to teach them discipline when all the others are saying that restrictions will be fodder for future therapy. very difficult. in so many ways, the "old world" was easier to navigate.