![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Rape and Sexual Assault
Mar. 13th, 2006 09:48 amI've had a couple conversations on LJ recently about rape and sexual assault. First there was some quibbling over statistics in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cortejo's blog, then I mentioned the NPR story on a serial rapist in an expat town in Mexico several friends have lived in.
The story about San Miguel Allende is particularly interesting because it show two aspects of rape that are underserved. The first is the essential fact that rape is not about sex, it is about violence and more particularly trying to achieve power and control through violence. I suspect what will be found out is that it is a some local who harbours a deep resentment at the rich gringas coming in and subverting the powerstructure they grew up with. But that runs smack into the second aspect of this story that is so interesting. The best solution to the problem is transparency, for the victim to stand up and report the crime, face the attacker and show that the perpetration of the crime does NOT give any power and control.
The guy in this case screwed up and went after what is arguably the most covertly powerful demographic group on the planet, rich post-menopausal white women. Women who have the money, connections, and who have been trained not to allow themselves to be victimized. Mexico, like everyplace but the most civilized modern west, has instituionalized neolithic attitude towards rape. There is a lot of victim blaming and disintrest from the police and forces of authority. Except that this town is driven by the money the expats bring and it just got a actinic searchlight placed on it by the media.
cortejo's blog, then I mentioned the NPR story on a serial rapist in an expat town in Mexico several friends have lived in.The story about San Miguel Allende is particularly interesting because it show two aspects of rape that are underserved. The first is the essential fact that rape is not about sex, it is about violence and more particularly trying to achieve power and control through violence. I suspect what will be found out is that it is a some local who harbours a deep resentment at the rich gringas coming in and subverting the powerstructure they grew up with. But that runs smack into the second aspect of this story that is so interesting. The best solution to the problem is transparency, for the victim to stand up and report the crime, face the attacker and show that the perpetration of the crime does NOT give any power and control.
The guy in this case screwed up and went after what is arguably the most covertly powerful demographic group on the planet, rich post-menopausal white women. Women who have the money, connections, and who have been trained not to allow themselves to be victimized. Mexico, like everyplace but the most civilized modern west, has instituionalized neolithic attitude towards rape. There is a lot of victim blaming and disintrest from the police and forces of authority. Except that this town is driven by the money the expats bring and it just got a actinic searchlight placed on it by the media.
