OPINION & EDITORIAL
Alderman’s assault comment insensitive
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by Letters to the Editor
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Alderman Vereer's comments on the recent Spring Street sexual assault were inappropriate. Too often our society downplays sexual harm when it is not accompanied by additional physical brutality. Saying that any assault has a silver lining is disrespectful to a victims' pain and may trivialize the harm of sexual contact against someone's will without the use of violent force.
The base harm in sexual assault is the sexual violation, which is a demonstration of power over and disrespect towards a most private and sacred part of an individual, their sexual being. Whether you need hospitalization after an attack or recover in a matter of days on your own, a most horrible violation has occurred. Wisconsin statutes do not require force for an attack to be considered sexual assault; it merely requires it to be without consent. Two men forcing a woman down to sexually harm her is assault, her wounds are sexual and that is all our wise state requires to make it condemnable.
To end sexual violence we must realize how our own attitudes and beliefs might contribute to the problem. Diminishing the sexual harm can discourage victims from reporting if they were not beaten or violated to the point of physical injury, also these attitudes can work to lessen culpability when someone forces themselves on another without needing much force, like in situations where someone is intoxicated, handicapped, sleeping, etc.
While we can all agree that the physical brutality is an additional harm during a sexual assault we must be careful not to dilute the underlying harm. Sexual violence is a wrong against our autonomy and sexuality, which are intricate parts of everyone's lives and identities. How we understand the base harm will influence our community's responses towards eliminating this problem. Sexual contact without consent in and of itself should be what we abhor, regardless of whether physical injuries accompanied the crime.
Laura L Dunn Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment PAVE Media Advocate http://uwpave.rso.wisc.edu http://pavingtheway.net
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 2:01am):
Laura, you've really out DUNN yourself this time. Listen, it's cool that you dedicate your entire time at this university working on such a serious topic, but there are about 50,000 other people to attack before getting to Mike. It was very much implied that he thought this was terrible and for you to twist/spin his comments in any other way makes me question whether you are the right person PAVE should have near the top. It was a figure of speech, you know that, anyone of us sick freaks who have campus/city politics trading cards (get the Brenda Konkel new gold edition at McTaggarts!), if you will, also know that is the case. This is an attempt by PAVE to spread its message in the media by attacking a GOOD FRIEND of students. Shame on you.
Option A: girl gets raped, breaks leg
Option B: girls gets pushed down and runs off
I will take B every time. Is it WRONG for either option to occur? Yes. Is silver lining the best term? Maybe not.
Is it worth you attacking him? No way.
Laura Dunn, you should be ashamed.
-Someone who just lost respect for the unpragmatic nature of the PAVE group.
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 6:08am):
the BH really needs to give you boisterous PAVE girls your own weekly editorial, methinks
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 10:42am):
I think people like Laura Dunn are total losers. Nothing but cheap shots. Get a life, Laura!
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 11:19am):
Anonymous number 1: since when does saying that someone's comments were 'inappropriate' constitute an attack on that person...?
As much as I appreciate Ald Verveer's advocacy for students, it would be a disservice both to him and to students to give him a blank check to say anything, anytime, and to fail to respond when he's a bit too glib. His 'silver lining' comment was just that.
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 12:29pm):
"since when does saying that someone's comments were 'inappropriate' constitute an attack on that person...?"
Well, read the damn thing? Moron!
"...to give him a blank check to say anything, anytime..."
Talk about blank checks! You've written enough of 'em to clean out your bank a dozen times over!
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 12:30pm):
Half the women on this campus are total losers! Who cares what some ignorant feminists think anyway? I thought we were past all that, but I guess not.
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 1:41pm):
"Half the women on this campus are total losers! Who cares what some ignorant feminists think anyway? I thought we were past all that, but I guess not."
You probably think the girl who was raped deserved it, too. You sicken me.
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 2:59pm):
PAVE needed to respond becasue it was Mike's silver lining comment that started the responce comment board running yesterday with "oh she wasn't hurt, must be another audrey sieler" crap.
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 7:36pm):
I don't think Verveer's quote really sparked the horrible things that got written on the message board. Those things that people wrote on the message board stemmed from their own insensitivity and sexist attitudes.
I always think, would these people write on this message board if it wasn't anonymous? I think the answer is no. I doubt most men would ever write anything so horrible if they had to sign their name with it. Cowards.
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 10:42pm):
Now THIS is insensitive!
A 19-year-old Saudi woman who was kidnapped, beaten and gang raped by seven men who then took photos of their victim and threatened to kill her, was sentenced under the country's Islamic-based law to 90 lashes for the "crime" of being alone with a man not related to her.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,256980,00.html
Anonymous (March 6, 2007 @ 11:22pm):
"You probably think the girl who was raped deserved it, too. You sicken me."
Thanks for proving my point.
Anonymous (March 7, 2007 @ 12:21am):
"Now THIS is insensitive!
A 19-year-old Saudi woman who was kidnapped, beaten and gang raped by seven men..."
So go to Saudi Arabia and bitch at them about it! We don't wanna hear it! Be glad we don't do the same to women who rape young boys! Hey, I have yet to hear any women condemn the women who do that kind of crap! Because of that, I'm now insensitive to women victims. See how YOU like a little insensitivity!
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