Hello all -
This is such a horrific story of survivor blaming, racism, and hate. I hope you will take a minute to read the short article and consider ways to speak out - whether it is to bring attention by posting to facebook or twitter, or to consider not supporting the news stations who broadcast these stories, or to talk about it with your friends/family, or even write to Debbie Schlussel in response, please do something.
There are many articles on this and I chose to post this one, but any google search will bring you many more.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201102160010
Logan's Sexual Assault Brings Wave Of Blaming The Victim And Other Ugliness
February 16, 2011 11:17 am ET by Julie Millican
During a news brief on this morning's Fox & Friends, Gretchen Carlson reported that CBS correspondent Lara Logan had been "beaten and sexually assaulted by a mob of men while covering the political uprising in Egypt." While Carlson reported the story as nothing but factual, during her report, the onscreen text read, "Journalist Assaulted in Egypt? Report: Protesters Attacked CBS' Lara Logan."
Is Fox really questioning the validity of the story? If not, why the question mark?
Fox isn't alone in having a completely inappropriate response to Logan's tragic assault. Others have seized on the story to attack Logan, suggesting that the reason this happened was because she was a pretty woman reporting in the middle of a war zone. As Salon's Mary Elizabeth Williams observed:
In a stunningly offensive blog post titled "Lara Logan, CBS Reporter and Warzone 'It Girl,' Raped Repeatedly Amid Egypt Celebration" for LA Weekly, writer Simone Wilson managed to mention Logan's "shocking good looks and ballsy knack for pushing her way to the heart of the action" before getting to the assault itself. She then went on to imagine how it happened: "In a rush of frenzied excitement, some Egyptian protestors apparently consummated their newfound independence by sexually assaulting the blonde reporter." Well, sure, what other motive for an assault could there be, given that Logan is, in Wilson's words, a "gutsy stunner" with "Hollywood good looks"? And how else do Egyptians celebrate anyway but with a gang assault? It's not like she deserved it, but well, she is hot, right?
[...]
Wilson wasn't the only person out there to be wildly tone-deaf in response, either. When the news broke, Nir Rosen, a fellow at the New York University Center for Law and Security, promptly whined to Twitter, "It's always wrong, that's obvious, but I'm rolling my eyes at all the attention she'll get," adding, "She's so bad that I ran out of sympathy for her." He soon backpedaled, deleting several of his most offensive posts and tweeting, "I apologize and take it back. joking with friends got out of line when i didnt [sic] want to back down. forgot twitter is not exactly private." Apparently he still hasn't remembered that sexual assault isn't great joking around material.
Rosen since resigned his post at NYU.
But he's not alone.
Other conservative commentators have seized on the story as an excuse to perpetuate their racism. As Williams pointed out, right-wing blogger Debbie Schlussel responded to the incident by claiming Logan was to blame because "she should have known what Islam is all about":
And the ever-heinous Debbie Schlussel was quick to jump on her regular line of racism, noting how the assault happened in a "country of savages," because that never ever happens anywhere else, and it's never committed by light-skinned people! She then twisted the knife by going after Logan herself, saying, "So sad, too bad, Lara. No one told her to go there. She knew the risks. And she should have known what Islam is all about. Now she knows... How fitting that Lara Logan was 'liberated' by Muslims in Liberation Square while she was gushing over the other part of the 'liberation.'" Debbie Schlussel, what's it like to be so liberated from the burden of having either a mind or a soul?
In addition, notorious Islamophobe Pam Geller seems to be taking issue with CBS not reporting on the religious affiliation of the assailants. She also doesn't think that women really could have had much to do with rescuing Logan from her assailants. From her February 15 post (emphasis in the original):
Freedom-yearning young Egyptian role models? Not so much.
CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a "60 Minutes" story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.
CBS reportage on this is ... interesting. Logan was brutally raped for a sustained period of time. I find their mealy-mouthed reportingappalling. Imagine if this were ..... Israel. Or a tea party.
She was saved by "a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers." Color me skeptical, but methinks it was more soldiers than women.
These people ought to be ashamed of themselves. A woman was brutally assaulted in one of the most horrifyingly imaginable ways, and they are using it to blame the victim or to further their own racism. The fact remains that in no way is Logan responsible for what happened to her, and it is beyond disgusting to suggest otherwise. Moreover, the religion of her assailants is completely irrelevant. Would Geller or Schlussel argue that we shouldn't be surprised when a woman gets gang raped by Christian males because they're Christian? Of course not.
This crime was committed by a group of savages who should be brought to justice for what they did. And we should be keeping Logan in our thoughts and prayers. Nothing else should matter.
Juliette Grimmett
Assistant Director, NC State University Women's Center
Interpersonal Violence Services
3120 Talley Student Center
Raleigh, NC 27695
o: 919-515-2012
f: 919-515-1066
Are you a student who needs support for yourself or a loved one regarding sexual and relationship violence including stalking? The Women's Center is now able to offer NCSU students confidential support services Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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