Image credit: Wung, Flickr
Just yesterday I posted about the fresh and welcome feeling of seeing homeless individuals roundly and unanimously defended in the comments section of a news article, for a change. Then I read this news item from Augusta, Georgia.
…Aaaaaaaaaand we’re back to square one.
Early Thursday morning, a 37-year-old homeless woman in Augusta was raped, sodomized, and robbed of $120 by an armed assailant pressing a gun to her head. The woman was finally able to pull a knife from her pants and cut the rapist on the face, upon which he fled and the victim went to the hospital. The article also mentioned briefly (I can’t imagine why though, as it seems completely unrelated to the crime committed) that the woman had consumed an unknown amount of alcohol prior to the rape.
And then the comments started rolling in. Let’s take a look, shall we?
“Hmmmm, A Drunk Homeless Woman with $120. Yeeah Right” ~spdermn78
“Just because she is homeless doesn’t mean that she can’t turn tricks…..or dealing……” ~fishman960
“And here silly ole me was sitting here trying to figure out if it was rape or theft of services.” ~MarshCroaked
“Does seem kind of odd for a “homeless” person to be carrying that kind of cash on them.” ~Emerydan
“Emerydan, a woman with that kind of cash in that neighborhood at that time of night who had a sip or three doesn’t surprise me at all. Did she perhaps escape from Harrisburg?” ~MarshCroaked
“Sounds like prostitution was involved in this somehow.” ~Emerydan
“Somehow the thought of sodomy on a homeless woman seems, how should I put it, nasty.” ~Jake
“YUCK. Jake, you got it right, buddy.” ~ustabe
“Yep, the the incident likely involved prostitution. Did it involve rape, etc????” ~KSL
Wow. Just… wow. This woman was VICTIMIZED. She was fucking raped and sodomized, and had what was likely all the money she has in the world taken from her. And these MONSTERS who probably call themselves fine, upstanding Augusta citizens are re-victimizing her all over again – public flogging by humiliation. They jump to some huge conclusions and arrogantly generalize and stereotype this poor VICTIM by immediately drudging up prostitution, drug use, and implications of that good old standby chestnut, “she deserved it, she was asking for it”.
1) You have NO idea how that woman EARNED her $120. It is not unusual for a homeless person to have some money on them – many have jobs, or panhandle, or collect benefits – so what?! (It’s not as if she can afford housing with $120, at any rate.) It is none of your business HOW she earned that money, and it has absolutely no bearing on the fact that she was RAPED and ROBBED.
2) The article does not say whether or not the woman was drunk. Again, even if she were, if has absolutely no bearing on the fact that she was RAPED and ROBBED.
3) Where the FUCK do you get off, implying that this woman is dirty and nasty, rather than the ANIMAL who violated her?!
To be perfectly frank, I don’t care if this woman was drunk as a skunk, fucking every man in sight for cash, and passing out cocaine like it was candy (and for the record, the article states nothing of the sort – these sick citizens just imposed their own twisted, warped conclusions/fantasies stemming from their own disgusting prejudices onto this poor woman). Her occupation, state of sobriety, etc. are all complete nonissues here.
I don’t care if she was walking down a back alley at 3 a.m. stark naked. NOBODY asks to be raped. NOBODY deserves to be raped. This woman is a VICTIM. I am completely horrified at the mob mentality of these bastards ripping a victim to shreds. As a society, we’re supposed to be beyond this “the woman is asking for it” bullshit. We’re supposed to have evolved to the point where we empathize with victims of heinous crimes, treat them with respect and dignity. Clearly, at least in Augusta, some of the rabble is still stuck in the Dark Ages.
I noticed a minority of commenters echoing my sentiments of disgust, and that gives me a small amount of hope. To the rest, whom I have quoted above: shame on you! How DARE you insult this poor woman you don’t even know? How DARE you cast aspersions on her character; insinuate that she somehow deserved, invited, or played any role whatsoever in the crime, the terrible violation that was committed upon her? You know absolutely nothing about what it means to be not just a homeless person, but a homeless woman. You know absolutely nothing about what it means to be vulnerable and brutalized beyond belief. If there is such a thing as karma in this world, one day you will, and you’ll look back on this moment and weep for the injustice you have perpetuated.
Bastards.
Wow, the heartlessness of some people makes me wonder how they live with themselves. Cause none of that blood is making it to their brains….. Everything you said, ditto. And said better than I could have.
What goes around, comes around.
Good post! I agree, the stereotypes and prejudices being applied here are horrible. Maybe that $120 was all she had in the world? Maybe she didn’t even have a bank account to safely stash her money? Who knows?
You know, I wish people had a little more compassion and love in their heart for others. Fuck, it would make such a difference if the first reaction to others was not always hostility and criticism. *sigh*
Sending love and healing to that poor woman!
As you know, I read (who knows how many) news articles from all around the nation about homelessness.
Many times the most disheartening part is reading the derogatory comments posted by folks who are as “stuck on stupid” as can be.
Blaming or condemning the victim (as has become more and more prevalant in our society) is the surest sign of feeble mindedness.
Sigh.
Absolute ignorance on Americans as a whole. Makes me sick. They have NO clue what or who a REAL homeless person is or has and does not have. We need a 2 hour special devoted JUST to homeless. Even if some do not want to show their face, ie in the shadows. We need all or our stories out there. Anyone willing to help us get that exposure and show America what is really going on?
Speak up. Get in touch with all the contacts you can. I mean a 2 hour show. Maybe WE need a celebrity telethon. Hmmm.
I get so happy with people when I read stuff like your story on the eco friendly gym in Detroit or the way people stepped up for the 97 year old woman and her sons in L.A. Then I read stuff like this and I get disgusted all over again. Seems like I’m constantly wondering WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE! They are probably good Christian people too. (Not that all religious people are hypocrites I know some amazing Christian people and they sure dont act/ think like that! )
Keep up the good work. Cheers!
This is a heart breaking story and those people who victimized this lady again with their ignorant responses should be hung out and dried! ASSHATS! I wish the lady well as I do all homeless people who struggle through a journey filled with uncertainty, hunger and cold nights. Thank you for sharing this story to remind us that But for the grace of God there go I….
Ah yes, condemn a crime-victim based upon one’s own ignorant prejudices. This sort of ignorant egotistical judgementalism is all too common among the “real Americans” with their “superior morality” and their “fine Christian values”. My only surprise is that none had suggested she deserved to be shot by the rapist-robber.
Disgusting. As if it mattered the circumstances it happened in…and those ignorant assumptions about homeless people are typical unfortunately…Don’t worry,I think the guys making those comments will get hit by the Karma Bus someday.
Look, there is a reason post-Bush II “Amurka” is going to hell in a bullet train and why you see all these neanderthals heaping spite on the poorest and most defenseless: The vast majority of the “Amurkan” people are brainwashed, violence loving, plutocrat worshipping morons and comprise the most depressive, overly medicated (for depression) population of any industrialized nation on earth. The Right-wing in America are predatory fascists drunk on blood for oil wars, wallowing in the misery and death of millions, and the Left are spoiled, timid, utterly disorganized, on-their-ass wimps no longer capable of standing up to any abuse, no matter how heinous.
What the gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson had to say about Bush II’s “Amurka” not too long before he blew his brains out:
“We have become a Nazi monster in the eyes of the world–a nation of bullies and bastards who would rather kill than live peacefully. We are not just Whores for power and oil, but killer Whores with hate and fear in our hearts. We are human scum and that is how history will remember us.”
*LOUD, STANDING OVATION FOR EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID*
Angry, here, too.
P.S. – Here here K Michael & Cindy – It seems some wide assumptions as to the religion of these posters’ nasty comments were made – I saw nothing that suggested they were Christians, and being one, I take slight offense at such conclusions.
ANYHOW, this makes me angry, thinking about how the victim is never the one defended, only the perpetrator, much like when a football star allegedly rapes a young girl, everyone assumes it’s the girl’s fault. No one asks how the girl must feel having had been violated in such a way, everyone talks about how the “poor” athlete’s career is now ruined. GOODNESS GRACIOUS. I wish I could change how the world thinks!
Reading the article was tough. But then I got to the comments.
After taking a moment to cool off, and think about my reaction to the comments, I’ve come to this conclusion:
I haven’t met many women in life who have ever made comments like the ones at that news article. But conversely, I have heard many men say such awful and heartless things, and frequently in the presence of a woman.
Why? Where is the disconnect in a guy’s head, that says “because she was drunk/stoned/in a skirt/giving a hand job in an alley, then she should have been raped, beaten, robbed, or killed”?
Honestly, I’m gobsmacked. I’m nearly 40 years old, and the violence and cruelty of men, especially in a large group of them, has never ceased to shock and frighten me. What’s worse for me is how proud some of them seem to be about it, too.
I have met and known some wonderful men in my life, who never believed a woman was subhuman in any way. But the sad fact is that they are not the norm, but the exception, in my life, and the lives of the women I’ve known.
Why? Where’s the disconnect? Where’s that part in their brain that says “she deserved this” because of x, y, z? Where’s the part in their brain that doesn’t compute the meaning of “nobody deserves this”?