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Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment
When someone calls you insulting sexual names, talks about you in a sexual way that makes you feel uncomfortable (like commenting on your body), or spreads sexual rumours about you, this is known as sexual harassment. This could happen in person, over the phone, or online.
If someone intentionally grabs or touches you in a sexual way that you do not like, or you’re forced to kiss someone or do something else sexual against your will, this is classed as sexual assault. This includes sexual touching of any part of someone’s body, and it makes no difference whether you are clothed or not.
If you are forced to have penetrative sex with someone, or someone has sex with you without your consent or agreement, this is rape.
Was it my fault?
Whatever the circumstances, nobody has the right to force you to have sex, have sex with you without your consent, or sexually assault or harass you. If this happens to you, it is not your fault. However, many people worry about reporting rape and sexual assault to the police because they:

had been drinking alcohol or taking drugs at the time

are in a relationship with or know the person who attacked them

have had a sexual relationship with that person before

had been kissing or touching that person before the attack

were with someone of the same sex (gay or lesbian relationship)

didn’t say ‘no’ or didn’t fight back

can’t really remember it properly.

No matter what happened, the police will take it very seriously, and there are lots of organisations, like Victim Support, who can help you think about what you can do next.

This happened a long time ago, is there anything I can do?

Some survivors of sexual assault and rape take many years to acknowledge that they’ve been a victim and find it hard to take steps to get help. But it’s never too late. We can find the best person to support you, depending on what you decide you want to do. If you want to report the crime to the police, this is still a possibility. Even if you got support at the time, you can still get more support now, as there may be things that happen which still scare you or worry you.

Can this happen to a man?

Yes, men can be sexually harassed, assaulted or raped. This could happen to gay or straight men, and is not related to your sexuality. You can be sexually assaulted by a male or a female. It’s important to understand that this doesn’t mean you are weak. Often men feel like they should be able to stop it because they are male, however the shock and level of violence or threat of violence means that stopping a sexual assault or rape is extremely difficult. Sexual assault and rape is about the abuse of power. It is never your fault and the police will take it seriously.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujRoFzEPmgc
What It's Like to Be Cyberbullied As a Sexual Assault Survivor | Teen Vogue

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Attorney for mother who 'beat two of her children to death and stuffed them in freezer' says she loves her surviving kids and wants to see them

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3023759/Attorney-mother-beat-two-children-death-stuffed-freezer-says-loves-surviving-kids-wants-them.html

Mitchelle Blair, 35, was arraigned Thursday on charges of felony murder, premeditated murder and torture.

The deaths of two of her children Stoni Blair, 13, and Stephen Berry, 9, have been ruled a homicide

She will undergo a mental health evaluation to determine her competency

Blair's surviving children were discovered to have been terribly abused, according to child welfare officials

Blair's 17-year-old daughter said her mother forced her to put her sister's body in the deep freezer

Her 8-year-old son said he knew his brother and sister were killed and put in the freezer

Police said during her arrest March 24, Blair admitted to killing the two children, saying: ‘They’re both dead! I did it!’

What is it called when a parent kills a child?

Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child. The word filicide derives from the Latin words filius meaning "son" or filia meaning daughter, and the suffix -cide meaning to kill, murder, or cause death.

Mother admits poisoning and burning nine-year-old daughter to death

Canadian woman killed her child following a bitter divorce to 'get back at' girl's father

A jury heard how she said she was taking the child stargazing following a bitter divorce from the girl’s father in which he won full custody. She then drove Amber to a remote Alberta location 60 miles north of Calgary, drugged her with sleeping pills and set fire to her car with her daughter inside.

Mr Lucius read a victim impact statement at that hearing saying he would never forgive Coward for the pain she has caused.

Fighting back tears, he said: “Since the moment Amber was born, she was the light of my life.

“She was energetic, talkative and full of joy. I will never get to watch my daughter grow up, but I know she would have done great in life.

“No sentence will do justice for what has happened to Amber. As a father, I have had to bury my child and nothing will bring her back. I can only hope that other children are not being used as bargaining chips in a divorce or used to hurt the other parent.

“Amber was my life and I will miss her every day until my end. I will never forget her.”

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The Effects of and Stages after Rape

Immediate reactions after a rape may vary. Some rape survivors remain controlled, numb, in shock, denial disbelief. They present a flat affect, quiet, reserved, and have difficulties expressing themselves. Other rape survivors respond quite differently - being very expressive and verbalising feelings of sadness or anger. They may appear distraught or anxious and may even express rage or hostility against the medical staff attempting to care for them.

Various factors may aid or inhibit the survivors ability to resolve the issues associated by the rape. Positive feelings of self-esteem, good support systems, previous success in dealing with crisis and economic security all enhance the ability to heal. Survivors who can minimise, (deal with one small segment of the problem at a time ) often find success. Certainly survivors moved to action gain confidence as they implement decisions. But survivors who suffer with chronic stress, lack of support systems and prior victimisation struggle less successfully to resolve their issues. Negative self-esteem often hinders their progress and paralyse their efforts. These victims often use maladaptive methods to deal with their stress. These factors hamper their ability to resolve the issues of the rape and move beyond it.

Rape victims can suffer a significant degree of physical and emotional trauma during the rape, immediately following the rape and over a considerable time period after the rape. A study of rape victims has identified a three-stage process, or syndrome, that occurs as a result of forcible rape or attempted forcible rape. This syndrome is an acute stress reaction to a life-threatening situation that can last from two years to a lifetime. It is also often known as rape trauma syndrome or rape related post traumatic stress disorder (rrptsd).

The acute phase begins immediately and lasts up to several days after the attack. The survivor feels violated and fearful and may be depressed?even suicidal. The victim struggles with feelings of loss of control and may note changes in appetite, sleep habits or social functions. Survivors may note change in their sexual patterns at this time.

The Acute Stage

This stage occurs immediately after the assault. It may last a few days to several weeks. During this stage the victim may:

seem agitated or hysterical or s/he may appear totally calm (a sign that s/he could be in shock)

have crying spells and anxiety attacks

have difficulty concentrating, making decisions, and doing simple, everyday tasks

show little emotion, act as though numb or stunned

have poor recall of the rape or other memories

In the second stage, it seems that survivors begin to resolve their issues. This stage is also called the "flight to health." But denial frequently masks the under lying problems as survivors make an effort to re-establish the routines of their life and bring back some semblance of control. Sometimes, in an effort to feel back in control, rape victims make dramatic changes in lifestyle or environment. They may quit a long-standing job or move to a new location to get a fresh start. They may dramatically change their appearance; cut their hair or perhaps change the colour. None of the changes brings about the security they search for as nightmares and phobias emerge. They work hard to suppress the feelings because dealing with them is so very painful.

The Outward Adjustment Stage

During this stage the victim resumes what appears to from the outside her/his "normal" life. Inside, however, there is considerable turmoil which can manifest itself by any of the following behaviours:

continuing anxiety, sense of helplessness

persistent fear and/or depression

severe mood swings (e.g. happy to angry, etc.)

vivid dreams, recurrent nightmares, insomnia

surface at that time. The stages are not linear and can vary as the victim works their way through. Survivors find themselves taking one step forward and two back as they vacillate between stages and labour to find their way.

The Resolution Stage

physical ailments

appetite disturbances (e.g. nausea, vomiting, compulsive eating)

efforts to deny the assault ever took place and/or to minimise its impact

withdrawal from friends and/or relatives

preoccupation with personal safety

reluctance to leave the house and/or to go places which remind the victim of the rape

hesitation about forming new relationships with men and/or distrustful or existing relationship

sexual problems

disruption of normal everyday routines (e.g. high absenteeism at work suddenly or, conversely, working longer than usual hours; dropping out of school; travelling different routes; going out only at certain times)

The feelings do not go away as easily as before. Their re-surfacing introduces the third stage of the rape trauma syndrome. The client no longer denies the issues; she/he may want to talk about what happened. The client finds themselves more willing to accept counselling and get in touch with the feelings and emotions associated with the rape. Survivors may feel overwhelmed as they attempt to deal with feelings they struggled to suppress since the assault. Often some sensory stimulation triggers memories that call to mind the sexual assault. Suddenly the survivor seems to be re-living the trauma as the rape comes to life again. Nightmares, phobias, depression, reoccurring thoughts and sexual dysfunction monopolise their thoughts. She / he feels anxious to talk about it, to deal with it and is ready to seek therapy and need the support of others who understand their needs, although she / he may not understand why the issues

During this stage the rape is no longer the central focus in the victim's life. The victim begins to recognise that while she / he will never forget the assault, the pain and memories associated with it are lessening. She / he has accepted the rape as a part of her / his life experience and is choosing to move on from there. Some of the behaviours of the second stage may flare up at times but they do so less frequently and with less intensity. In this fashion the person who has survived has moved from being a " victim" to a "survivor".

While some survivors move forward and take control of their lives, others continue to suffer and may even develop post traumatic stress disorder as result of the rape. They struggle with reoccurring thoughts about the trauma and find themselves in a state of hyper vigilance; easily startled and always anticipating another attack. Nightmares, flashbacks, and sleep disturbances disrupt their lives. Constant efforts to avoid the memories of trauma literally control their existence. Some rape survivors have post-traumatic stress disorder for years and need continuous counselling and support. Survivors recover in stages. They may start with one stage, go to another, and go back. Each person processes the event in his or her own way. Survivors are not to blame for the crime committed to them by another person. We cannot control the actions of another person.

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Rape
Definition of Rape
The crime of rape generally refers to non-consensual sexual intercourse that is committed by physical force, threat of injury, or other duress.
Common law defined rape as unlawful intercourse by a man against a woman who is not his wife by force or threat and against her will. However most states have refined and broadened the statutory definition of rape so that marriage, gender, and force are not relevant. The victim's lack of consent is the crucial element. A lack of consent can include the victim's inability to say "no" to intercourse, due to the effects of drugs or alcohol. Rape can occur when the offender and victim have a pre-existing relationship (sometimes called "date rape"), or even when the offender is the victim's spouse.

To convict an offender for rape, some form of sexual penetration, however slight, must occur. Each instance of penetration can serve as a count of rape, as well.

The most common form of rape is forcible rape, in which an offender uses violence or threats of violence to force a victim into sexual intercourse. In most states, however, rape can also occur in a number of other ways, including posing as a public official and threatening to arrest or punish the victim.
Statutory rape
Statutory rape refers to sexual intercourse with a minor (someone below the "age of consent"). People below the age of consent cannot legally consent to having sex. This means that sex with them, by definition of the strict liability statute, violates the law.

Statutory rape laws vary by state, with states setting the age of consent differently, as well as using different names to refer to this crime. Many states punish statutory rape under laws addressing sexual assault, rape, unlawful sexual intercourse or carnal knowledge of a child. In many states, statutory rape is a felony only if one of the participants (usually a male) is at least three years older than the other; otherwise, it is a misdemeanor. There are very few federal laws dealing with statutory rape.

Free Legal Case Review

A rape conviction can come down to the issue of consent, which is not always clear cut. Your case will be decided by facts that can be established by the government. However, you're also entitled to establish facts in your defense. In fact, that's one of the jobs of your legal team. A seasoned criminal defense attorney understands the process and how to lay out a strong defense. You can speak with an attorney in your area today and obtain a free review of the facts of your case to help you going forward.

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A REALLY RELEVANT ARTICLE GUYS, USE THIS!!!! - CORINNNNA 

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A REALLY RELEVANT ARTICLE GUYS, USE THIS!!!! - CORINNNNA 

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3913266/Horrifying-moment-rapist-tells-nightclub-staff-ll-care-m-friend-leading-vulnerable-woman-away-raping-her.html

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Consent Is ... beautiful, it is enthusiasm, it is free choice, it is mutual. It is NOT assumed, NOT a right of marriage, NOT in the clothes you wear.

These views, shared on Twitter this week in response to a new awareness campaign by the Crown Prosecution Service, which I head, show that the vast majority of people fully understand consent. And yet a myth persists that establishing whether someone is a willing sexual partner is somehow complicated, even unreasonable.

Some victims are still blamed in a way that simply does not happen for other crimes. If someone is burgled, the automatic response is not to ask: "What did you do to deserve that?" If someone has their car stolen they haven't, historically, been expected to go through their car ownership history to see if the theft could be blamed on some "inadequacy" in their own behaviour to mitigate the guilt of the thief.

The issue is that for too long as a society we too have blamed victims - usually women - for letting themselves be raped; and we have forgiven perpetrators - usually men - for acting on some kind of instinct from which they seemingly must be protected.

This is insulting to both men and women, who in the vast majority of cases conduct affectionate, consensual, mutually agreeable relationships. The law is clear, and has been since 2003, that if one person does not consent to sexual activity, with the freedom and capacity to give that consent - and the other person doesn't reasonably believe there is consent - then it is an offence. Of course it is the job of the Crown Prosecution Service to prove this in court.

Capacity means that someone who is under severe influence of drink or drugs; someone who may be young or have certain learning disabilities; or who is asleep, may not be able to consent to sex. Freedom means that someone under pressure - for instance, within an abusive relationship or under pressure from someone in a position of trust (like a teacher, doctor, priest), or power (like an employer, gang leader, prison officer) may also not be considered to have freely consented.

It is only a decade ago that the criminal justice system, as well as the care system, was effectively turning its back on vulnerable girls who were being groomed for sex in many of our city centres. We now properly recognise that as rape. But then, few people understood that the very vulnerabilities that made the rapists target those girls - drink, drugs, unstable backgrounds - were the ones we mistakenly used to excuse their attackers. Many of us thought that no jury would believe these girls who craved attention and went back for more. But since then we have seen successful convictions across the country, and we have seen a change in attitude.

But the issue remains less well understood when the situation is between two adults who know each other. I want that to change for a number of reasons.

First, it is my job to apply the law and bring prosecutions. If people do not understand the law they will not understand why prosecutors are in our courts with increasing numbers of sex offences - they now make up more than 30% of crown court trials.

You wouldn't force or pressure someone into having a cup of tea, and you can tell when someone wants a cup of tea or not

While criminal cases where consent is the issue may be complex to prosecute and difficult to prove that does not mean that the basic concept of consent itself is difficult. And that is the second reason - I want people to feel comfortable that they know when they might be a victim of crime, or a suspect of crime. We should all know where we stand.

In our campaign we have used a clever animation that compares sexual consent to having a cup of tea. You wouldn't force or pressure someone into having a cup of tea, and you can tell when someone wants a cup of tea or not. If someone says they want a cup of tea one minute, they can change their mind the next and should not be pressured to drink the tea. If this sounds simple, then so is the issue to consent to sex.

If you haven't seen it, I suggest you watch this film and join the #ConsentIs ... debate. And I would just like to end by addressing some recent myths and misunderstandings that I think are damaging if they are left unchecked. I use genders in the below examples, but I fully acknowledge that both men and women can be both perpetrators and victims of sexual offences.

1. Men now have to prove that they got consent

No. There has been no change in the law - the prosecution has to prove that consent was not given, but in considering that we will, of course, consider what made someone, for instance, reasonably believe that such consent was given. Similarly we will consider what made the woman consider that consent was not given. This is not in any way a change in the burden of proof. That remains with us.

2. Men and women are treated differently because a man will be prosecuted for having sex when he is drunk whereas a woman is treated as a victim

No. Gender is not a deciding factor. This has been discussed publicly as if it is clear cut - and I have read hundreds of these cases and they are never straightforward. I think there is an assumption that the authorities consider men the suspects and women the victims - that is not true, and is offensive to both genders. Each case is different.

3. A woman can change her mind after the event

No. The circumstances we consider will look at what made a suspect think that consent was given at the time. I think there is confusion here about the freedom and capacity to consent. In grooming cases, for instance, we have seen victims who did not realise that the pressure they were put under meant that they had not freely consented to sex. Evidence suggests that false rape claims are extremely rare.

4. Prosecutors will believe anything that a complainant tells them - and will prosecute on the word of that complainant alone

No. We should always look at all the circumstances of a case so that as full a picture as possible can be gathered. Where, in the past, it seems to me that an over-suspicious or sceptical view of complainants' accounts pervaded, we now approach these cases without judgment, prejudice or preconceptions.

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Sexual consent is simple. We should all be clear what constitutes rape | Alison Saunders

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A new CPS campaign focuses on cases where two adults know each other, and attempts to debunk some of the myths around sex offences. Join the debate at #ConsentIs ...

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Could you post all our pictures that you have of our group on this Padlet so we can use them when writing our portfolio <3

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HEEYOOO - i finally found my irish verbatim character I can use - take a read 

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HEEYOOO - i finally found my irish verbatim character I can use - take a read 

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http://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/18/world/girl-14-raped-and-pregnant-is-caught-in-web-of-irish-law.html

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Andrew

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Dear You,

As I write this I cannot help but see both you and that scared teenage girl whom I was on that day. I can see you as clearly in my mind as if it were yesterday, not 20 years in the past. After all, some things are burned so deeply into our memories that we cannot forget them even if we tried. That girl, however, one day away from her 17th birthday-- she is farther away in my memory, blurry somehow. That day fissured my life into two sections--my life literally breaking into two halves, the before and the after. These days, the before section seems muddy, unclear, as if the rape caused a cloud so thick that I will never be able to see through it again.

The events of that night set my life on a trajectory that I never could have planned. First deep into the darkest of depression and a series of suicide attempts, one of which was nearly successful. Then, from the deepest place of darkness where I used the pain as a springboard to catapult myself into a better life--better than I ever could have imagined, in fact. I know, looking back, that I would not have my life today without having been a victim of rape at such a tender and painful age.

I have long ago forgiven you, not for your own good but for my own sanity. What I did not realize is that I would, in some fucked up way, be thankful for the horror of rape, which took me into hell and then back into life again--fevered in the desire to somehow make others feel less pain.

I can go back to that night so easily. In fact, the music of The Doors--a band that I had once loved whose music happened to be playing in the background that night--can bring me right back into those moments of terror so easily that I have run from stores, hands over my ears, when the music comes on overhead. I struggled with panic attacks and vivid flashbacks of that night for years, what I now know was PTSD but what I believed at the time was pure insanity.

What I am trying to do now is to think less and less about that night and more about how I allowed, sometimes consciously and sometimes not, the rape and the aftermath of it to make me into a better person. I know that the person that I might have become and the person that I am today could have been very far apart. My priorities and my life's purpose could have been so much shallower.

But, it did happen and here I am 20 years later. The ways in which the person I am today is different from the innocent, teenage girl that I was are so many that we couldn't count them all.

Mostly, I suppose that I want you to know that you didn't break me. I know now that someone like you, hateful and selfish, could never break someone like me. I used the pain and the fear and the shame to make myself into a better person than I ever hoped that I could be, in so many ways. You did not give me this strength, but I am grateful to you for showing me that it existed.

When I fall into sadness for that time in my life, I allow myself to think of all of the ways that I am better for having had that horrific experience. To think of the parts of me that I am thankful for, the parts of me that did not exist before that night.

I am stronger than I ever knew. I didn't know this truth at first. I fell face-forward into a clinical depression that no meds would touch. In the weeks and months after the rape, I found myself blurring the pain with large amounts of alcohol and any drugs that were offered to me. The respite from the pain was always so very brief. I began cutting myself over the insides of my arms and legs to achieve the short relief from the internal pain that the external pain would cause. Again, the break from the pain was so slight and seemed just a blink in time against the raging pain. I attempted suicide seven times, feeling even more of a failure with each failed attempt. There are no words to tell you how low this point in my life was. I was standing at death's door begging her to let me in. However, I kept moving one foot in front of the other, day after day until I realized that it didn't hurt so badly anymore. I crawled my way out of that hole by my bloodied fingernails and have made a life for myself that my teenage self could never have imagined. You could not possibly know how strong I had to be to do so.

I found my purpose. In the days following my rape, all of the professionals around me seemed more concerned with my own actions that may have made me a victim instead of the actions of my rapist. There was no compassion for me. None. The nurse that was more concerned with my clothing choices that night and the therapist that chastised me for under-age drinking led me deeper inside my own shame and convinced me to not press charges. As an adult, I made a conscious choice to become a nurse that would be kind, welcoming, non-judgmental and would advocate for my patients no matter what. Being a nurse has been one of the greatest joys of my life and I do not for a moment believe that I would've made that career choice if I had not had this experience.

I have become a more compassionate person. In the lack of compassion that I found around me in the wake of my own hell storm, I found inside myself a well of compassion for others. I believe that we all deserve second chances, kindness and non-judgment. I know now that compassion can literally save a life and I intend to live out the rest of my days showering compassion on others.

I am a better mother. I am a far more kind and patient mother than I would have been had I not walked that dark path all of those years ago. My soul feels many years older than my body. I hope that I will always be an open and welcoming place for my children to come, even on the worst days of their lives. I have become a mother not only to my own three children, but a surrogate mother in the world to whoever needs one.

I am a more forgiving person. If I can forgive you, I believe that I can forgive anyone. There are not many worse things than what you chose to do that night. I choose to forgive you, each and every day that the memories come washing back up. I forgive you as I live in fear that the same thing could happen to one of my children. I forgive you even as the PTSD comes creeping back into my life every so often. I forgive you even as I am still full of fiery anger at the man who stole the last days of my childhood.

I refuse to turn my head to injustice. I refuse to turn my eyes away from injustice of any kind. Too many eyes turned themselves from me when I needed them the most. Your brutality stripped me bare and brought out the Mama Tiger that lies within me. I can no longer be held down from railing against maltreatment of any human beings. I have a heart for the downtrodden.

Shame and I are on a first name basis. This one doesn't seem to positive, does it? However, we can't talk about rape without talking about shame. There are so many people that shame victims of sexual assault. The greatest shame, for me, came from within myself. I am still, 20 years later, dealing with the shame. From the dozens of showers that I compulsively took in the first days after the rape to the spiral of thoughts I feel when someone new learns that I am a rape survivor--shame has permeated my journey. In fact, it has taken me years of thinking of writing this letter to actually do so because shame has always talked me out of it. It is exhausting. I am bringing my shame, the shame that I have no reason as a victim to feel, into the light. For the thing about shame is that it can only exist in the darkness. So, I am bringing it all out into the world, as painful as it is. I have hidden my rape for so many years due to shame. I am ready to be free of this dark secret, ready to make peace with the dark beast. So far, befriending shame and being brutally honest in my writing about it has helped me reach others who are struggling. This journey is just beginning. I will use my years of shame to help others into the light. This may not yet be a strength of mine but it WILL be. I'm thanking you for the work that I haven't even yet done.

I'm writing this to you and wondering if you will ever read it. I'm not sure if I want your eyes to see it and for you to feel my pain or if I hope upon all hope that you will never see these words. I hope that I never see your face again. I hope that you have never hurt anyone else the way that you hurt me. I am thankful for what I have become but cannot lie and tell you that I am thankful for your actions.

May this letter be another fissure in my life. A great fissure severing the person that I have been for twenty years, a woman who tried to do good in the world but lived in the dark shadows of shame at night, and the woman I will be tomorrow, free of the heavy blanket of shame that has weighted me down in immeasurable ways.

With this letter, I claim myself again and I step into the light, with the full knowledge that I never deserved to carry this burden. You tried to burn me but I was stronger in fire than I ever had been before. Thank you for showing me my strength. You are no longer needed here.
In writing this letter, I realized that deep down in my soul this wasn't a thank you letter to you at all. It was probably naive of me to think that it ever could have been. This letter to you that I've pondered for years is really a love letter to that little, scared girl that climbed her way out of the darkest place imaginable and has carried this burden alone for 20 years. She and I are of course the same person, but in my mind I see her as a separate being--after all, the woman I am today could not be more different from that young girl. I thank her. And tonight I sit here, tears streaming down my face, hoping to send a message back into time to that young, wounded girl. She was wronged in the most horrible of ways and she rose again from her own ashes to find her way again as phoenix. Without that girl, the woman that I am today would be nothing. I am so thankful for her strength. If you are struggling in the aftermath of a sexual assault, I want you to know that there is so much beauty and light on the other side of this. Keep fighting. Seek help if you need it. You are stronger than you yet know. I'm so sorry that this has happened to you.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-656-HOPE for the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-DONTCUT for the S.A.F.E. Alternatives hotline.
This letter first appeared on The Zen RN.

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Dear You, As I write this I cannot help but see both you and that scared teenage girl whom I was on that day. I can see you as clearly in my mind as if it were yesterday, not 20 years in the past.

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Reasons portrayable though facial expressions during rape scenes

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http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/teesside-sex-offender-75-arrested-12946166

I just had a really good idea for the ending,

It could be to do with an officer or a detective comforting a victim, a quote from this article,
“I hope the outcome of this case gives other victims the confidence to come forward to police and know that they will be believed. No one should suffer in silence. We take every reported allegation of sexual abuse against a child or young person extremely seriously, irrespective of how long ago an offence occurred."

??????
Corinna

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This week, University College London student union (UCLU) took the unusual step of banning a single song, Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. It joins around 20 other UK student unions to do so. This is the latest development in the story of how the biggest song of the year became the most controversial of the decade: an unprecedented achievement, though not one that fills Thicke with pride.

It seems impossible that anyone with the faintest interest in popular culture could have missed either the song or the controversy, but here is a recap. At the end of March, mid-table R&B singer Thicke, along with producer Pharrell Williams and rapper TI, released Blurred Lines, a libidinous R&B party jam about a woman in a nightclub who may or not be interested in him. In April, one blogger branded it a "rape song", and two months later Tricia Romano of the Daily Beast described it as "rapey", a word that caught fire in other media outlets. The song might have escaped censure if the video, in which the three male performers goof around with scantily clad (and, in one version, topless) models, had not generated its own separate yet overlapping controversy.

Throughout the summer, as the song eclipsed even Daft Punk's Get Lucky as the biggest hit of 2013, debate about its sexual politics heated up. In September, contributors to Project Unbreakable, a photographic project dedicated to rape survivors, held up placards comparing words spoken by their attackers to lines from the song. Also in September, Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA) became the first student body to ban Blurred Lines.

"It promotes a very worrying attitude towards sex and consent," explained Kirsty Haigh, EUSA's vice-president of services. "This is about ensuring that everyone is fully aware that you need enthusiastic consent before sex. The song says: 'You know you want it.' Well, you can't know they want it unless they tell you they want it."

By that point, Thicke's hit was part of a bigger debate about the messages of pop lyrics and videos. Miley Cyrus's performance at the Video Music Awards in August, during which Thicke popped up like some kind of sex-pest Zelig, ignited another firestorm of indignation on several fronts. Recently, Netmums published a survey claiming that 80% of parents had found their children copying explicit lyrics or dance movies from music videos, while Annie Lennox called for videos to be regulated in the same way as movies. "I'm all for freedom of expression," she began ominously, "but this is clearly one step beyond, and it's clearly into the realm of porn. How do you stop your kids being exposed to it?"

This week, a tipping point has been reached. Lily Allen launched the video to her comeback single, Hard Out Here, which takes aim at music industry sexism with specific reference to the Blurred Lines video. And three women's organisations launched the Rewind&Reframe campaign, with a four-pronged strategy: to enable young women to air their grievances about music videos, to campaign for age ratings on videos, to encourage compulsory sex and relationship education in schools, and to pressure the music industry to get its house in order.

"In music videos across the board there's widespread racism and sexism, specifically the sexualisation of black and ethnic minority women," says Lia Latchford of Rewind&Reframe. "Young women have told us that it has a real impact on their day-to-day lives. They're tired of messages that depict women as highly sexualised passive sex objects. Getting rid of one song won't solve the problem. It's a culture of racism and sexism that we need to change."

The last time pop music inspired such snowballing outrage was during the rise of the Parents' Music Resource Centre (PMRC). Established in 1985 by Tipper Gore, wife of Al, after she found her daughter listening to Prince's sexually graphic Darling Nikki, the PMRC successfully campaigned to slap stickers reading Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics on offending albums. The ensuing climate of censorship reached a peak in 1992, when rapper Ice-T's rock band Body Count buckled to huge political pressure and deleted their song Cop Killer. They pointedly replaced it on the album with a new song called Freedom of Speech.

That moral panic was driven by older, more conservative campaigners, but much of the current opposition to pop's excesses stems from young feminists. If the MTV generation was the first to be exposed to the power of music videos, then the YouTube generation is the first to understand those videos in the context of social media and online discourse. Cultural consumers have never been more attuned to the messages, both explicit and implicit, embedded in popular artforms. Arguments about racism, misogyny and cultural appropriation that used to thrive primarily in academia are now mainstream. Sometimes these concerns about "problematic" art go to comical extremes - the Tumblr Your Fave Is Problematic leaves you wondering if there is anything out there that isn't problematic - but at least young consumers are asking the right questions, in the spirit of playwright August Wilson's axiom: "All art is political in the sense that it serves someone's politics."

Even the most prominent model in the Blurred Lines video, Emily Ratajkowski, has said: "I'm glad that people are criticising pop lyrics, because I think that's an important thing to do." It has tangible effects, too. When popular MC Rick Ross rapped, on Rocko's single UOENO, about spiking someone's drink in order to have sex with her, public outcry forced him to apologise.

Many people who follow pop music closely, however, are surprised that Blurred Lines has become such a lightning rod. "It really did boggle my mind when people started freaking out about it," says US music critic Maura Johnston. "This is just a cheesy pickup line song and everyone was like: 'No, it's about forcing a woman against her will.' There are so many songs out there that are worse about demeaning women. Maybe it's an easy target because Robin Thicke is kind of slimy. Right now there's a lot of tension between women and men online so this was a way of women taking a piece of pop culture and saying: 'No, we're against this.' But it's weird to me because I didn't see it and I still don't."

Blurred Lines is not about rape in the same way that Cop Killer is about the fantasy of killing cops, so it is a question of interpretation. If you don't think the song's narrator is willing to have sex without consent, then the song seems at worst sleazy, and the reaction overblown. If, however, you think that the concept of "blurred lines" sends a dangerous message to listeners, then it's explosive.

Thicke himself has been a woeful defender of the song in interviews, recalling Spinal Tap's response to being called sexist: "What's wrong with being sexy?" That could be because, unlike Body Count or Eminem, he didn't intend to be outrageous. In R&B, such lyrics are par for the course. But it is revealing that TI's verse, which features the inflammatory line: "I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two," has been replaced in televised performances with milder verses from rappers such as Iggy Azalea and the Roots' Black Thought.

The video is another matter. It was conceived and directed by Diane Martel, who told US website Grantland: "It forces the men to feel playful and not at all like predators. I directed the girls to look into the camera. This is very intentional and they do it most of the time; they are in the power position. I don't think the video is sexist. The lyrics are ridiculous, the guys are silly as fuck."

Martel's thoughts have received little attention, but then one flaw in the current debate is an unwillingness to credit female artists with ideas of their own. When Miley Cyrus appeared naked in the Wrecking Ball video, critics assumed director Terry Richardson was calling the shots, yet in the case of Blurred Lines the blame for the video falls on Thicke. "People have been discounting almost everything Martel says, even though she was in charge," says Johnston.

This is just one of the ways in which the battle lines are themselves blurred. Feminists were divided in their response to Sinéad O'Connor's open letters to Miley Cyrus. Was O'Connor making a valid feminist critique of misogyny in the music industry, or was she indulging in priggish "slut-shaming"?

Even more (here's that word again) problematic is the intersection of gender and race. While the members of the PMRC were affronted by heavy metal as well as hip-hop - their original "Filthy Fifteen" blacklist featured only three black artists - the current focus is overwhelmingly on urban music. Lily Allen's new video exclusively parodies black music and reduces black women's bodies to lurid props, however satirical her intent might be. One critic, who asked to be quoted anonymously, says: "The lyrics talk about the absurdity of the industry and the media but the main visual reference is black music. What about Katy Perry or Gaga or Miley? What about rock music?"

"Lily Allen's using the sexualisation of black women to challenge the sexualisation of black women so it doesn't really work," says Latchford. "It's a good concept but poorly executed. For us it's not a problem with black music specifically, but the music industry as a whole."

The complexity inherent in debating pop, where lyrics and videos are often elliptical, ambiguous and even contradictory, isn't well served by the kind of direct condemnations that tend to generate attention. In the case of Blurred Lines, many listeners came to the song via the controversy and therefore had an opinion before they had a reaction. "Once you have an opinion that can be summed up by a single word - rapey, which I think is a terrible word - it's something that people can run with in an intense and far-reaching way, even if they haven't listened to the song," says Johnston. "You have this culture of commentary online where people are pressured to constantly come up with controversial angles to stick out. They don't have to do their homework to get the desired effect, which is traffic."

Some of the rhetoric may be blunt, but nothing is blunter than a ban. Haigh defends EUSA's decision on multiple grounds. "The executive made the decision that it wasn't a song we should be promoting and endorsing in our venues. It's also about protecting [rape] victims and making them feel safe so they don't have to listen to a song that reminds them of horrific experiences. And it starts a public discussion. Nothing changes overnight, but it's about slowly and surely changing the culture." But she says that Blurred Lines was banned because it was unusually well known and widely discussed rather than because it was exceptionally offensive, which makes for a shaky precedent.

"You're supposed to have as much freedom of expression in student unions as possible," says Eve Barlow, deputy editor of NME. "How is that precedent going to be set going forward, not just for music but other forms of media and speech? I think they're getting into muddy waters."

"In principle, I'm against bans," says Padraig Reidy of Index on Censorship. "Blanket bans on certain songs are contrary to what universities and life as a student should be about, which is becoming an adult and finding out about the world, and making your own decisions. It's worrying that young people seem to see censorship as a solution to complex societal issues."

He also has doubts about the efficacy of age-rating music videos. "First, ratings make these things more attractive: I remember the cred bestowed on any hip-hop record with an explicit-lyrics sticker back in the 90s. Second, I'm not sure that ratings really address the core issues of racism and sexism."

Yet however imperfect the debate triggered by Blurred Lines may be, many women are justifiably unsettled by pop's inability to outgrow its crassest tropes. New US chart rules, which count YouTube views as well as sales, provide an enhanced incentive to produce attention-grabbing videos, creating a kind of outrage arms race. "I'm a feminist, so certain things about pop music I find pretty frustrating," the New Zealand singer Lorde told Q recently. "I think pop is scarily powerful. What you do and say with it has a lot of weight. There are a lot of shock tactics these days: people trying to outdo each other, which will probably culminate in two people fucking on stage at the Grammys."

The question is whether or not the music industry has any reason to change when controversy has done nothing to blunt the sales of Thicke or Cyrus, and has probably been beneficial. "What [the campaigners] are trying to do is make some music executive alert to the fact that people are upset," says Barlow. "That's music to their ears. It seems like a domino effect: response after response after response, and that's helping the song do well and make even more people aware of it. I don't think it will change anything. If anything, it will make the actions more outrageous so more people talk about them."

Latchford is more optimistic. "Young women are tired of seeing this kind of video and they want to see a change. We hope that because it's coming from young women who are supposed to be consumers of this stuff, that will drive change."

It's more likely, and more desirable, that tangible change will be driven organically by formidable artists rather than chastened executives. Black women such as Angel Haze and Janelle Monáe don't so much resist hypersexualised imagery as behave as if it is not even a consideration. They have so much charisma and dynamism that they are riveting without having to strip down. Admittedly, they aren't yet household names, but it is only a matter of time before a truly unorthodox star emerges. If pop music has created a problem, then only pop music can solve it.

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Blurred Lines: the most controversial song of the decade

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This week, University College London student union (UCLU) took the unusual step of banning a single song, Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. It joins around 20 other UK student unions to do so. This is the latest development in the story of how the biggest song of the year became the most controversial of the decade: an unprecedented achievement, though not one that fills Thicke with pride.

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A project comparing the lyrics of blurred lines to the real things said by rapists

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Find and follow posts tagged project unbreakable on Tumblr

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this link has the diffrent types of rape and explains them. we could explore one of these in contrast with the originial?? RIA

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RIA - This letter was really emotional about a young girl who killed herself after being bullied and then gang raped. thoughts of using verbatim for some.

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RIA - This letter was really emotional about a young girl who killed herself after being bullied and then gang raped. thoughts of using verbatim for some.

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The letter in full:

I was a student at [omitted] and I was raped by some of the students who still attend that school. I know this already probably sounds like attention-seeking but it’s honestly far from it. I have many reasons for doing this which I’ll also explain.

My aim is to warn other people (students mostly but also parents) about what happened because I’m worried if they could do it to me they could do it to other kids like me, or at least try to. You actually have the power to stop this from happening. Remember the people who did this to me were school students at [omitted], it’s hard to believe, I know. But it’s true.

I’m not doing this for revenge to those students that raped me, set up the rape, bullied me about the rape, teased me about the rape or anything like that. I’m also not doing this for attention seeking like I mentioned earlier, I want to make that clear.

I’m doing this because over 1500 students years 7-12 are currently enrolled at the school and they need to be warned. I feel because of what happened to me, and because the staff at the school did nothing to help me (which I’ll talk a bit more about later). It’s now my duty to warn you all and to make you aware of what happened. (Not just what you may have heard around school but what actually happened.)

But I’m also doing this for myself. I want to finally after 1 and ½ years be left alone. It’s surprising just how many students at [omitted] have heard stories of me and weirdly enough still get told stories of me to this day. I still continue to get students I’ve never met contacting me Facebook calling me a slut. I’ve moved schools, I’ve moved house and still I’m being contacted and bullied. I can’t stop people from spreading rumours, but at least I could try and spread what really happened seeing as it’s still being talked about anyway. But as I said this honestly is more so for students who are unaware of this and are in danger of those students.

My name is Cassidy Trevan, and I was raped.

If anyone every tries this on you trust me it’s worth fighting! Fight! If you don’t you’ll regret it for the rest of your life like I do. You can do it.

Be careful. Be warned. Be safe.

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http://www.dnaindia.com/india/comment-fake-rape-cases-a-travesty-of-justice-2051994

Something really profound someone said about rape and how it makes a a woman feel compared to murder:

Once again, the Supreme Court judgement of May 2013 is relevant in making that distinction. The Supreme Court said: "Rape is the most morally and physically reprehensible crime in a society, as it is an assault on the body, mind and privacy of the victim. While a murderer destroys the physical frame of the victim, a rapist degrades and defiles the soul of the victim. Rape reduces a woman to an animal, as it shakes the very core of her life. By no means can a rape victim be called an accomplice. Rape leaves a permanent scar on the life of the victim, and therefore a rape victim is placed on a higher pedestal than an injured witness. Rape is a crime against the entire society and violates the human rights of the victim."

Corinna

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2012/12/29/india-rape-victim-dies-sexual-violence-proble/?utm_term=.560e0b5eac0e.
this is a list of reasons of why sexual violence is so high in india, interesting read.
RIA

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Sexual Violence Myths & Facts

There is a lot of information that circulates about sexual violence and the people affected by it. The following myths are common and can impact survivors of assault or abuse, as well as the behavior and effectiveness of friends, family, medical, social service and law enforcement personnel. This sheet will help clarify some of the most common myths.

Myth: Sexual assault is an act of lust and passion that can’t be controlled.
Fact: Sexual assault is about power and control and is not motivated by sexual gratification.[1]

Myth: If a victim of sexual assault does not fight back, they must have thought the assault was not that bad or they wanted it.
Fact: Many survivors experience tonic immobility or a “freeze response” during an assault where they physically cannot move or speak.[2]

Myth: A lot of victims lie about being raped or give false reports.

Fact: Only 2-8% of rapes are falsely reported, the same percentage as for other felonies.[3]

Myth: A person cannot sexually assault their partner or spouse.

Fact: Nearly 1 in 10 women have experienced rape by an intimate partner in their lifetime.[4]

Myth: Sexual assaults most often occur in public or outdoors.

Fact: 55% of rape or sexual assault victimizations occur at or near the victim’s home, and 12% occur at or near the home of a friend, relative, or acquaintance.[5]

Myth: Rape does not happen that often.

Fact: There is an average of 293,066 victims ages 12 or older of rape and sexual assault each year in the U.S. This means 1 sexual assault occurs every 107 seconds.[6]

Myth: People that have been sexually assaulted will be hysterical and crying.

Fact: Everyone responds differently to trauma- some may laugh, some may cry, and others will not show any emotions.[7]

Myth: Men are not victims of sexual violence.

Fact: 1.5% of all men have been raped and 47% of bisexual men have experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in their lifetime.4

Myth: Wearing revealing clothing, behaving provocatively, or drinking a lot means the victim was “asking for it”.
Fact: The perpetrator selects the victim- the victim’s behavior or clothing choices do not mean that they are consenting to sexual activity.[8]

Myth: If a parent teaches a child to stay away from strangers they won’t get raped.
Fact: 60% of child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by someone the child knows outside the family, and 30% are assaulted by family members.[9]

Myth: Being sexually assaulted by someone of the same gender can make a person gay or lesbian.
Fact: The assault is typically not based on the sexual preferences of the victim or rapist, and therefore does not necessarily change the victim’s sexual orientation.[10]

Myth: People with disabilities are at low risk for sexual assault.
Fact: People with disabilities are victims of sexual assault twice as much as people without disabilities.6

Myth: Prostitutes cannot be raped because they are selling sex.
Fact: Prostitutes have the right to give and withhold consent to any sexual activity, and therefore, can be raped just like anyone else.[11]

Myth: Getting help is expensive for survivors of assault.
Fact: Services such as counseling and advocacy are offered for free or at a low cost by sexual assault service providers.[12]

Myth: There is nothing we can do to prevent sexual violence.
Fact: There are many ways you can help prevent sexual violence including intervening as a bystander to protect someone who may be at risk.[13]

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https://jessicavealitzek.wordpress.com/tag/campus-rape/

i will use this as a base for my character and can use key quotations as is personal giving it the feel of verbatim theatre

- Emma

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http://www.mamamia.com.au/my-rape-story/

talks about a college student who was raped and talks about the idea that rap comes in many different forms . thought we could use this this in the woods scene to show the stereotypical idea of rape

- Emma

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Offences committed before 1 May 2004 are prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act 1956. Under the 1956 Act, the statutory definition of rape is any act of non-consensual intercourse by a man with a person, and the victim can be either male or female. Intercourse can be vaginal or anal. It does not include non-consensual oral sex. The courts had defined consent as having its ordinary meaning, and lack of consent could be inferred from the surrounding circumstances, such as submission through fear. It is a defence if the defendant believed that the victim was consenting, even if this belief was unreasonable, and this is a matter of fact for the jury.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCtgTpxgwjc

this piece is entitled creepy music box i thought we could use this piece within the fight scene or the section of all three victims walking in the woods as it creates and eary atmosphere

- emma

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http://endcampusrape.com/survivors/lisa-sendrow/

she talks about her experience with rape. more about the emotional side and talks about how she goes over the experience links to the questionable ideas is it her fault . i thought this would tie in well with the child like characters section as it links to the idea of blame

- Emma

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http://www.bravemissworld.com/share_your_story/raped-after-school

Brief overview of a rape victims experience it links well with the school scene we have at the beginning of the piece in that how both the characters were mutual and became more than friends it has underling themes of revenge and insanity and as personal response we can use quotations from it
- Emma

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This video of the Stanford Rape Case is powerful

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This video of the Stanford Rape Case is powerful

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http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/01/us/brock-turner-release/

Corinna

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British rape victim shares unflinching diary 

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British rape victim shares unflinching diary 

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3395559/British-rape-victim-shares-unflinching-diary-attack.html

I'm going to try and channel this character into our piece as my character profile. Also, using verbatim. - C

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https://www.rainn.org/articles/reporting-law-enforcement

This gives an overview of answers to questions that victims commonly ask about common concerns, such as:
"I'm worried the law enforcement won't believe me", it's sad that victims think like this. :( - Corinna

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Rapekits and the Evidence Collection Procedures. 

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Rapekits and the Evidence Collection Procedures. 

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http://www.pandys.org/articles/rapekit.html

This link takes you to a blog this girl wrote one how the Collection Procedure is carried out and almost like a guide to what you should do, in a really nice way. - Corinna

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I grew up in a little town in Oxfordshire. I was part of a rebellious crowd. We did drugs and weren't very serious about school.

I had lots of relationships, but I wouldn't describe any of them as romantic. I was looking for one thing: sex. That's what my life was about when I was that age, chasing girls.

I became very preoccupied with pornography and sex. I was very promiscuous. I'm not as promiscuous now as when I was younger - after all the courses I've done I'm a bit wiser about it. But when I was younger, oh, anybody. Whoever I could latch on to.

I was already offending back then. I did it because it was exciting. It was a buzz. It gave me a certain feeling of power over that person. I wouldn't have said it then, but it's obvious to me looking back that I was lost and out of control.

I'd had some very bad experiences as a child and I was trying to make myself feel good again. I wanted to feel in control. But it didn't work. It didn't make me feel any better.

In 2001, I raped my girlfriend. We'd been arguing and she'd left the house for a while and when she came back... I was very drunk. I forced her into the bedroom. I didn't plan it. I still don't completely understand why I did it. But I have a better sense of what triggers this behaviour in me now. I was under a lot of financial stress at the time. I wasn't feeling good about myself. And I was drinking too much, which didn't help. Now, I try not to drink at all.

I wasn't shocked that I'd raped my girlfriend. I'd done it already in my past. I did feel bad, but more about the fact that I'd been physically rough with her than about the rape. It wasn't until I'd spent about a year in prison that I started to understand how much I'd hurt her. Not just physically - really hurt her. Knowing that is going to affect me for the rest of my life.

When I woke up the next day, my girlfriend was gone. And, about a week later, I got arrested. The police just walked in and arrested me. I was in my underpants and slippers at the time.

I decided to plead guilty. Because it happened, and, for all my faults, I've never been much of a liar.

They've got a special wing for sex offenders in the prison I went to. I met all sorts of men in there: doctors, vicars, airline pilots. The sex offenders come from more varied backgrounds than the other offenders. They tend to be a bit older and more educated.

While I was in therapy in prison, I talked for the first time about what happened to me in my childhood. I was sexually abused for about two years, from when I was seven. I was abused by people who were friends of my family, a man and a woman, and I suspect that my family might have been aware of that.

And I do think it played a part in my later offending. Because I felt powerless for a long time after that, and my offending was always more about power and control than anything else. But that's just me. That's just one person. Other men I met in prison had very different stories.

A lot of people were in denial, not taking responsibility for their actions. Some people would say the woman had led them on, things like that. It's easy to say it was her fault. But I realised the problem was me. It's me. It's not other people around me. The problem is me.

Getty Images

Nobody knows what the other inmates have done, except for the people you're in group therapy with. I met a few men in my groups who were very ashamed of what they'd done. But I also met lots of men who had no guilt about their offences whatsoever. And, probably, when they're released, they'll go out and do it again.

It's an attitude that, if I'm honest with you, I grew up seeing around me. I think some men like to boast and get away with things. It makes them feel like the big guy. And some men just think they're superior to women, don't they? They think women belong in the kitchen or in the bedroom. That's pretty much the message I got from my father. And I suspect there´s countless men out there that feel the same way.

As I got near the end of my 18 months I realised I didn't want to be released. I felt daunted by the thought of going back into the community. I was worried about keeping my behaviour under control. And I knew I'd have to disclose my offences to future employers if I applied for certain jobs. It puts me off trying. But that's no excuse. I have to get a job. I'm unemployed and living in a homeless hostel at the moment.

When I committed the indecent exposure, I was only two weeks out of prison. And, honestly, part of me just felt, "please put me back in". There was an element of trying to shock people, too. I wanted to be noticed. I was trying to get attention. It was a bad way to go about it obviously. But my whole attitude to intimacy, to relationships, wasn't normal.

As soon as I was released the last time, I made contact with Circles, a treatment program for sex offenders returning to the community. I was told: "If you've got any issues, if you're thinking of reoffending, you can ring these people up and talk to them."

They're all volunteers at Circles. They're given special training, but they're just ordinary people. To be honest, I wondered why on earth people would volunteer to do this. But they've made me realise there are people out there who want to help. And that makes me feel better, because sex offending is very stigmatised, obviously. It's a very difficult thing to open up to people about.

I saw them weekly for the first few months. And pretty much every time, I went home feeling I'd been enlightened in some way. They challenged my thinking.

For example, I met my last girlfriend when she was in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. When I told them about our relationship, they said, "Oh, that's nice. She's probably a bit vulnerable, isn't she? She's been in rehab. And you're a bit vulnerable, rebuilding your life right now." It made me stop and think, "what am I doing? Am I taking advantage?" It's things like that.

They also made me ask myself why I was thinking about sex all the time. I constantly have to work at that, at shifting my mind on to other things. It isn't healthy. But - maybe it´s just getting older - I think I'm finally growing out of it.

Also, I avoid certain things. I only watch news and documentaries on TV. There's too much sex in other programs and it was beginning to drive me mad. And I avoid pornography. I was saturated with the stuff as a kid, it was too much. Now I don't watch it at all.

It's also important for me to avoid stress. If things get stressful I have to work especially hard to think about something other than sex and offending. I don't want to be thinking about that. It's taken me a long time to break out of those patterns.

Circles has helped me tremendously. I think if I hadn't had them I'd be back in prison again, for the same crimes, because I wouldn't have dealt with my problems. I still meet them whenever I need to - about once a month. It makes me feel stronger knowing I have someone I can check in with and talk to instead of just going mad at home. It's important to me to have that.

I decided to tell my last partner about my offences. Bloody hell, I was nervous. It was like dropping a bombshell. I said, "I need to tell you something." She let me talk and then she said, "Thank you for telling me." I think she was shocked, but she dealt with it really well, much better than I expected. We talked about it. But we're not together anymore.

I've thought about getting in touch with my ex-partner, my victim, but I think it would probably be damaging for her. I did remain in contact with her for a long time after I was in jail and I think we said all we had to say. I got to tell her I was sorry.

The thing that stops me from reoffending now is that I don't want to be that person that hurts people anymore. I've done a lot of hurting people, and it doesn't feel good. I'm a different person now.

*not his real name

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Why I became a sex offender and started raping women

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I grew up in a little town in Oxfordshire. I was part of a rebellious crowd. We did drugs and weren't very serious about school. I had lots of relationships, but I wouldn't describe any of them as romantic. I was looking for one thing: sex.

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Andrew - cases on rape from the rapist's perspective.

Everyone - thoughts on your individual character throughout the piece to pinpoint when you're writing you Portfolio = research on more cases of rape, and how this affected her afterwards.
- Also, think about verbatim and taking direct quotes form the video/article you read.
- Stages of what takes place once you have come forward about a rape (swabs, etc.)
- The legal side of what the acts of committed sexual assault are etc.
Miss.Neal "maybe even use a hot seat/ interview of someone or look at the monologue from Eastenders"

Hope this helps crew,
ily,
Corinna x

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MENTAL ILLNESSES

http://www.webmd.com/depression/mental-health-warning-signs
Symptoms of mental disorders vary depending on the type and severity of the condition. Some general symptoms that may suggest a mental illness include:

In adults
Confused thinking

• Long-lasting sadness or irritability

• Extremely high and low moods

• Excessive fear, worry, or anxiety

• Social withdrawal

• Dramatic changes in eating or sleeping habits

• Strong feelings of anger

• Delusions or hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not really there)

• Increasing inability to cope with daily problems and activities

• Thoughts of suicide

• Denial of obvious problems

• Many unexplained physical problems

• Abuse of drugs and/or alcohol

In older children and pre-teens

• Changes in school performance, falling grades

• Inability to cope with daily problems and activities

• Changes in sleeping and/or eating habits

• Excessive complaints of physical problems

• Defying authority, skipping school, stealing, or damaging property

• Intense fear of gaining weight

• Long-lasting negative mood, often along with poor appetite and thoughts of death

• Frequent outbursts of anger

• Abuse of drugs and/or alcohol

• Withdrawing from friends and activities

In younger children

• Changes in school performance

• Poor grades despite strong efforts

• Excessive worry or anxiety

• Hyperactivity

• Persistent nightmares

• Persistent disobedience and/or aggressive behavior

• Frequent temper tantrums

• First of all, psychiatrists don't use the term "insane," any more. You won't find it in the DSM V, the current version of psychiatrists agreement about what counts as a mental illness or disorder.

One theory about what causes folks to get mental illnesses and disorders is that they have a genetic predisposition towards it. At some point in life, stresses conspire to activate those genes, and the illness comes into effect.

It seems that the chemistry of the brain changes under the influence of genes and stress. Common stresses include violence, abuse, lack of love, lack of attention, and so on. There are thousands of different ways that each other these stresses can be administered and the minds of people who are predisposed to it, will start causing those people to act in ways that most people think is aberrant.

This last point leads to the social component of mental disorders. We identify people as disordered when their behavior deviates from what is considered normal by too much. Different societies have different levels of tolerance for deviance from the norm. My point is that the level of deviance required to determine that someone is mentally ill varies over time as cultural tolerance ebbs and flows.

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Further details on this Greek myth- Mrs G

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Illustrations of the Rape of Persephone The Return of Persephone Artist: Frederic Leighton Date: 1891 Medium: oil on canvas Summary: Leighton depicts Hermes helping Persephone to return to her mother Demeter after Zeus forced Hades to return Persehpone. Source/Photographer: cgfa.sunsite.dk Title: Circle of the Darius Painter Date: ca. 340 BC.

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Short film based on the Greek myth of the rape of Persephone. It's a bit disturbing but could be an interesting stimulus to explore further to link your ideas on rape to a Greek context- Mrs G
"I really like how they exaggerate the senses and build up the tension/anticipation!" - Corinna

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Student Film. Shot on 16mm. Story of how the seasons came to be according to Greek Mythology. The daughter of Mother Earth, Persephone, was taken by the God of Hell.

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To consider as an alternative to the way the victim perceives the attack - maybe consider how she may try to block it out? Mrs G http://m.wikihow.com/Handle-Rape-While-It%27s-Happening

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Corinna - The letter from Brock Turner's Rape Victim 

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Corinna - The letter from Brock Turner's Rape Victim 

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www.independent.co.uk/news/people/stanford-rape-case-read-the-impact-statement-of-brock-turners-victim-a7222371.html%3Famp

Print this and take quotes from it = verbatim

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2j8fqu

Take quotes from her = Verbatim

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https://www.sott.net/article/178476-Case-of-a-young-psychopath-10-year-olds-dark-side-frightens-mother

A child sociopath ^^ good read.