What is a rape amongst friends?...

Bells

Bells

Staff member
A "prank" it would seem. If the victim is male of course.

If ever the justice system were to be accused of sexual discrimination in sentencing, this case would have to be a prime example.

FOUR people who raped a drunk male friend with a sex toy while he slept and filmed the attack have escaped a jail term.

The South Australian District Court was told Brendan Phillip Hollands, Sian Catherine Whistler, David Kingsley McMahon and a 17-year-old girl had been drinking heavily on December 10, 2005, at Hollands' home at Aberfoyle Park in Adelaide's south.

During the night, the victim, who had also been drinking, fell asleep.

It was while he was asleep that the group put clothes pegs on his penis then raped him with a sex toy, filming their actions on a mobile phone.

Hollands, a probationary police officer who had been the victim's friend since primary school, later downloaded video to his computer and showed it to two other people.
Link
Click to expand...
Now one would assume such an act should receive the harshest discipline. But no. Not in this instance. In what the defence lawyers referred to as a "drunken escapade", the judge took it one step further, referring to it as a "prank".

Defence lawyers had argued the rape was "a young person's drunken escapade that got out of hand" but Judge Peter Herriman Herriman said the "prank" had caused embarrassment, pain and humiliation.

The victim would also need corrective surgery for his injuries.
Click to expand...

Now, I don't know about anyone here, but a rape is never a "prank" or a "drunken escapade". Would you consider it a prank if one night while you were passed out drunk, your friends raped you with a sex toy with such vigour that you would surgery? A prank is shaving off their eyebrows. A rape is a rape. There is a difference.

"Not one of you had the courage, maturity, remorse or sense of guilt to approach the victim and tell him what happened or to apologise," Judge Herriman said.
Click to expand...
Somehow, I don't think sorry woul have cut it.

So what harsh punishment did the rapists receive from our fair and just justice system?

Hollands and McMahon received suspended jail terms of three years with a non-parole period of two years while Whistler was sentenced to two years' jail, suspended, with a non-parole period of one year and four months.

The girl was given a 13-month suspended term with an eight-month non-parole period.

All four were put on three-year good behaviour bonds..
Click to expand...
I wonder if the same sentence would have been handed down if the victim had been female. I would be willing to bet it would not be called a "prank".
 
OK, that is just as appalling to me as the rape victim in SA getting 200 lashes.
Where the hell is this poor man's justice? Can he bring civil suits against them?
 
Orleander said:
OK, that is just as appalling to me as the rape victim in SA getting 200 lashes.
Where the hell is this poor man's justice? Can he bring civil suits against them?
Click to expand...

Yes. But at what cost?

There is a lack of respect and understanding of rape and rape victims in the Australian justice system. This is why so many men who are raped never come forward. This is also why many women who are raped do not come forward.

It never ceases to astound me how when something like this happens to a man, it is deemed to be just hijinks while drunk with friends.. the whole 'boys will be boys' thing.

It is not so much the sentence that annoyed me with this case. Similar sentences have also been handed down to rapists whose victims were women. When that happens, there will usually be a huge public outcry. What is the most disturbing in this instance is the manner in which the judge virtually dismissed the victim's rape as being a mere "prank". He admits the victim suffered emotionally and physically from his rape, but referred to it as a "prank". The sentence only took it further.
 
Bells said:

There is a lack of respect and understanding of rape and rape victims in the Australian justice system.
Click to expand...

I was going to ask what the hell is wrong with Australians, but I suppose I have part of the answer. Is this just an institutional issue, or does this mentality affect a large portion of the general culture in Australia?
 
Well yes there is a double-standard in sexual misconduct cases but it doesn't sound as if his 'friends' really intended to harm him, they probably didn't think they were raping him only sticking some plastic up his ass. The clothes pins does sound harsh though.

Remember the 30 something teacher who had a affair with her 14 year old male student? Well it was called an affair and not sexual abuse because the child was male. Now if the child were female and willingly entered the affair as was the case with the boy it would still be deemed child sexual abuse.
 
Lucysnow said:

Remember the 30 something teacher who had a affair with her 14 year old male student? Well it was called an affair and not sexual abuse because the child was male. Now if the child were female and willingly entered the affair as was the case with the boy it would still be deemed child sexual abuse
Click to expand...

Indeed, industrialized societies have some strange notions about sex:

One of the key components of rape apologia, whatever its application (that is, from defending rape jokes to defending extreme anti-choice policies), is minimizing the seriousness of rape. Routinely, the rape of women across the board is minimized; men’s rape is taken more seriously, unless it happens in prison, in which case it considered both hilarious and minimized to the point of near total triviality. For victims of rape and victim advocates, one of the most difficult barriers to get past is that rape is either spoken about in the hushed tones of grave shame or the casual flippancy of inconsequence.

(Shakesville)
Click to expand...

I can't speak for Melissa, but I don't find this latest development from Australia encouraging. I think the point is to take rape more seriously in general than to minimize it.

There was a joke in Kotzwinkle's Book of Love (the movie, at least, as I never read the book, which is aka Jack in the Box) in which Angelo Gabooch and friends tied Schank to a cot and stuck a pink tapered candle up his ass, lighting it and singing happy birthday. They leave the candle where it is, and eventually the tough guys fall asleep. Jack and Crutch decide to help Schank, but want to move him so as not to wake Gabooch and pals while they work the manacles, resulting in a scene where they carry the cot, Schank, and the candle, through the woods expressly so that they can apologize to Schank for having to light the candle in his ass again in order to see where they're going. I admit, it's a funny scene, but we would do well to wonder why. This kind of joke depends on the minimization of rape (and also the marginalization of homoerotica, but that's for a different discussion).
 
Lucysnow said:

Why only industrialized society?
Click to expand...

The quirks of third-world, tribal societies exist in a different context. While that context is no less valid either in and of itself, or as an object of examination, it is, so to speak, a slightly different beast. It would be a bit like having a psychologist examine my penis instead of a urologist. Sure, I call the psychologist "Doctor", but it ain't the same thing. The boundaries, customs, and definitions are different.

The sort of sex crime we're talking about here is largely an issue of the industrialized world. Of course, I could be wrong. Are the aboriginal tribes making a killing producing sex toys and porn films? I recognize my definitions could be askew here, but they're not that far askew.

And remember: the myth holds that the first world, the industrial world is the civilized world.

Yet, strangely, for some, things like rape aren't important until it's them or their children.
 
Tiassa said:
I was going to ask what the hell is wrong with Australians, but I suppose I have part of the answer. Is this just an institutional issue, or does this mentality affect a large portion of the general culture in Australia?
Click to expand...

From personal experiences, it is both.

Had the judge made the same comment in a case where the victim happened to be female, there would have been a public outcry. In this instance however, there was none. There is the misconception in many circles of society that when something like this happens, and the victim happens to be male, it was all just for fun.

I remember a similar instance while I was working. The snorts of laughter from the investigating police officer resulted in the male victim withdrawing his complaint. My bosses decided to not press the issue. I remember calling the victim and trying to convince him to file a complaint and he refused... not only was the poor guy embarrassed and humiliated beyond reason, he felt his humiliation would be further exacerbated if it did get to court. Especially after the investigating officer laughed at what had happened to him and literally asked him if he was 'sure it was a rape'. The guyhad a bottle wedged up his backside while asleep on a fishing trip with friends, resulting in fairly substantial anal tearing and just about everyone thought it was a joke.. because it was amongst friends.


Lucysnow said:
Well yes there is a double-standard in sexual misconduct cases but it doesn't sound as if his 'friends' really intended to harm him, they probably didn't think they were raping him only sticking some plastic up his ass. The clothes pins does sound harsh though.

Remember the 30 something teacher who had a affair with her 14 year old male student? Well it was called an affair and not sexual abuse because the child was male. Now if the child were female and willingly entered the affair as was the case with the boy it would still be deemed child sexual abuse.
Click to expand...
Whether harm was intended or not, the victim was raped and sexually assaulted, to the point where he needed corrective surgery for his injuries. To dismiss his rape as a mere 'prank' sends a terrible message to society in general, and also sets a dangerous precedent. To then hand down a sentence such as he did, that is just another slap in the face for the victim.

There have been many instances where female teachers who had sex with their male students have received a much lighter sentence compared to male teachers who did the same to a female student. Comments following instances where a teenage boy had sex with his teacher tend to go along the lines of 'lucky you.. I wish my teacher did the same to me'.

In Australia, at least, we need to ensure the rules apply to everyone equally. A rape should never be dismissed as being a mere prank. Regardless of the sex of the victim. And while the whole belief of 'boys will be boys' pervades society and the criminal justice system, these kinds of rulings will continue.
 
One thing I never hear about are rape cases where both the rapist and the victim are female. I wonder what the trend is regarding criminal charges for that instance and how the trend compares.

In response to the OP, I agree with the general disgust at the double standard in place.
 
Some further reading on this story.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22842402-2682,00.html

I shudder to think that one of them was a police cadet at the time of the incident.

It would appear the judge deemed it to be a "drunken prank that went too far".

He was a lot more concerned with how the victim found out and the deceit of his 'friends' than with the fact the victim was raped.

Judge Peter Herriman said the group showed a lack of maturity, courage and honesty by humiliating their friend – and then showing off a video of their actions.

"As much as it was fuelled by alcohol, I have concerns about the attitude of some of you to the offending in the cold light of day," he said.

"Neither of you young men seems to have viewed your conduct as very serious, even when you sobered up."

-----------------------------------------------------

The group used a sex toy and clothes pegs in ways that caused severe damage to the sleeping victim.

They also filmed the incident on a mobile phone while making "disgusting remarks".

Hollands and McMahon – then a cadet police officer – showed the video to two other people.

The victim, meanwhile, was left to piece together what had happened to him through rumour and suspicion.

He now requires surgery and counselling.

"None of you later had the courage, honesty, remorse or sense of guilt to approach the victim, tell him what happened or apologise," he said.

"The manner in which he slowly found out was traumatic."
Click to expand...

So he gives them a suspended sentence. The victim gets a life sentence and they get a suspended sentence and have to pay $1000 good behaviour bonds.

It is no wonder why so many rape victims just refuse to come forward.
 
Tiassa

So rape is only a rape if it entails porn and sex toys? Rape is exists in every society only what would constitute a rape would differ. In some societies a rape of a married woman is an injustice towards the husband and not the wife. In others one cannot rape a wife. And yet in others raping a male is impossible etc.
 
I can just imagine how hard it was for this guy to come forward. Guys are stigmatized. And then to basically be told "we were just kidding! Take it like a man"

Why does Australia have this view?
 
What the FUCK?????????

Raping someone with enough force that he needs surgery is a 'prank'??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those people need to be locked up.
 
Bells said:
Yes. But at what cost?

There is a lack of respect and understanding of rape and rape victims in the Australian justice system. This is why so many men who are raped never come forward. This is also why many women who are raped do not come forward.

It never ceases to astound me how when something like this happens to a man, it is deemed to be just hijinks while drunk with friends.. the whole 'boys will be boys' thing.

It is not so much the sentence that annoyed me with this case. Similar sentences have also been handed down to rapists whose victims were women. When that happens, there will usually be a huge public outcry. What is the most disturbing in this instance is the manner in which the judge virtually dismissed the victim's rape as being a mere "prank". He admits the victim suffered emotionally and physically from his rape, but referred to it as a "prank". The sentence only took it further.
Click to expand...

Just an idea: We need better ways to teach people to respect each other. Whole industries have been created around the practice of disrespecting other humans, their needs, their desires, and their happiness. This disrespect is virulent, damaging, and backed by interpersonal violence and restrictive laws. It is presented to the public as some necessary part of civilization. Well, when you learn to disrespect someone for being black, or female, or male, or for wearing white socks, or whatever, that disrespect works like a disease. Then we also get rape.
 
Lucysnow said:
Tiassa

So rape is only a rape if it entails porn and sex toys? Rape is exists in every society only what would constitute a rape would differ. In some societies a rape of a married woman is an injustice towards the husband and not the wife. In others one cannot rape a wife. And yet in others raping a male is impossible etc.
Click to expand...

I presume that you mean that in some societies one cannot be charged for raping his own wife.
 
well i can be disputet if this is a rape but under german law it could go under "grievous bodily harm" (translation from dict.leo.org) since object were involved...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top