12/11/13 Weekly Media Update

Local News

Baton Rouge

In last week’s media update, there were many articles about several men being charged in the rape of a 12 year old girl in Port Allen. We’ve now learned that two of the men’s bail amounts were increased, see here.

In another article, we hear from Racheal Hebert, our executive director at STAR.  She says that sexually abused children can feel confused and ashamed and fear retaliation:

“It is very inspiring to me that this young girl has come forward and is willing to talk about what happened,” Hebert said. “However, now we, as a community, need to be supportive of this child and make ourselves more aware of this terrible abuse that is happening to many more young girls and boys right here in our neighborhoods.”

A six-year-old was molested by another kindergartner at Audubon Elementary last week.  See here.

A man is accused of raping a woman inside a portable toilet on LSU’s campus. See more here and here.

A Louisiana-based police officer was arrested by State Police after an investigation revealed evidence that he sexually abused two juveniles. Click here to read more.

Baton Rouge police arrested a 19-year-old man Friday accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl earlier this year. See here for more.

National News

Jameis Winston not charged

Prosecutors have decided not to charge Jameis Winston, the Florida State quarterback, of felony sexual assault and rape charges. See here and here for more.

When interviewed after a game about the investigation, Winston walked off ESPN interview after persistent questioning on rape investigation. See the video here.

Because football is a major moneymaker, many high profile football players accused of rape are protected by the community and aren’t charged, even going so far as to smear victims.  See here for an article on many other cases similar to Winston’s over the last 40 years.

Educational

Love is Respect

Love is Respect is a 24-hour resource operated by the National Dating Abuse Helpline for young adults with questions about healthy dating.

See their website here.

See their videos below to see what healthy relationships are all about!

Author: Catherine Thurmond

I am a Master of Liberal Arts student minoring in Women's and Gender Studies at LSU. During the Fall 2014 semester, I will begin to write her thesis on queer oppression through a philosophical Marxist feminist lens. My academic interests include second wave feminism, queer theory, queer Marxist feminism, feminist philosophy, Simone de Beauvoir, and Monique Wittig. I have been politically active since 2010, fighting for an end to oppression under capitalism. I was involved in Occupy NOLA, bringing in members of The Kasama Project, a national communist project in the United States. I was also active in student organizations at Southeastern Louisiana University where I organized many speaker events for activists such as Jordan Flaherty, Richard Becker, The Beehive Design Collective, Jed Brandt and Eric Ribellarsi, and Malik Rahim. More recently, I began volunteering for STAR, Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response, in 2013 as a hospital advocate where I supported sexual assault survivors. I later joined the Louisiana Delta Service Corps, often described as the Domestic Peace Corps, where I interviewed to be placed at STAR as their Outreach Coordinator. I am also the founder of a Feminist Consciousness Raising Group in Baton Rouge which uses feminist theory to discuss personal experiences under patriarchal oppression. Check it out here for more info about the group: http://brfeminist.wix.com/consciousnessraising View all posts by Catherine Thurmond