jack@rlgvax.UUCP (Jack Waugh) (09/05/84)
What can local governments, organizations, or individuals do so that any woman or girl can walk anywhere, anytime, alone, safe from sexual assault? Maybe it's not possible, due to human nature (awful thing to have to admit -- somebody con- vince me otherwise, please)?
larry@hpfclp.UUCP (09/09/84)
Nf-From: hpfclp!larry Sep 17 09:59:00 1984
/***** hpfclp:net.women / rlgvax!jack / 11:23 am Sep 5, 1984*/
What can local governments, organizations, or individuals do
so that any woman or girl can walk anywhere, anytime, alone,
safe from sexual assault? Maybe it's not possible, due to
human nature (awful thing to have to admit -- somebody con-
vince me otherwise, please)?
/* ---------- */
People have suggested keeping one sex or the other off the streets,
all the time or at certain hours. Don't people realize that it's
not only men raping women; men rape men, women rape women, and
women rape men, too. It's an act of violence.
Larry Fenske
{ihnp4, hplabs}!hpfcla!larry-fsam@phs.UUCP (Sherry Marts) (09/10/84)
Simple. Keep all the men off the streets. :-) ?
hawk@oliven.UUCP (09/11/84)
At Santa Clara University (admittedly smaller than a University) there is a walkalong service, where men (and women, but in pairs!) are sent to simply walk along with female students from about 6:00 til midnight. People volunteer for three hours one night a week to be available. As of yet, there has been no rape. Nor were there any before this started; it is a preventative measure. Additionally, Public Safety publishes weekly campus crime statistics in the school paper. (there have been a couple of fondlings--descriptions of the attackers were published). I suspect that San Jose State has some sort of program, since there was a big (and justified) commotion a couple of years back over a rapist praying on that area. **** As for rape as violent crime: An officer from San Jose police department visited my English/Religion class (Search for Meaning in Literature) in conjunction with the novel "The Painted Bird" in high school. He was from the violent crimes section. he revealed the following about rape: (some of this is kinda blunt, some may be offended. 1: it is a crime of violence, not sex. 2: the rapist is frequently impotent. Rape laws have been ammended to reflect this. The legal definition of rape (is this local or state?) has been changed to "partial penile penetration." Climax is irrelevant to the issue. 2a: Pregnancy from rape is almost (but not completely) a non-issue due to 2:. Ejaculation is rare. If someone wants to contact a police department of a major city, I'm sure more info is available. -- rick (Rick Hawkins @ Olivetti ATC) [hplabs|zehntel|fortune|ios|tolerant|allegra|tymix]!oliveb!oliven!hawk
ariels@orca.UUCP (Ariel Shattan) (09/11/84)
Jack Waugh asks: >What can local governments, organizations, or individuals do >so that any woman or girl can walk anywhere, anytime, alone, >safe from sexual assault? Maybe it's not possible, due to >human nature (awful thing to have to admit -- somebody con- >vince me otherwise, please)? Answer (:-)) Impose a curfew for men. No males allowed on the street without being accompanied by a woman, or, after dark, by two women of reliable character. Actually, in Israel, a few years back, there was a rash of rapes in Tel Aviv. A (male) member of parliment suggested a curfew for women for their own protection, to which Golda Meir replied that the curfew should be for men, since the women were not the ones doing the raping... Real Answer? I don't know. Ariel (I may be an ass, but at least I'm a smartass) Shattan ..!tektronix!orca!ariels
graham@unc.UUCP (Thomas P. Graham) (09/17/84)
One of the best ideas I have heard in a long time is to pass a law to require mandatory castration of repeat offenders (two or more convictions), while providing better protection for everyone on the streets, male and female alike. I feel that some of the responsibility for protection should rest on the shoulders of the victims. If you must travel in a high-risk area, walk with a partner. Admittedly, this is frequently inconvenient, and will do nothing to protect poeple at home, etc., but it is a start, and is a lot less inconvenient than having you life shattered.
stan@hou2f.UUCP (S.GLAZER) (09/18/84)
Four years ago when I vacationed in the Caribbean Island of Martinique, our guide boasted that Martinique had the lowest crime rate in all of North and South America and that this was particularly true for violent crimes. When asked to what he attributed this desireable situation, he replied, "The guillotine man, we still use the guillotine!".
jefff@cadovax.UUCP (Jeff Fields) (09/20/84)
(Thomas P. Graham) >One of the best ideas I have heard in a long time is to pass a law to require >mandatory castration of repeat offenders (two or more convictions), while First off, I think this falls under the "cruel and inhuman" punishment category. The same logic would require cutting the fingers off of habitual bad check writers. Secondly, castration while rendering a male impotent does not necessarily prevent the male from having an erection. The Grand Eunuch Wei was able to seduce the Empress of China and wrest control from the Emperor. It has been stated in previous postings that most rapists are impotent and don't reach orgasm. Castration may hinder rapists but it wouldn't necessarily prevent it. Jeff Fields -- I once was sad that I had no shoes until a met a man that had no feet.
robertsb@ttidcb.UUCP (Robin Roberts) (09/25/84)
[ a sacrifice to the bug god ] There have been instances where either widely advertised programs teaching women to shoot effectively or actual cases of a woman successfully killing an assailent have resulted in reductions of attacks locally. Therefore I propose that we spread such programs and increase the number of women who are armed and prepared to defend themselves. Since it is a crime of violence ( despite a few adherents to the contrary ), the chance of having a potential victim reverse the tables would do much to protect ALL women. By the way, the Second Amendment Foundation of Bellevue Washington puts out a book concerning women and firearms written maining by women. Further info is availible directly from me at included addresses.
saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (09/25/84)
From S.GLAZER > Four years ago when I vacationed in the Caribbean Island of > Martinique, our guide boasted that Martinique had the lowest crime > rate in all of North and South America and that this was particularly > true for violent crimes. When asked to what he attributed this > desireable situation, he replied, "The guillotine man, we still use > the guillotine!". > hmmm, this makes me wonder. Martinique is a french department like any other and therefore the laws there are the same as in the rest of France. My understanding is that there haven't been executions in France for quite a few years. I don't know whether the death penalty still exists there or not. Does anybody have any reliable information on this? There is one thing I do know for sure though: If capital punishment still exists, it is only used in cases of first degree murder, so it would not explain why there is a lower incidence of violent crime in Martinique. Sophie Quigley ...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax}!watmath!saquigley
saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (09/26/84)
I personnally don't believe that castration would solve the problem of rape.
My impression is that rape is a violent crime in which the rapist uses his
penis as a weapon. Taking that weapon away from him without trying to either
stop him physically from harming people again (by emprisonment) or trying to
make this person less violent (by rehabilitation) will simply make him
look for another weapon. Most other weapons available will be much more
dangerous than the one that has been taken away from him.
Sophie Quigley
...!{clyde,ihnp4,decvax}!watmath!saquigleyzubbie@ihuxq.UUCP (jeanette zobjeck) (09/28/84)
Perhaps the best way to stop rape would be to make it something that the rapist can fear. (Mere imprisonment is not fearful only boring) Hence my thought would be that each and every rapist have his sex changed after the first offense. I would think that no matter what happened the number of repeat offenders would drop off sharply in a short time.
zubbie@ihuxq.UUCP (jeanette zobjeck) (09/29/84)
Continuing your thought it has been suggested that a return to the ways of the old west, ie a six gun on every hip, might make this world a better place in one of two ways 1 - Most people would tend to smile and be more friendly towards that pistola thereby creating an opening for communication. 2 - if you didn't pack a gun and hid out for a few months all that would be left would be the rest of the sensible folks as all the "ijit" would have shot holes in each other. The end result is a much better place to be with fewer problems because of fewer people to cause them.
jcp@brl-tgr.ARPA (Joe Pistritto <jcp>) (10/04/84)
1) the statement that 'There have been no executions in France' does not imply that there weren't any in Martinique. The overseas French departments are not considered part of France by most Frenchmen, and the laws are not necessarily the same there as for France itself either. 2) The Socialist government of Francois Mitterand (sp?) eliminated the death penalty after taking office (it was a campaign promise). The two official French guillotines were sold, I believe, to Iran, (where they have reportedly been put to 'good' use, so to speak). There is also no longer a public executioner on the state payroll. (The last one was interviewed on Evening Magazine a couple years ago, he did something else full-time) -JCP-