Stuebenville Sheds Light On Terrible World

The two rapists; Trent Mays and MaLik Richmonds.

Stuebenville, Ohio is usually a quiet town. But a case of rape involving a young girl and two young males has bought unwanted attention to the once serene place.

The victim, “Jane Doe”, was repeatedly raped after the two young males, Trent Mays, 17, and his teammate Mal’lick Richmond, 16, found her unconscious in the middle of a road near a high school party on the 12^th of August 2012. The victim has stated repeatedly that she was “very drunk” and doesn’t remember a lot of that night.

It is alleged that she did not even find out that the incident had occurred until she found a picture of herself via social media with what looked like semen on her stomach.

“Jane Doe” is just one of the many victims of a flawed society who have fallen victim to rape culture. This phenomenon is described as “[…] a culture in which rape and sexual violence are common and in which prevalent attitudes, norms, practices, and media normalize, excuse, tolerate, or even condone rape.” Sadly, 54% of rape incidents go unreported every year as a result of this.

Many victims of rape are left feeling that the attack is somehow their fault. That they deserved it. By speaking out against her attackers, “Jane Doe” has done something remarkable, and is in turn been punished for it.

People who used to be her friends turned their back against her, many of them females. The football team which her attackers belong to tried to sweep the incident under the carpet, with much of the town willing to help. Because these two boys were star football players, their heinous crimes were to be overlooked. If it wasn’t for her parents persistence to report it to the police, this case might never have seen the light of day.

Throughout the course of this now infamous case, “Jane Doe” has been subjected to many forms of taunting and abuse, including death threats, whilst the two rapists were sympathised with.

Coverage from CNN included the reporters commenting on how the two rapists, Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond’s lives were now ruined as they had “such bright futures” and were “model students”. Not one word was mentioned about how the young girl’s life was also ruined because of their actions.

This disgusting report has resulted in a petition going around with over two-hundred and twenty thousand signatures getting CNN to apologize for sympathizing with the rapists.

Sadly, this is world we live in. A world where women are blamed for being raped because of what they wear and because men believe that they are entitled to use women as they please. Because obviously women are objects, not human beings with emotions, fears and rights.