Earlier quoted context omitted.
The continual broadening of the definition of rape will only dampen its impact and harm the few genuine victims of rape.
How so?
I refer you to the children's story "Crying Wolf".
Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
281–290 of 377 posts
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#282Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let’s ignore the facts, or the surmises and ask the following: who do you think he should be popular with? The republicans who think releasing the Manning files means he should be in prison? The Democrats after he did everything he could to sabotage them? The progressives for whom his associations with Putin and Farage are beyond the pale? The tech cognoscenti who were complaining he had ruined WikiLeaks by making it…
It's shocking to me that in public discourse being caught cheating is now "sabotage".
I’ll accept that my terminology may be overly general (and yours overly specific), but the fact remains: after Assange spent an entire election year dropping new damaging material on them, helping a candidate they profoundly oppose win power, how do you expect them to feel?
As I say, I’m not getting into the rights or the wrongs of it, but Assange’s unpopularity is no mystery. Whether or not you think he’s a saint, it’s undeniable he’s annoyed not just a lot of powerful people, but an awful lot of plain people.
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#283Assange is accused of unlawful coercion and "lesser-degree rape" (mindre grov våldtäkt). In the first case, the complainant willingly had an intercourse with him. But after sex, she realized that the condom had a hole. She claims that he made it. In the second case, the complainant also willingly had an intercourse with Assange, they slept naked together. The next day in the morning, he penetrated her without a condo…
Why isn't it rape/sexual batter for a woman to have sex without bc then? Or at least to have sex without bc if she made the guy think she had it? How did men's reproductive rights get passed over while women's are comprehensive?
This is the most "what about men" comment I've read in a while.
Every man should be prepared for every one of their sexual partners to become pregnant, even if BC or condoms or other contraception are involved. It comes with the territory, and you can be sure that women are aware of the risk (since pregnancy is a first-person risk for them).
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#284Earlier quoted context omitted.
For anyone interested, here are the actual facts surrounding this case. https://justice4assange.com/note-to-editors-sweden.html The way media has "covered" this, it is not all that surprising to see ignorant comments and cynical speculation. Such deliberate and thorough ignorance as the above is a little more rare.
Seems like a credible and unbiased source, thanks for the link.
There are links to primary evidence and unbiased sources throughout. It's absolutely riddled with them, as this thread is with people like you.
So, you're welcome. Except, from your recent comments you seem highly averse to becoming familiar with the facts, even when people have put them right in front of you.
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#285usual bs
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#286Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see no indication that this was “weaponized.” Assange was wanted for questioning in Sweden. He was in the UK and would have been arrested and extradited. This is all completely normal . It went off the rails when he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy, which was his own choice. Supposedly he did this because he was afraid that he’d be hauled off to Guantanamo Bay or whatever, but that doesn’t seem to be the cas…
He had already been questioned by police in Sweden prior to that. He even stuck around for a month and then asked the Swedish police if he was free to leave, he was told he was. The prosecutor dropped the charges because the alleged victims were quite obviously lying about having been raped using any conventional definition of the term, there was also no way to resolve any dispute about whether someone was asleep whe…
The prosecutor dropped the case because the alleged rape victim didn't want to press charges, because she was overwhelmed in the immediate aftermath. Then she hired a lawyer to advocate for her who got the charges re-opened.
The other woman, who alleged lesser offenses, never dropped charges, though the statute of limitations have since expired on them.
Assange was told early on in the investigation that he was not restricted from traveling, but as the investigation developed further and it became clear they wanted to prosecute him, he went missing.
After multiple failed attempts to schedule another police interview, the prosecutor told his attorney she'd be filing an arrest warrant that day. Five hours later, Assange arrived at the airport and bought the next available ticket to Berlin.
Assange claims that's just a coincidence. That he was avoiding contact with his lawyer because he was afraid of "threatening statements made by politicians in the U.S"
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#287Earlier quoted context omitted.
At least under English law, you cannot provide consent in advance; you must have the ability to provide and withdraw consent at the time of the act.
This recent development in English law strikes me as inhuman. It turns the kissing of a sleeping lover into a violent sexual assault. Passion and spontaneity become criminalized.
Yeah I know, the same way each time I touch someone in the street, I get arrested for violently assaulting them. I'm really tired of trying not to touch anyone. /s
I know someone that was raped while not being conscious. She didn't want to have sex with that person. While trying to press charge, she found others persons that had similar experience with that guy. The cops told her tough luck, not to stay with people she didn't trust (it was a friend...) and they threaten her of making false accusation (the prosecutor herself seemed surprised of that and the cops angrily answered that she wouldn't be accused of that, luckily). The prosecutor has not enough proof to go further with it... there should have been at least someone else in that room that could testify.
That's the current state of rape accusation. Pretty far from your "kissing of a sleeping lover" being criminalized.
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#288Earlier quoted context omitted.
Absolutely! But much like protocols (strict in what you emit, liberal in what you accept), reality is complicated and not conforming to a desired standard.
How so? What’s complicated about determining whether someone is conscious before having sex?
I'm not sure if that's the correct way to call it, but I've seen (and acted myself) "half-asleep" state many times. Apparently, I was able to answer even moderately complex questions (mostly things like "where are the car keys" or "which food did you give to our cat yesterday") and looked quite awake, yet I have absolutely no recollection of it happening. I also sometimes give answers or say things I wouldn't say normally, ie. two days ago in such a situation I apparently asked my wife why did she wrap herself with tinfoil from head to toe (obviously, this was in my dream, but I said it out loud). We have a good laugh out of this from time to time.
So yeah, I can imagine myself giving a clear "yes" to something in that state despite being consciously unaware of the entire thing. I'm not sure if "approval" like that should count court - I'm just giving you an example of one possible complication for "determining whether someone is conscious", be it before sex or otherwise.
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#289Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having sex with someone who is sleeping is definitely (alleged) rape, unless she agreed to it beforehand or something. Even if they had consensual sex previously. Am I misunderstanding your comment?
> Having sex with someone who is sleeping is definitely (alleged) rape, unless she agreed to it beforehand or something. I mean, that's a very grey and complicated area. I had an ex who would do that type of thing, and it was never discussed but was absolutely welcome. I suppose after the first time you could argue some type of implicit consent. Or maybe I'm just a Stockholm Syndrome candidate. I have no idea the dyn…
He'd tried to get her to have sex without a condom all night. She continually rejected it. He (allegedly) knew fully that she did not consent to unprotected sex and waited for her to fall asleep to do it.
Re: Sweden reopens Assange rape investigation, to seek extradition
#290Assange himself and the rape charges have been politicized to such an extent that I find it essentially meaningless to pontificate about what may or may not have happened in Sweden. His character has been debated endlessly, but when one thinks of what WikiLeaks has actually revealed, I find it totally likely that a systematic effort was made to curtail him: https://twitter.com/SomersetBean/status/1116916146458877952/…
Who's politicized the rape charges other than Assange himself continuously calling them a government conspiracy against him?
The Swedish government doesn't discuss them (which is what's allowed Assange's version of events to get so popular). The US hasn't mentioned it. The UK gave him a fair trial based on them.