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Because it needs to be said

blogjustine.wordpress.com

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Re: Because it needs to be said

#51

Post by sneak »

sdoering wrote: post #38
sneak wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a much more workable solution would be to collectively attempt to abandon the shitty American brand of alcohol culture that seems to be a fairly common contributing factor in a lot of these stories about rape and assault. Alcohol makes one stupid, not cool. I have no idea why it is held in such high esteem in the US tech industry.

I'm so with you. After reading this (and a lot of similar) account, I knew, that I would never(!) enter any conference like that, regardless, where it is held. An drug-induced culture like that is just hurtful/unhealthy. Regardless of the drug they put into their bodies, I have an internal policy never to mix with druggies. I am really shocked, that it seems so normal to drink that much booze. Hey, I really like a gl…

> An drug-induced culture like that is just hurtful/unhealthy. Regardless of the drug they put into their bodies, I have an internal policy never to mix with druggies.

Caffeine culture suffers no such problems.

Re: Because it needs to be said

#52

Post by hawkharris »

sneak wrote: post #36
hawkharris wrote: post #25

My ex-girlfriend wrote a blog post similar to this one, accusing me of sexual assault. I volunteered to take a police polygraph test, hired a lawyer and initiated a libel suit. Fortunately, I didn’t need to go further because she suddenly changed my name & her story. But the experience was still stressful and scary. Many commenters vilified me because they assumed her information was true. Prior to being falsely accu…

Unfortunately, private citizens cannot initiate criminal trials, and most police do not take reports of sexual assault very seriously, if indeed they do anything at all.

That's right. I didn't mean to imply that citizens can initiate it on their own, but the author should at least try to press charges. The definition of sexual assault / rape varies by state.

In any case, I don't think vigilante justice by blog post is an appropriate solution.

Re: Because it needs to be said

#53

Post by stock_toaster »

steveklabnik wrote: post #41
cegev wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The comments are... odd. I can understand leaving comments open as an illustration of the backlash that results from trying to talk about these matters, but at some point, banning particular people makes sense: the majority of the comments there are vile primarily because the majority of comments have been made by one apparently obsessed person making utterly ridiculous comments in a deranged tone. I fear that the sh…

Consider that the person who would be doing the banning is the victim, which means that she would have to read all of those shitty comments, continually, in order to determine who to ban.

I cringed when I saw that comments were enabled _at all_ on that post.

Re: Because it needs to be said

#54

Post by kingkilr »

obstacle1 wrote: post #50
milesf wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not true. There have been issues at conferences that have been talked about on places like HN, and now many conferences are adopting anti-harassment policies, like at the Cascadia Ruby Conference http://cascadiaruby.com/policies It's a mess, yes, but change does happen. There are many people who are very skilled at talking about tough issues like this one who simply need to be given an opportunity to address the comm…

Lest we mention PyCon...

What about it?

Re: Because it needs to be said

#55

Post by Dalkore »

Please read "After the shot" again. If im not mistaken kissing forheads and rubbing is commen place with your male friends. You mention multiple coworkers. He hand grabs your butt and you dont immediatly pull away????? Why not take responsibility for your actions as well. Ive been to bars and seen drunken mistakes but to vilify the person like this and not take any resposibilty for your actions is pathetic and immature. Yes he crossed the line but maybe we should hear that from you too.

Re: Because it needs to be said

#56

Post by steveklabnik »

hawkharris wrote: post #52
sneak wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, private citizens cannot initiate criminal trials, and most police do not take reports of sexual assault very seriously, if indeed they do anything at all.

That's right. I didn't mean to imply that citizens can initiate it on their own, but the author should at least try to press charges. The definition of sexual assault / rape varies by state. In any case, I don't think vigilante justice by blog post is an appropriate solution.

Can you explain to me how posting a factual account of a situation is 'vigilante justice'?

Re: Because it needs to be said

#57

Post by GeorgeOrr »

sgentle wrote: post #42

I'm glad this is out there. It's a tragedy that it happened at all, but it would be an even bigger tragedy if nobody else knew the consequences. I think everyone experiences that moment sometimes where you think "is this okay? should I say something?" And after you waver for a second, your decision reinforces itself and you end up doing nothing at all. Maybe you can even convince yourself that it was all okay in the…

The vast majority of people are good, honourable though often less vocal on the internet.

We outnumber the bastards out there. We just need to learn to step up and stop evil when we see it. That's the leson I take from Zach's account.

If we can be just as quick in doing that as others are in posting judgemental comments on board then a lot of horrible experiences will be averted.

How horrible the effect evil has on people is what I learned from Justine's account. The stakes couldn't be higher.

Re: Because it needs to be said

#59

Post by wilkie »

ryan-allen wrote: post #46
wilkie wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the painted lie that her company allowed him to make: http://objo.com/2013/01/31/funemployment/ This is the reality. I don't hold too much optimism that the police would somehow solve this problem considering the damage done and the lack of any support to go back to.

THERE WERE TWO WITNESSES. His blog post is irrelevant to his guilt or innocence based on a blog post of another individual. Two witnesses is pretty clear cut. It's called 'corroboration', you should look it up and learn something perhaps!

Read this slowly, you can do it-- you're good at reading:

It should be expected not that victims live up to another's definition of responsibility, but that people be responsible enough not to create victims.

Re: Because it needs to be said

#60

Post by pm »

cegev wrote: post #32
milesf wrote: post #2

The assault was evil enough, but the vilification of Justine in the comments by some makes my blood boil. The best antidote to fight darkness is to bring it out into the light. Thank you, Justine, for your ongoing courage to speak out. I cannot say I understand what you're going through, but I'm sure there are (too many) others out there who do. Surround yourself with friends and supporters who will stand with you. Y…

The comments are... odd. I can understand leaving comments open as an illustration of the backlash that results from trying to talk about these matters, but at some point, banning particular people makes sense: the majority of the comments there are vile primarily because the majority of comments have been made by one apparently obsessed person making utterly ridiculous comments in a deranged tone. I fear that the sh…

"Erin" sounds like "she" has an axe to grind with Justine.
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