More on the teenage Kenyan girl who was gangraped and then thrown into a toilet pit, from the BBC.
They threw her unconscious body into a latrine. Her spine was broken, and the girl – referred to simply as Liz to protect her identity – is now in a wheelchair.
Earlier this year, a similarly horrific gang rape in India sparked a worldwide frenzy in social media and brought international condemnation.
Liz’s case was first reported by Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper on 7 October. “This is one of many such cases that happen in rural areas and the slums,” says Njeri Rugene, the journalist who broke the story. “People keep quiet about it – but it’s rampant.”
The men who allegedly attacked Liz – three of whom she says she knows – were
told to cut grass, then set free. The lack of punishment spurred a handful of
journalists and activists to use social media to raise awareness of the case.
The hashtags created did not get widespread traction, with #Justice4Liz getting
just a couple of hundred tweets. But in recent days, an online
petition set up by activist Nebila Abdulmelik started to gain international
attention.
How does that even happen? They broke her back – and still the cops just made them mow the lawn and that was the end of it?
I must not despair. But some of these stories…
Petition signed. Is there anything else we can do to help?
I don’t know; the petition is what I know of.
Kenya is one of the places Bill Cooke has a project – the humanist orphanage.
/*No words. Just no words.*/
After a while, the thought that’s about the punishment someone might get for kicking the neighbor’s dog.
Although they might have to mow the lawn twice for that.
What is wrong with (some) people?
Going back to DeMause. DeMause (I’ve never heard of him before) says that the history of humanity is founded on the abuse of children. I look at it a bit differently. I think that human civilisation was from the beginning founded on slavery, which of course includes the exploitation of children. Slaves are a good way of getting things done, especially when there are no tractors, washing machines or vibrators. I think that Liz is seen as a slave, that the behaviour of the men and the police is consistent with acknowledged mastery, and that this attitude is practically world-wide. MRAs in the rearguard. Maybe it’s a legacy of ancient civilisation. Or sexual capitalism. Whatever.
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