Rape/Sexual Assault Culture - Part 2

For a couple years, I worked in a facility with students who were emotionally and behaviorally disabled. And about half (I'm guessing) were sexually abused. Sometimes we needed to know things because of behavior (eg. one student wouldn't use the bathroom with a closed door because that is where the abuse took place). But I also know the counselors also had their own support group because of the stuff they had to hear from these students. I caught a whiff of what was said every now and then, and this report/testimony is such a hard reminder of what I heard.

My guess is that this is going to get repeated by other witnesses.

 

NPR's reporting on the same.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/13/nx-s1-5396851/diddy-trial-cassie-sean-combs

Covers different things, but this stood out to me to Combs' behavior/mentality.

Ventura repeatedly told the court that throughout their relationship, she loved Combs and wanted to make him happy. But in 2018, after she began experiencing PTSD episodes, she decided to finally end things for good. She testified that the two went out to dinner in Malibu for a "closure conversation," which she said had a positive energy. Afterwards, she said Combs drove her home and raped her in her living room.

"I just remember crying and saying no," she said. "I don't even know if he noticed."​

 

Not sure how many of you are paying attention to the Diddy trial (I usually do a recap of the week), but it is really, really horrendous. It's been reminding me of the Cosby case, except with violence added in.

 

Yeah, absolutely.

My comparison was the Cosby promised the women he raped a shot at fame, and then didn't really follow through. And that is how Diddy behaved, though with a more aggressive as well as violent cultist behavior. I find it quite notable, though, that everything that Ventura testified to has been confirmed by at least one other person. And his behavior has been duplicated via several other women (and the coverup by several security people).

 

I thought Cosby mostly unknowingly to his victims drugged them unconscious to rape them.

 

A lot of them have said they took the abuse for two or three reasons:
1 - They idolized him
2 - He had control of their current and/or future careers
3 - Threats/fear of violence

I came across something a few months ago comparing Stockholm Syndrome with domestic abuse, and how it is often a mistake to think that both Stockholm Syndrome is real, and that people in domestic abuse situations are in Stockholm Syndrome situations. As the person who studied domestic abuse said, in both cases, the victims were (are) looking for a way to survive. In domestic abuse situations, it is week to week, or sometimes day to day. And the rules of the abuser change, so the victim doesn't always know what is safe and what is not. And doesn't always understand that the abuse is intentional as there was a reason for the attraction (emotionally) in the first place. So the victims are in some state of confusion and/or insecurity until they are not (either get away, or are killed). And even when they do escape, they have difficulty with other relationships. Cassie Ventura spoke about this on the stand when talking about her therapy.

edit - figured out where I heard this: Radiolab
https://radiolab.org/podcast/how-stockholm-stuck

 

He did. But he got them to a place to drug them (usually his home) because he promised them a shot, and didn't really follow through after he raped them.

 

Harvey Weinstein partially re-convicted.

https://apnews.com/article/harvey-weinstein-sexual-assault-trial-31d7a64b75148d1e482f3c020ffea527

And if you don't know why, there was some technical element to an appeals court overturning the original conviction.

https://apnews.com/article/harvey-w...rape-retrial-97c81b70405dc280a73a3c2f77a2c68e

 

I'm sure many of you remember the accusations in the UK of South Asain sex gangs preying on girls. When this came out, I was very suspect and found the accusations as racist. Racist because it focused more on ethnicity than behavior, and took away from the experiences (suffering) of the victims. The UK government was in some kind of similar view. Now, PM Stamer has changed the government position in a limited way, largely based on a new report.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2r2ejlvm1o

This was done on top of the already existing report completed in 2022.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mvmy3dwe1o

Now, to be clear, in the new report there is a note that in some areas that there were South Asian (BBC Newscast podcast said Pakistani) sex exploitation gangs. But, overall, there is not enough data to determine any particular ethnicity. There are also recommendations, in both reports. One of them is about mandatory reporting and/or charging, which is stunning that it doesn't exist. When I was a teacher, we had mandatory reporting of any kind of abuse for any student in our classroom. It went up the chain, but as far as I know, every state I worked in had the same mandatory reporting requirements regarding abuse (didn't go to police, usually went to child protective services for better ability to work with children for verification of reporting). But I also believe the police were required to report as well. That this is not in place in the UK is stunning (I'm assuming it is not).