Thursday, August 18, 2011

I Have No Words But...

...What. The. Fuck?


Lawsuit: Mo. girl expelled for making rape claim
A southwestern Missouri school district has denied accusations in a federal lawsuit that officials failed to protect a middle-school girl from being raped, calling the lawsuit "frivolous" and saying the girl "neglected to use reasonable means to protect herself."

The girl, identified as a 7th grade special education student, was raped twice during the course of two school years, according to the lawsuit filed July 5 against Republic School District in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The lawsuit was first reported by the Springfield News-Leader newspaper in Missouri Wednesday.

The article goes on to detail the incidents leading to the conviction of the perpetrator. School and school district say that they have no responsibility/liability yada yada blah blah. Won't rehash everything here. What got me is that, after the 1st incident, the girl was forced to recant her accusation and then write an apology to the animal who raped her. There's no indication what kind of disability she has that she qualifies as a special education student, so I'm not assuming that she's got Down's, ASD or GDD, but special needs indicates some form of learning impediment.

And even after the 2nd incident, the school, instead of apologising and rectifying their original position, continues to wash their hands off the whole thing. True that you have no control over what the students do...even if the act takes place on school grounds. But you are responsible for how you handle the matter, and this is a gross injustice! You expel the victim thereby telling the perp that what he did was ok, allow the girl back in the school, create a situation where her rapist had the opportunity to corner her again, subject her to further torment, continue to ignore her right to be heard properly, and suspend her again on grounds of "disrespectful conduct"! What is wrong with people?? What the hell did she do that classes as disrespectful conduct? Being helpless when faced with a stronger (presumably) normal-functioning male? Reporting the incidents to her parents and school authorities? Reporting to the police?

She's in a mainstream school, which means her cognitive abilities, while requiring particular attention to nurture, is still at a level that can comprehend and process complex information. Knowing right from wrong. Telling her that she was wrong to be raped, wrong to report it, and wrong to stand up for herself, is just...disgusting.

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