Why She Was Raped
February 18, 2011 13 Comments
Lara Logan was sexually assaulted in Egypt.
Although only the rapists know why, plenty of people are willing to chime in. A straw poll seems to indicate it was all her fault for not being satisfied with a career covering amusing pet tricks and heart-warming stories about old people. No, she wanted to be a real journalist so she got what she deserved.
Right-wing pundit Debbie Schlussel said:
- So sad, too bad, Lara. No one told her to go there. She knew the risks… How fitting that Lara Logan was “liberated” by Muslims in Liberation Square while she was gushing over the other part of the “liberation.”
The sad thing is that this seems to reflect popular opinion:
- The Third World is no place for an attractive female journalist, particularly one who is white and blond. She is actually lucky it wasn’t worse.
It’s true that she knowingly went to a dangerous place and put herself in harm’s way. This is one of the perils faced by chief foreign correspondents when they enter unstable countries filled with conflict. In fact, we generally laud their courage to risk life and limb to uphold the fourth estate. It’s not like she is a starlet who stumbled into trouble — she chose to be there.
When Daniel Pearl was beheaded in Pakistan no one said that it was his fault for being there. He must have known that going to a Muslim country to investigate Al-Qaeda links was not the safest place for an American Jew, but that does not make him responsible for his own death.
Egypt is not a particularly fun place for women, whether or not they have blonde hair. According to research done by the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights, 83 percent of Egyptian women (and 98 percent of foreign women) are groped, or otherwise harassed, on the street. The vast majority of them dressed conservatively at the time.
There is also the fact that rape is a constant companion to war in Africa. It is often used systematically and intentionally to send a message and demoralize the other side.
So knowing all of that, was a woman really the right person for the assignment?
There are a variety of dangers faced by journalists areas of conflict. Rape is only one possibility out of many gruesome options. Reporters are kidnapped, mugged, murdered, or even accidentally blown up. Yet, sexual assault is not covered by Hostile Environment (HE) training.
This happens to be the one area that is primarily relevant to women. In fact, Risk Consultants International dropped their sessions on rape and assault because it made the men feel awkward.
It makes sense that the male journalists were uncomfortable with the topic, especially considering that men have an innate need to protect women. But I assure you that a woman’s instinct to avoid being raped is stronger than their squeamishness.
The education in these courses also leaves out female specific cultural information. The handbook supplied by the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists provides advice about things like using a dummy wallet, but does not have any tips for women, such as using deodorant as mace, or avoiding rape by telling your attackers you are menstruating. BBC correspondent Jennifer Glasse was shocked to learn that in Arab countries “if you go out with wet hair they think you’ve just had sex or you’re a prostitute. No one told me that.”
In addition, the safety supplies provided are often ill-suited to women. For example, the flak jackets that are commonly used are not designed for smaller people, or people with breasts. This is the equivalent of the army refusing to supply female soldiers with tampons, only deadlier.
Yet, reporters are often hesitant about bringing up these topics with their superiors out of fear that they will lose the good assignments. Although half the female war correspondents reported sexual harassment, more incidences involved fellow reporters than local sources. Clearly there is a problem with the newsroom culture that needs to be addressed.
Areas of conflict need reporters more than other places. The problems are obscured by the violence, and the stakes are also higher. We need people willing to endure great physical discomfort and risk their lives to get the story. While it’s handy to have men around to talk to the misogynist leaders, it’s also important to have female reporters who can get access to the women who have been affected by the conflict. Both sexes are useful, but good reporters are essential.
At the heart of it, Lara Logan’s assault was caused by the same thing as Anderson Cooper’s. Both were attacked by an unruly mob while bravely doing their jobs. They may be victims, but they are also heroes.
Contact the author here: mick@morningquickie.com
Props to crack Calgary Herald reporter Jen Gerson for suggesting the topic.
That’s crack, not crack-addict.
if you set aside the horror of being raped, or attacked as an Anderson Cooper’s instance, there is one thing that the American media needs to learn.
You are not part of the revolution. You do not share the ideologies or the anger of the mob. To put yourself in the middle of that mob and act like you are part of it is absolutely asking for trouble. I was watching one journalist on CNN who put himself in the mob and was being pushed and demanded of and it only would’ve taken seconds had he not paid attention to the people who were demanding attention for him to be beat up. You cannot cater to everyone especially in an angry mob of people. Stay on the sidelines and try not to be part of the action. I will not say that you got what you deserve because no one deserves to be raped. Or beat up. But you need to learn number one that you’re not Egyptian number two you are not part of the revolution. Stay on the sidelines
In a completely unrape-related side note, I have to say I find all the American involvement rather baffling.
I’m here at the moment and the radio shows are full of talk about what America needs to do about Egypt and how they can stop the wrong person from leading the country. As if it is any of their business!
Good luck to everyone in Egypt. I have a feeling wonderful things are around the corner.
I just can not believe the comments, especially by women, that Lara “got what she deserved” or other like comments. When does a woman deserve to be raped? Anytime she doesn’t follow misogynistic guidelines for dress, behavior, speech? I’m puzzled over people who decry her dress & hair color as if that has anything to do with this assault. I believe that women need to make wise choices about the situations that they put themselves into but there is never a time that a woman is “asking” to be raped. Any man or woman who says otherwise should be ashamed of themselves.
I agree with you completely. I don’t care what the situation is, women should NEVER be raped. It’s a sad world we live in when women can’t do anything without being punished. Then women agree with it! They make me sick.
@Shiva
Getting into the middle of things is our job. It’s what we do. It’s the best way to tell the story of what’s going on. And I believe that trying to tell that story is incredibly vital to informing people of what’s going on in the world.
Sometimes doing the job entails physical risks. Whether we’re in Cairo or Alaska, we all accept that when we sign up.
Women in the demonstrations had been remarkably safe, so it was not surprising that Lara Logan again went into the demonstrations. After Mubarak stepped down, all kinds of thugs entered the demonstrations for food and to harass the females.
FF is missing the point of Schlussel’s comments. Lara Logan’s assault was a typical act of violence against women that is endemic to muslim countries. Sure, rapes occur everywhere, but in muslim countries, it’s embedded in the culture and normalised in practice, if not in the law. There’s a cultural norm that western women are like meat left out on the table in view of the cat.
Common sense should tell us that Western women (and all others, as well) should therefore stay far away from muslim men who think that way if they want to stay safe. Schlussel is saying that Logan is one of those journalists that should have, but has failed to alert the world to the barbarism that is islam. Because she failed to confront this misogynistic totalitarian ideology, she created a blind spot for herself which put herself in an unworkable situation.
Schlussel is *not* saying that Logan ‘got what she deserved because she was trying to be a journalist in a dangerous place’.
Schlussel is saying that Logan has been misleading people by failing to tell the truth about how brutal and backward and repressive and anti-woman and savage islam is. Schlussel knows this truth firsthand, because several male adherents of the Religion of Peace have been convicted in a court of law for threatening to rape Schlussel. As much time as Logan has spent in the middle east, to fail to shout from the housetops that islam is evil is witholding materially important information from her audience. Perhaps Logan’s failure to confront the reality of islam lead to an unrealistic appraisal of her own threat level/security in Cairo.
And anyway, why did the mob shout “Jew! Jew! Jew!” as they were attacking Logan? Pamela Geller has that story.
…How are you in any way certified to decry that an entire religious system is evil?
It definitely has people within it that has twisted the true meaning of Islam, just as the Vatican had extremists that conquered and enslaved other countries.
You said
“When Daniel Pearl was beheaded in Pakistan no one said that it was his fault for being there. ”
You must have not been paying any attention. AT ALL.
Mike, you’re right. There was some grumbling that he shouldn’t have been there in the first place, but in my opinion it pales to the scolding Lara faced for trying to do her job. Perhaps that is because he died, or perhaps that is because she is a women. Let’s hope we don’t have too many more test cases to figure it out.
I completely agree with “just1girl”. It is mortifying to know that some are more concerned or more judgmental about Lara’s looks and that it was majorly instrumental to her being raped. Regardless of nationality, geography or any other circumstance, making a woman to suffer like this is utterly unacceptable.