Provocative 11 year old girl

The New York Times reported on a horrible story involving the rape of an 11 year old girl. While some may not see the underlying tone of victim blaming, the outrage of those who do continues on.

Here is one excerpt:

"Residents in the neighborhood where the abandoned trailer stands—known as the Quarters—said the victim had been visiting various friends there for months. They said she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground, some said"

It gets worse. Not only do the quotes in the article insinuate that this child was in some way provoking being gang raped, some of the comments are down right disgusting:

The case has rocked this East Texas community to its core and left many residents in the working-class neighborhood where the attack took place with unanswered questions. Among them is, if the allegations are proved, how could their young men have been drawn into such an act?

Yes, how could these men be drawn into such an act?

The communities reaction to this violent crime was reported poorly if you give them the benefit of the doubt, but that is only a small part of the problem.

There seems to be no way in which the media can avoid perpetuating "victim blaming" in cases of sexual assault and rape. The larger question could even be so broad as to ask why are their "provocative" clothing that are made for 11 year old children? You see miniature versions of tiny t-shirts, mini skirts, frilly low cut dresses and even pre training bra bras. Obviously one thinks to question where this girls parents were but that also doesn't excuse the blaming game on the girl.


The New York Times printed a response to the outrage which you can find here.

Part of the article touches on how the piece was meant to be interpreted. The standards editor for The Times (who may or may not be my uncle), told the author of the piece that the story focused on the reaction of community residents and that there was no intent to blame the victim. He added, “I do think in retrospect we could have done more to provide more context to make that clear."

Obviously society still believes that a women raped must have done something in order to provoke the assault. That's one huge problem with the media; unless they make an extreme effort to provide balanced reporting on sexual abuse it will always come across as blaming the victim, and that is the most discouraging thought of all.