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02-24-2008, 10:25 AM
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Silver
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 311
(30)
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This is NO attack on Chirimoya
“this happens because of corruption and the culture of impunity, the early sexualisation of young girls and children, the fact that in the campo and in the barrios it is accepted that girls as young as this are 'taken' and initiated by older men... so for some individuals all young girls are seen as fair game.”
Well you have described, by far, my worse nightmare.
For any Dominican to be able to use any words, especially “corruption and the culture of impunity” to rationalize this behavior is offensive.
I trust Chirimoya has the insight to make this statement so I ask President Leonel Fernandez to corroborate this warped Dominican mentality.
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02-24-2008, 08:53 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 7,545
(178)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gmiller261
“this happens because of corruption and the culture of impunity, the early sexualisation of young girls and children, the fact that in the campo and in the barrios it is accepted that girls as young as this are 'taken' and initiated by older men... so for some individuals all young girls are seen as fair game.”
Well you have described, by far, my worse nightmare.
For any Dominican to be able to use any words, especially “corruption and the culture of impunity” to rationalize this behavior is offensive.
I trust Chirimoya has the insight to make this statement so I ask President Leonel Fernandez to corroborate this warped Dominican mentality.
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 gmiller - not sure I understand your post.
I hope no one is rationalising this in the sense of justifying. More like explaining the context in which things like this can and do happen. I agree that it is an offensive, nightmarish situation. Especially when you think of all the other cases that never come to light.
What are you asking LF to do, though?
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02-24-2008, 09:24 PM
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Gold
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,056
(48)
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Is there some place where more information is available in English? I went to Lambada's website and it wasn't posted.
This is very upsetting if it happened. I have a lot of questions. So many things just don't make sense with this but I'm hoping it's because I've only read the overview.
I can't see how corruption can justify overlooking this atrocity? I don't understand how the town where this young girl lives in isn't in an uproar over this? People get beaten and killed for stealing a cell phone.
There is a huge difference between having sex with a 12 year old girl ( I am not condoning it. It's wrong. A grown man or woman should NEVER have sex with a any 12 year old. ) and gang raping one.
The police officials that have chosen to look the otherway have daughters and sisters. They are allowing these animals to stay on the street. They could attack their daughters, sisters, etc...
Why wouldn't this be investigated? There are women who are prosecutors/judges. Are these perpetrators important people???
Are they implying that she wanted to have sex with all of these men? Isn't there an age of consent? So, if she is under that age and a grown man has sex with her isn't it defaulted to rape automatically???
What kind of injuries did she sustain? She must've been really hurt.
How can everyone ignore that???? Wouldn't that imply a HUGE cover up on EVERYONE'S part? The police, the hospital, whom ever did the foresic pathology report?
I just don't understand.
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02-24-2008, 09:30 PM
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Honorificabilitudinitatibus
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 13,673
(98)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 2LeftFeet
I just don't understand.
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I don't think that any of us fully understand and there are some really strange parts to the story, like the mother being killed the day before.
I'm of your thinking.
Wouldn't the locals be in an uproar and looking to string these guys up by their toes?
It appears that something happened to both the mother and the daughter, but I suspect that the news reports are not 100% accurate.
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02-24-2008, 10:28 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 7,545
(178)
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2LeftFeet - A fuller account in English is posted in the news section of Lambada's website. Ginnie Bedggood - book author, writer, expat Dominican Republic - the sixth story down.
I agree that as it stands, the whole account begs a lot of questions and we can still only speculate. The point is the authorities need to respond to these questions - why was this handled so badly, why was it not really prosecuted, why was one of the accused allowed to escape and not pursued, why was another let off on absurd technicalities, are they being protected, what are they going to do now to help this girl and her sister, etc. This is where corruption comes in - the implication is that the accused were powerful enough to buy off the police and legal system to sweep it all under the carpet, in the hope that the girl and what family she does have will not be in the position to fight it. Maybe they are powerful enough to intimidate the community into silence?
Again, I am explaining how and why something like this might happen, not justifying it.
I also agree with 2LeftFeet's point about there being a huge difference between consensual sex and gang rape of a minor. Thing is, I was not referring to consensual sex but the still common practice of underage girls being 'taken' by older men and initiated. This may not include the horror and violence of a gang rape, but it is still not consensual, so the line is quite fine.
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02-24-2008, 10:44 PM
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Gold
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,056
(48)
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What a sad story.
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02-25-2008, 01:27 AM
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Gold
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,831
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There are some marches being planned to push for the authorities to respond to the questions raised. On Monday 9 am at the Colegio Dominicano de Periodistas, SD for a march to the Supreme Court (wear something black), on Tuesday in Jimani and on Wednesday in front of the Congress building for a public reading of Mujer y Salud's manifesto about this case. Anyone who wants to show solidarity with this cause is invited to attend.
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02-25-2008, 05:33 AM
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Bronze
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 80
(54)
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Amnesty International claims that letter writing (polite but firm and not condescending or accusing) by individuals from outside the country has a positive effect on the treatment of political prisoners even in dictatorships. It might be a good idea to let people who are influential in this case know that the eyes of the world are on them. Are there any names and addresses available of prosecutors, judges, and police chiefs who might be responsible for making sure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.
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02-25-2008, 06:38 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 7,545
(178)
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I would advise respecting Mujer y Salud's strategy which is to try and resolve things locally, and only if that fails to widen it out to international attention.
If it came to letter writing the targets would be Jorge Subero Isa (Chief Justice), Radhames Jimenez (Attorney General) and Rafael Guzman Fermin (Police Chief). I can keep people here posted on progress and give more details if an international campaign is launched.
We'd have to think about the logistics of a letter-writing campaign: I wonder what Amnesty has done in the past when targeting the DR - do they know there's no real functioning postal system?
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02-25-2008, 05:34 PM
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Gold
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,831
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