May 2013 Awake suggests screaming to thwart sexual assault

by ParadiseCircus 50 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Lady Lee

  perfect1

  absolutely. Thought doesn't enter the picture at that moment. You react and you can't be held guilty if the reaction doesn't fit into the WTS' or anybody's belief of what you should do so that a group of elders can decide whether you are guilty of something.

  For people who were sexually abused as children the response to freeze is their normal response. They learned as children that they could not fight or run so they learned to freeze and wait for it to be oiver.

  When I was raped the best I could do was say no stop no and freeze. My no no stop wasn't more than a whisper but I had been trained since I was a child to freeze during sexual assaults - just be quiet and wait until it is over. What amazed me was that I was even able to say no stop no. I had never done that as a child.

  When the elders were interrogating me they didn't believe me and I was disfellowshipped for adultery. Not that it bothered me. Well it did but I needed to get out of my marriage and this was my ticket out instead of suicide.
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  frankiespeakin

  The mandatory screaming if threatened with rape to avoid a judicial commitee negative judgement of a willing participant in one's own forcible rape and henceforth be DF'd is a clear evidence of "black and white thinking" in the JW judicial system.

  It is totally rediculous and gives a true impression of the child like naïveté on the part of the Governing Body and their bible delusions of right and wrong. Extremely simplistic one size fits all, pure head in the sand black and white thinking.
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  ShirleyW

  Thanks Splash for printing that. I remember when they came out. So what are you to do when the attacker says to you "make one sound and you're dead"? What an F**d up cult, could be mistaken, but if a sexual attack did occur isn't that a reason for being DA'd or DF'd ?
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  Room 215

  The only chance screaming has of being effective is if the victim is within earshot of others, NOT in the "abandoned field" they describe...
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  frankiespeakin

  We need to remember the Wt corporation is working with a very dumbed down rank and file and a very dumbed down elder body so simplicity in rules of justice are about all these dumb down elders can handle. So a simple rule for determining if it was rape or consensual sex is about all these guys can handle and not much more, so biblical justice of a bronze age God is the limit of their moral capacity, after all they are not lawyers and higher education is a no no, so black and white thinking is the rule to follow.
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  Aunt Fancy

  Wow Lady Lee, not only were you violated and raped but then to be disfellowshipped on top of it! They are truly disgusting to abuse you after going through such trauma. I see why you help others and I am sure it has helped you in the healing process but I am sure you never get over it.
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  steve2

  2. The victim is told to scream, not for self defence, but so the woman is not guilty of fornication. This has less to do with protecting the person and more to do with following the Hebrew code for judging wrongdoing within the congregation.

  Thanks Splash, until you had put it that way I hadn't given that aspect much thought. I see what you mean - you and the others have raised excellent points.
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  Lady Lee

  Aunt Fancy

  That rape was nothign compared to the sexual assaults my JW-elder husband put me through for 15 years. I always felt dirty and used after. He claimed that was because of my past. But he said and did the same things my childhood abusers did. He was no better. I was just older.

  Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  "Karin" has a lot of gaps in her story. She "screamed and ran" where? Was this abandoned field behind a police station or something? Doesn't this cherry-picked story ignore the women that have screamed yet still been raped or killed?

  Assaults usually begin with silencing and restraining the victim so they can't scream and run. What would Karin's plan be then? Why doesn't WT teach ways to empower women before she got kidnapped to the abandoned field? How old is this story that she wasn't on her cell phone calling 911?
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  blondie

  *** w03 2/1 pp. 30-31 Questions From Readers ***

  What the Law says on the matter is found at Deuteronomy 22:23-27. This covers two situations. In the first case, a man found a young woman in a city and lay down with her. Even so, the woman did not scream or cry for help. Consequently, it was determined that she was guilty “for the reason that she did not scream in the city.” If she had cried out, people nearby might have been able to come to her rescue. In the second instance, a man found a young woman in the countryside, where he “grabbed hold of her and lay down with her.” In defense, the woman “screamed, but there was no one to rescue her.” Unlike the woman in the first instance, this woman clearly did not give in to the actions of the attacker. She actively resisted him, crying for help, but she was overpowered. Her screaming proved that she was an unwilling victim; she was not guilty of wrongdoing.