Vermischtes vom 11. Januar 2016

So, heute wird es mal wieder um andere relevante Themen als um die Übergriffe in der Silvesternacht gehen.



1. Die führende feministische Organisation der USA, die National Organization for Women, stellt sich in einem Offenen Brief hinter die Studentin "Jackie", deren nachweislich falscher Bericht über eine Gruppenvergewaltigung dem Magazin "Rolling Stone" millionenschwere Verleumdungsklagen einbrachte. Der Brief ist an die Präsidentin der betroffenen Universität gerichtet, und attackiert vor allem Nicole Eramo, eine Dekanin der Universität. In einem Artikel über die Kontroverse heißt es:

In recent weeks, Eramo has asked the court to compel the cooperation of "Jackie," the UVa student whose account of her alleged gang rape at a prominent fraternity house served as the article’s centerpiece. An investigation by Charlottesville police turned over no evidence that Jackie’s alleged assault ever occurred, and the magazine has since retracted the story that the Columbia Journalism Review dubbed "a journalistic failure that was avoidable."

Counsel for Eramo has asked that Jackie turn over any communications with the magazine, friends, family and a campus support organization related to the alleged assault, but Jackie’s lawyers have countered that their client is immune from doing so, as she is not a party to the lawsuit and should be given immunity as a victim of sexual assault.

In Wednesday’s letter, the National Organization for Women said Eramo’s effort is going too far.

"Your dean’s demands recite nearly every false argument made to undermine victims of sexual assault," the letter reads. "It is exactly this kind of victim blaming and shaming that fosters rape culture, re-victimizes those brave enough to have come forward, and silences countless other victims."

The letter states that by implicating Jackie in the lawsuit, Eramo has "publicly attacked" a victim whom she formerly counseled and that doing so could damage the ability of students to trust university officials tasked with protecting them. Further, the letter indicts the university for condoning Eramo’s actions and demands that it take steps to "put a stop to these actions, make clear that the university does not support them and to continue to foster a more positive environment where all students can feel safe and protected."

(...) When reached Friday, one of Eramo’s attorneys said it was "unfortunate" that "Jackie and her cadre of lawyers have taken the unreasonable and legally untenable position that she is immune from routine civil discovery."

"And it is even more unfortunate that an organization that is supposed to advocate on behalf of women is supporting a woman who has set the cause for survivor support back so far," said Libby Locke, a member of Eramo’s counsel.

In her most recent filing in the case, Eramo called Jackie a "serial liar who invented people, events and text messages" to corroborate her story, and that she is not immune from participating in the lawsuit’s discovery phase.

(...) Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, disagreed with the notion that Jackie had fabricated her story, saying that "I have always believed Jackie" and that Jackie’s trauma could have affected her memory of the alleged assault. She further censured the university and Sullivan for condoning Jackie’s "re-victimization" through Eramo’s court filings.

"They are ratcheting up the promotion of rape culture and slut-shaming with these filings," O’Neill said Friday. "I am beyond shocked that an institution as well regarded as the University of Virginia would actually engage in this kind of behavior."

(...) "What we see is the message that is unmistakably being communicated to women at UVa … if you get raped at UVa and you file a report on it, you are fair game to be viciously attacked years after the attack if the administration feels it is in their best interest," O’Neill said. "President Sullivan is responsible for those kinds of messages, period, end of discussion."

2. Twitter crackdown on hate speech backfires titelt CNN in einem Bericht Sara ashley O'Briens über den britischen Journalisten und Feminismuskritiker Milo Yiannopoulos, der bei Twitter 140.000 Followers aufweisen kann. Der Bericht handelt von Sanktionen, die Twitter gegen Yiannopoulos wegen diverser Äußerungen verhängte – einschließlich einer Drohung, ihn komplett zu sperren – und wie sich der entstandene Konflikt entwickelt:

Prominent Silicon Valley figures -- from Uber investor Jason Calacanis to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen -- have tweeted about Twitter policing Yiannopoulos and, subsequently, free speech.

Others see it differently. One user referred to Yiannopoulos as a "known misogynist harasser."

Game developer Brianna Wu tweeted, "Thanks @Twitter, for holding Milo accountable for harassment, being clear more will lead to permanent suspension."

Yiannopoulos said he reached out to Twitter twice to understand what the company is reacting to. He received no response. Twitter told CNNMoney that it doesn't comment on individual user accounts but referred to its terms and conditions, which state an account may lose its verified status if it violates the company's rules or terms of service.

(...) "Twitter only wants to host one side of the discussion," Yiannopoulos said. "It's now become an ideological weapon to indicate the sort of person they want on the platform."

(...) Yiannopoulos said he's gained over 7,000 new followers in the last 24 hours -- and a hashtag, #JeSuisMilo, which he said was trending in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. over the weekend.

(...) "If it was clearly stated that you can't be polarizing on Twitter, then people would understand that. But right now, it's really unclear," said entrepreneur Elissa Shevinsky.

3. Die beliebte englischsprachige Plattform Freakonomics, die sich auf unkonventionelle Weise mit Wirtschaftsthemen beschäftigt, hat analysiert, ob Frauen wirklich auf Grund von Diskriminierung im Schnitt weniger verdienen als Männer.



4. Ab heute ist das Buch mit den Comics von Erzählmirnix im Handel erhältlich. Die Autorin merkt dazu an:

Kauft Erzaehl mir nix nicht, wenn eure Gefühle Schaden nehmen von der Tatsache, dass in dem Buch Benachteiligungen von Männern genauso Thema sind wie Benachteiligungen von Frauen.

5. Zu Christian Schmidts Rant gestern gab es in der darunterstehenden Kommentarspalte viele interessante Wortmeldungen, darunter von zwei Mitgliedern von MANNdat. Die zum Teil hochkontroverse Debatte zeigt, dass hier vielfach komplett unterschiedliche Sichtweisen bestehen. Manche Flames der letzten Wochen gezielt gegen Tristan und mich, als ob speziell wir beiden mit entsprechenden Wortmeldungen einen am Sträußchen hätten, waren insofern daneben. (Allerdings würde ich immer das Genre des wütenden "Rants" verteidigen, ob bei Christian Schmidt oder bei z. B. Robin Urban.) Im nächsten Schritt könnte es darum gehen, ob und wie hier eine konstruktivere Zusammenarbeit entstehen kann.

Einen Zwischenapplaus gibt es von mir für "Adrian", der offen bekundet, dass er für dauerhaftes politisches Engagement zu faul und zu divenhaft ist. Auch so eine klare Bekenntnis führt einen ja schon mal einen Schritt weiter. Davon abgesehen muss ich Tristan zustimmen, der eine Selbstkritik der Blogger-Community, was vertaene Zeit angeht, vermisst. Eine Debatte, bei der sich nur eine Seite als kritikfähig zeigen soll, dürfte scheitern.