Rape Victim Named On Twitter

​by Mary C Long 

Wales footballer, Ched Evans, age 23, was jailed for five years at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday after being found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman, who was ‘too drunk to consent.’ The victim, whose name we will not share, but can be easily found elsewhere online, is now on trial via social media. Is this okay?

What would you do if you were raped by a well-known sports figure and your rapist was convicted, but then your promised anonymity was violated and not only was the verdict questioned by a multitude of fans, you were trashed on Twitter, being called every name in the book? Well, if you have good advice on how to handle this situation, you may want to share it with Ched Evan’s rape victim as she’s getting slammed on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and likely countless other places online.
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While some of the posts are mild in tone (mostly found on Google+): ​

They get increasingly hostile on Facebook, where folks have set up a page seeking to secure an immediate retrial for Ched. The page has more than two thousand supporters – many fancying themselves to be legal experts: ​

And forget about Twitter. Just check out the #JusticeForChed hashtag and you’ll be greeted with a bounty of bile: ​

Twitter, of course, being where she was initially “outed” by Ched’s teammate, Connor Brown. His  Twitter account has since been deleted and there is an investigation around his actions underway, but here are the tweets that were captured before he hid the account, with the victim’s name blanked out:  ​

Regardless of where each of these posts fall on the mild to vulgar spectrum, all of the posts from the many “legal experts” protesting Ched’s conviction have one thing in common: misdirected anger. Oh and a healthy dose of misogyny too.

If, at its base, one doesn’t see something foul about two men having sex with overly drunk teenager while two ADDITIONAL friends watch and try to tape it – well, that really says more about the folks disparaging the victim than it does about the victim. The posts I’m seeing aren’t saying he didn’t do it by the way, they’re saying she agreed to it. And intentionally subjected herself to this? It just doesn’t make sense – not for any amount of money.

This “blame the victim” mentality is getting old folks, don’t you agree? 

This post originally appeared on Social Times

IMAGE CREDIT: ANTHONY EASTON