Reykjavík Grapevine - 06.05.2011, Síða 30

Medieval Manuscripts – eddas and sagas
the ancient vellums on display
iceland :: FilM – Berlin – copenhagen – reykjavík
icelandic Filmmaking 1904-2008
cHild OF HOpe – Youth and Jón sigurðsson
tribute to the leader of the independence Movement
exHiBitiOns - guided tOurs
caFeteria - culture sHOp
the culture House – Þjóðmenningarhúsið
National Centre for Cultural Heritage
Hverfisgata 15 · 101 Reykjavík (City Centre)
Tel: 545 1400 · www.thjodmenning.is
Open daily between 11 am and 5 pm
Free guided tour of THe Medieval Manu­
sCRipTs exhibition Mon and Fri at 3 pm.
30
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 5 — 2011
After finishing reading Hildur Lillien-
dahl’s editorial piece ‘CAR CLAIMS TO
HAVE CAUGHT FIRE’ one can hardly be
blamed for losing their appetite or los-
ing their lunch. I am sitting here with
smoke blowing out of my every cranial
orifice trying to collect my rage at the
prevalence of misused language in
journalism’s approach to sexual as-
sault, in this particular case that of
Iman al-Obaidi, a Libyan woman raped
and assaulted by Gaddafi’s troops.
The initial reports I had the mis-
fortune of reading all had al-Obaidi
“claiming” to have undergone the
brutal assault she reported to the for-
eign press at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli
on March 26. She experienced being
gang raped, beaten, urinated and def-
ecated on and cut, as she displayed to
the press by lifting her robe to reveal a
wound on her thigh. She was silenced
and dragged out by Libyan forces and
her credibility and mental health were
immediately put into question.
Hildur has now brought it to all of
our attention that Visir has one-upped
the shoddy reporting of this story, going
beyond discrediting her experiences as
“claims” but also by omitting important
aspects of the story and manipulat-
ing wordplay to describe al-Obaidi’s
emotional state. This lousy excuse for
journalism is yet another blunder in an
already serious problem in Icelandic
culture and society at large: the incred-
ibility of the rape victim.
THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL
I must preface with something very dif-
ficult which many of you may not be
willing to read or feel is relevant, but it
is. So fuck you.
When I was twelve years old, I was
psychologically sexually abused over a
six-month period by an internet pae-
dophile. Two years later, at fourteen, I
was drugged, abducted and raped by
a complete stranger. I never reported
either of these incidents to the police
and have only told one family member
about the latter.
For the past week leading up to
reading Hildur’s article, I have been
plagued with the idea of truly coming
clean and going public with my experi-
ences. I feel now is as good a time as
any—since my rage has reached a boil-
ing point—to be the voice of subject of
the rape victim.
The only thing worse than having
endured both experiences is the fact
that if I reported them, I would have to
justify myself to be believed. The idea
that I would be called a liar was more
torturous than that of suppression. So
I just shut up, until now. I am PISSED
OFF.
For al-Obaidi and the thousands of
Muslim women raped each year, not
suppressing these experiences quite
literally leads to shunning, torture
and often death at the hands of their
government and their families. Iman
al-Obaidi performed a rare act of un-
speakable courage, not only for a wom-
an of her region and religion but also
for any person who has been raped and
lived in shame and silence.
THE NUMBERS LIE, NOT THE VIC-
TIMS
What is especially troubling about Vi-
sir’s discrediting use of language in
their article is that it reflects the overall
trend in Icelandic justice of disbeliev-
ing rape victims. As reported in the
Grapevine on February 16, only 12%
of reported rapes result in convictions
while 63% of reported rapes had their
investigations dismissed by the police
and a quarter of the remaining cases
dismissed by the state prosecutor.
What’s more, as stated in the article
above by a sexual assault crisis coun-
sellor at Stígamót, sentences for rape
convictions are ridiculously short and
are even known to be lightened after
sentencing. In one 2007 case, Americo
Luis De Silva Conclaves was originally
sentenced to a paltry four years which
was then reduced to three-and-a-half
plus a fine. The most depressing part
of this is the fact that this wrist-slap of
a sentence was touted as a victory by
Stígamót, only making the case weaker
for judges to give harsher sentences for
this horrible act of violence.
Two years later, Iceland issued its
longest sentence for rape ever in the
case of a 40-year old man who re-
peatedly raped his stepdaughter aged
11-14. He got eight years. And Justice
wept.
Rape is the most underreported
violent crime worldwide. In my native
Canada where my assaults took place,
reported rapes are placed around
6%. According to a 2010 report by the
UN, Iceland had 21.6 reported rapes
per 100.000 in 2008. It’s encouraging
that the numbers are in double digits
while most countries are in singles or
decimals, but they are still deceiving.
Stígamót reports that less than 10% of
the cases that come to them have gone
through the legal system.
A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS
There is a serious problem.
The Western world is driving in re-
verse on the issue of rape and victims’
rights. In the United States, a lawmaker
in Georgia recently tried to introduce a
bill that would amend criminal codes
and redefine rape victims as “accusers”
until a conviction is in place. Canada is
rallying coast-to-coast with SlutWalks
in furious response to a Toronto Police
constable who recently told a university
class that “women should avoid dress-
ing like sluts in order not to be victim-
ized”
Sweden has the highest rate of re-
ported rapes in Europe—the number of
has quadrupled over the past 20 years—
yet in 2009 the Supreme Court passed a
ruling saying that victim testimony was
insufficient to prove that a rape was
committed. So basically the victim’s
word is worthless.
While we can’t hold this one article
by Visir entirely to blame for the Icelan-
dic justice system failing to take sexual
assault as seriously as they should, we
can hold them accountable for contrib-
uting to a discourse of incredibility and
hope that they take notice. Each seed
planted that suggests rape victims are
simply flinging allegations at innocent
men (rapists are mostly men, deal with
it) only grows into a much larger beast
that discourages and terrifies any vic-
tim from ever telling even their most
loved ones what has happened to them.
Iceland needs to change its entire
discourse on the matter. Scratch that—
Iceland needs to START the discourse.
YOU CAN’T SEE IT, BUT YOU CAN
FEEL IT
It is understandable from a human
point of view to want to not believe that
these things happen to people we love,
and are committed by people we love.
We cannot see the wounds of a rape
victims as we can see a murdered body,
a beaten child, a burnt down home.
The wounds are the memories that
cannot be sewn shut or put on life sup-
port. The words to describe the event
are the hardest thing to ever say, and
it is relived in your thoughts at involun-
tary moments, making daily life a gruel-
ling, twisted play. Rape victims are the
best actors you’ll ever meet.
Rape victims are FUBAR on the in-
side.
And every time they’re told they
“claim”, “allege” or “accuse”, they are
fucked up all over again.
THE CULTURE OF INCREDIBILITY:
A DEEPLY PERSONAL RESPONSE TO HILDUR LILLIENDAHL
Words
Rebecca Louder
Photography
Zach H
“Iceland needs to change its entire discourse on the
matter. Scratch that—Iceland needs to START the
discourse.”
Media | Rape Culture