# 60 Minutes' Lara Logan - sexually assaulted while covering Egypt Revolution **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500 "2011-02-15T21:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/101 "2011-02-18T13:50:46Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Mubarak’s government and its predecessors were torturing people for decades before Gitmo came along And Mubarak’s government has also been doing it _for_ us, when we render captives over to them. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/102 "2011-02-18T20:32:27Z")
I also posted this in the ATMB thread, but Slate had an interesting article on what “sexual assault” means and why that phrasing was used. It’s not like devilsknew or anyone else wondering is some sort of sick person for asking. > **[CBS correspondent Lara Logan was a victim of sexual assault. Is that the same...](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/02/cbs-correspondent-lara-logan-was-a-victim-of-sexual-assault-is-that-the-same-as-rape.html)** > > CBS correspondent Lara Logan was sexually assaulted and beaten while covering the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the network announced Tuesday.... Of note: > [@](#): > > But as a general rule, a sexual assault is one that involves some form of unwanted penetration. Mere fondling is also a crime, but it’s usually called criminal sexual contact or something similar. > > The phrase sexual assault has been in use for more than a century, and 19th-century writers seem to have used it synonymously with rape. But it didn’t become a legal term until the 1960s, when a reform movement swept across the country. … > > The reformers sought to make several changes. They wanted to broaden the definition of rape to protect male victims as well as women who were victimized by their husbands. They also wanted to ease the exceedingly high standards of evidence required for a conviction. Many feminists wanted to get rid of the word rape altogether, because it carried too much cultural baggage. They felt that Americans viewed rape as a crime of sexual passion rather than one of violence. There was also, in their view, a prevailing feeling that women bore some of the blame for dressing or behaving provocatively. The phrase sexual assault, which was adopted unevenly across the country, had the ring of unprovoked violence about it. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/103 "2011-02-18T21:33:06Z")
I can imagine that this sort of thing happens a lot you get a mob together – be it at a frat house or a political demonstration. Mob mentality certainly seems to bring out the ruthlessness in people. Who can forget images of Reginald Denny’s beating caught on camera – the poor trucker who was the most famous victim of the '92 Rodney King verdict riots? In addition to Denny’s assault, over 50 people died in those riots, and the mob attacked children, women, the elderly…and looted and burned property belonging to their own people. I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to cover that story, whether I was a woman or man, white or black. I’m relieved Logan is okay and am grateful to the heroes who saved her at the risk of their own safety. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/104 "2011-02-19T01:06:35Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I can imagine that this sort of thing happens a lot you get a mob together… My understanding was that Logan and her associates believed she had been targeted by _pro-government elements_ as a conspicuous and uncooperative Western reporter, _not_ that she was victimized by actual democracy demonstrators. Egyptian women in the square had been saying throughout the uprising that the culture of the movement was dramatically unlike previous Egyptian street culture in which women were commonly subjected to lewd remarks and touching. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/105 "2011-02-19T02:21:10Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > For the record: I simply choose to not click on this link and move along. > > Absolutely no slam on you **Hallucinex** , just a comment that in a web of perspectives this broad, you have to make some choices. I think you made the wrong choice. That’s a fine post and it has this wonderful paragraph in it. > [@](#): > > And, finally, the idea that Lara Logan was “more at risk” of sexual assault because she was attractive is laughable. I’d be interested to know what fuckability threshold women should stay below in order to be safe from rape. Could Logan have just added some thick glasses? What if she had spinach in her teeth? How about if she gained 20 pounds - then would she be safe from the mob of 200 people who apparently decided to subject her to a prolonged beating and repeated sexual assaults because her delicate beauty stirred their romantic longings? Give me a break. Rape is about power, not how cute the victim is. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/106 "2011-02-19T02:55:07Z")
“Mob of 200 people” being hyperbole there, of course? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/107 "2011-02-19T03:34:22Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I think you made the wrong choice. That’s a fine post and it has this wonderful paragraph in it. > _Give me a break. Rape is about power, not how cute the victim is._ Hello Mr. **Mapcase**. I’ve no interest in a lengthy debate on your quote there, but I have an assertion for you to consider: When someone takes a un-nuanced position regarding an aspect of human behavior it usually means they’re pushing an agenda, rather than seeking truth. Contending that rape is always about power rather than sex is not a nuanced position. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/108 "2011-02-19T03:42:17Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > Hello Mr. **Mapcase**. I’ve no interest in a lengthy debate on your quote there, but I have an assertion for you to consider: > When someone takes a un-nuanced position regarding an aspect of human behavior it usually means they’re pushing an agenda, rather than seeking truth. > > Contending that rape is always about power rather than sex is not a nuanced position. And the notion that a pretty blonde reporter shouldn’t report from Muslim countries is? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/109 "2011-02-19T03:48:46Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And the notion that a pretty blonde reporter shouldn’t report from Muslim countries is? Well, it’s not something I’ve ever expressed an opinion about, but FWIW IMO there are situations when it’s just fine to have a pretty blonde reporter report from a Muslim country. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/110 "2011-02-19T05:14:43Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > “Mob of 200 people” being hyperbole there, of course? In the original statement about the attack, CBS stated, “… she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy.” So if you want to assert hyperbole, lay it on CBS. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/111 "2011-02-19T07:13:05Z")
Actually it looks like the specific hyperbolic claim I was looking at came from Amanda Taub at wrongingrights.blogspot. I can understand a description of her being “surrounded” by 200 people, as you quote from CBS, but not being “subject[ed]… to a prolonged beating and repeated sexual assaults” by 200 people, as Taub reformulates it. What, were they lined up? Two hundred people can’t all get in shots on one target if they tried, without considerable time and organization. Though I have to say that even the original mention of 200 people is suspect; exactly how could they tell that _these two hundred_ were different from the tens or hundreds of thousands in the larger crowd at the moment? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/112 "2011-02-19T17:54:00Z")
It is entirely possible for 200 people to participate in assaulting a person, even if all 200 aren’t throwing punches and kicks. You have an inner core beating up the victim, while those around that core are both preventing the victim from fleeing, and preventing others from going to the aid of the victim. Does that mean there were _exactly_ 200 people involved? No. It’s obviously shorthand for “a lot of people, more than just a dozen or so.” Given what has been reported - and that it took more than 20 people to extricate Ms. Logan from the situation - I could envision the mob abusing her to be in the triple digits. I’m not going to doubt the reality of the situation simply because no one has an exact count of the perpetrators. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/113 "2011-02-19T20:19:25Z")
Why is it important to focus on one phrase of that blog post with which you can possibly find fault, and which doesn’t change the gist of the points being made? It’s an intellectually dishonest way of arguing. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500/114 "2011-02-27T20:35:21Z")
For what it’s worth, I think it’s perfectly natural to wonder whether “sexual assault” means “rape” \_ not for prurient interest but to have an idea of what kind of trauma a person has endured. The latest People magazine quotes an unnamed Logan friend as saying she was not raped. The friend says Logan almost certainly would have been raped if bystanders had not intervened to help her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/60-minutes-lara-logan-sexually-assaulted-while-covering-egypt-revolution/571500.md?page=5)