# Entertaining Two Hour Rape **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 30, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686 "2009-10-30T02:15:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/1 "2009-10-30T02:15:27Z")
I don’t understand why I can’t find a thread on this [story](http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091029/world/us_homecoming_gang_rape) in this forum. I am thoroughly outraged and somewhat fearful for this new generation of humanity. It was only several months ago that I met a lot of young people at my daughter’s graduation and was impressed by their general demeanour and behavior. Each and everyone. And then to hear of this crap, makes me feel very suspicious of young people. Just how real is their honour and integrity? Are the modern cultural influences subtley taking our society down a path of destruction? I’m glad I wasn’t there, because some killing would have been on my mind. And 40 lashes to the “innocent” voyeurs would be appropriate as well. God I feel for that girl. It wasn’t just the rape, it was the abandonment by the tribe that I believe cuts deep. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/2 "2009-10-30T02:29:28Z")
> [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > And then to hear of this crap, makes me feel very suspicious of young people. Just how real is their honour and integrity? Are the modern cultural influences subtley taking our society down a path of destruction? Really? I’m not sure I agree. This was a terrible crime and I feel terrible for this young girl and what this will probably do to her future. But to then simultaneously impugn all young adults and whitewash all past generations is a little extreme. These young men are not representative of their generation any more than the young men you pretend never committed crimes like this in the past were representative of theirs. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/3 "2009-10-30T02:48:41Z")
You think there were no gang rapes with audiences in your generation? ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/4 "2009-10-30T02:52:00Z")
What this society needs is decorum. Like we used to have in the old days. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/5 "2009-10-30T02:52:10Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Just how real is their honour and integrity? Are the modern cultural influences subtley taking our society down a path of destruction? I’m pretty sure I know what **Starving Artist** would say to that. Seriously, though, I think not. The perps were arrested, and the fact that they had to wear flak vests to their arraignment strongly suggests that society at large still disapproves of that sort of thing. I’d prefer to see some of the persons who supposedly looked on and did nothing charged as well, but not being expert in law am not sure whether there is anything one could reasonably go to trial over. Fortunately, these kinds of horrors when young folk get to drinking are not all that common; unfortunately, they are not completely unknown. There was a horrifying case a few miles from where I live a couple years ago in which a hispanic kid was beaten nearly to death by some drunken white supremacist wannabes at a backyard party and left for dead with a rod stuck up his rectum. He somehow survived but later committed suicide, apparently in despair over his permanent incapacity and difficulties related to the extensive internal injuries he received. On one occasion in the early 1970s, I myself was the object of drunken mob violence by high-school age peers. Nothing happened anywhere near as extreme as the stories related above, but the experience was fairly terrifying and messed me up considerably for several years. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/6 "2009-10-30T02:52:20Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > And then to hear of this crap, makes me feel very suspicious of young people. Just how real is their honour and integrity? Are the modern cultural influences subtley taking our society down a path of destruction? A couple years ago, someone started a thread about a gang rape at a party they attended in the 70’s. It was a pretty powerful thread, but anyways, the general consensus there seemed to be that when such things happened a few decades ago, at least when the woman were relatively unconnected and powerless, the response of the rest of the town was usually to ostracize the victim, cover-up the crime, and let the perpetrators off with a shrug. I wasn’t around then, so maybe that’s untrue, but in anycase, it sounds like at least in this situation the authorities tried to get the girl treatment and punished the perpetrators. (off to see if I can find the thread, my google-fu is weak and memory hazy, but I’ll give it a try) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/7 "2009-10-30T02:54:45Z")
It certainly isn’t the first heinous crime and won’t be the last, but what makes it noteworthy, and frightening, is that there were apparently a number of bystanders watching it take place and not one person was willing to intervene or at least seek help. The “few bad apples” rationale wears thin when there’s not a single good apple in the bunch. When I first heard the story I assumed that it would change as more information emerged, perhaps to indicate that it was consensual somehow, because despite my general pessimism I have trouble believing that something like that could actually take place. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/8 "2009-10-30T02:55:09Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > What this society needs is decorum. Like we used to have in the old days. Back when ‘boys’ knew their ‘place’. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/9 "2009-10-30T03:51:10Z")
> [@](#): > > what makes it noteworthy, and frightening, is that there were apparently a number of bystanders watching it take place and not one person was willing to intervene or at least seek help. The “few bad apples” rationale wears thin when there’s not a single good apple in the bunch. I found it astounding that there were so many onlookers, and not one of them stepped back out of view and called 911. Even if the police took a few minutes to get there, an event that takes over 2 hours would have been shortened considerably. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/10 "2009-10-30T04:00:28Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > (off to see if I can find the thread, my google-fu is weak and memory hazy, but I’ll give it a try) I suspect you are remembering [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=213577) by **Master Wang-ka**. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/11 "2009-10-30T04:01:45Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > You think there were no gang rapes with audiences in your generation? Every time I read an RO story that’s the first thing that goes through my mind. Modern (2009) American society is better than any society has ever been (witness our rock-bottom violent crime rates). While our soldiers occasionally are arraigned on abhorrent charges, our society no longer views rape and pillage as _de riguer en la guerre_. While Americans will never win awards for our environmental policies, nearly every citizen can breathe without coughing up carcinogenic particulates. The odds of your child being snatched off the street by that mythological child molester is significantly less than the odds of your child dying by your side in the car you drive on the highway five days a week. And, yet, not a week goes by that I don’t read an article about some outrage that happened an 8 or 15 or 25 hour drive from where I live. In another recent thread I was accused of being heartless for focusing on a bit of humor regarding some whacked-out woman’s death. And you know, maybe I am heartless, but here’s the thing: Do I feel for rape victims? Sure. Do I feel for THIS PARTICULAR rape victim? No, not really; in fact, I neither know nor am I related to her and I really don’t give a shit about her. A bunch of stupid kids did a really bad and stupid thing. It happens EVERY DAY but, for some reason, this particular story hit the news. Why? I neither know nor care; I can only assume that some producer decided this particular story is sexier than a bunch of UN workers getting offed by the Taliban in a place where billions of your tax dollars have been spent in the last 8 years. Something like 4,000 children under 18 died today from diarrhea. DIARRHEA. A condition those of us who imbibe get every Saturday and/or Sunday morning, 4,000 kids die from every day because their water sucks. Why on earth should I spend any energy whatsoever bemoaning the fate of victims of rare and random occurrences while multitudes more die every hour from something you, personally, can kill off with a bottle of Gatorade and a greasy breakfast? Shit. The only goddamn thing the 24-hour news cycle has done for me is…well, no, it hasn’t done jack for me, because if something’s actually IMPORTANT sensical news stations break in. Some people are fucked up; some people get fucked. Rare, heinous, random occurrences are the situations that get all the press despite the fact that the BIG THINGS - the stuff that can actually affect our nation as a whole, like our tax dollars or our national security - are background noise. National and international policy has decided that I shouldn’t care about the war-related rape that has been, for the last decade or more, the de facto policy of the military forces being paid by the Khartoum government. Why on earth should I care about this woman’s rape just a little more? ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/12 "2009-10-30T04:04:01Z")
[Kitty Genovese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Genovese). ---
**Author:** ![hansel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@hansel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hansel)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/13 "2009-10-30T04:10:01Z")
Did you actually read that link, Dissonance? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/14 "2009-10-30T05:30:38Z")
I believe he’s simply referencing the bystander effect. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/15 "2009-10-30T06:10:24Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I suspect you are remembering [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=213577) by **Master Wang-ka**. That thread still comes to mind from time to time. The helplessness. Haunting. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/16 "2009-10-30T06:12:24Z")
whoops…nvr mind ---
**Author:** ![lurking\_guest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2acd7d/32.png) [@lurking\_guest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurking_guest)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/17 "2009-10-30T06:25:55Z")
Someone gets raped while “two dozen people” watch… and don’t “inform” or “call” authorities? ? Please explain the dynamics. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/18 "2009-10-30T10:34:55Z")
I hope the bastards that did this get life sentences. If they don’t … I certainly wouldn’t blame her parents for blowing the SOB’s away. I would if it were my kid. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/19 "2009-10-30T11:33:35Z")
> [@lurking\_guest](#): > > Please explain the dynamics. Please read the above article- it’s a common psychological phenomenon known as “the bystander effect”. One of my psych professors used to joke- never get into trouble in a crowd- though your chances of **at least one** person helping you is increased by the number of people present, the fact that there’s a group mentality there, is what causes a mass decrease in everyone’s willingness to help. You’ve got to hope to find the one psych guy in the crowd who understands the phenomena and hope he gets the ball rolling. That or pray for a guy with a Hero complex. But yeah- it seems to be in groups, people tend to suck at taking initiative rather passing off the idea that SOMEONE will do something… so they shouldn’t be the one to stand out and do it… ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686/20 "2009-10-30T11:40:02Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I suspect you are remembering [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=213577) by **Master Wang-ka**. That was it, thanks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/entertaining-two-hour-rape/515686.md?page=2)