Woman raped twice at Occupy London protest camp, court hears
Source: guardian
A self-declared leader of the hacking collective Anonymous UK twice raped a woman at the Occupy London camp outside St Paul's cathedral in central in London, a court has heard.
Malcolm Blackman, 45, allegedly raped the woman once when she was asleep in a tent at the camp, and again a week later. On a separate occasion he forcibly put cable ties round her wrists to restrain her, the Old Bailey was told.
Giving evidence behind a screen, the woman said she lived in south London but spent weekends at the Occupy camp, which was set up in mid-October 2011 and then removed by police and bailiffs the following February.
She described being befriended by Blackman at Occupy: "He was part of a group calling themselves Anonymous UK. He was a welcoming sort of character, people turned to him and said, 'What do we do about this?' He seemed to be a leader sort of person."
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/25/woman-raped-occupy-london-court-hears
= new reply since forum marked as read
Occupy activist ‘was raped in camp tent’
By Fred Attewill Thursday 25 Apr 2013
Speaking from behind a screen at the Old Bailey, the woman said: ‘He pulled my hands behind me, grabbed hold of my arms and put something around my wrists and tied them very tightly...’
‘I told him he’s hurt me, but he didn’t seem bothered, he just said next time we’ll have to use a code word. I just got dressed and lay there crying,’ she added.
The pair were talking in the tent the following week when the woman fell asleep and allegedly woke to find him forcing himself on her.
‘I was scared of how he would react if I told anyone,’ she said.
‘I had seen him get angry with other people in the camp and I thought if I started talking about it he wouldn’t agree...’
http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/25/occupy-activist-was-raped-in-camp-tent-3667520/
This happens in uncontrolled situations with strangers. I wouldn't have gone to sleep by myself, it was just part of my consciousness of the dangers of living in the USA.
But if I had taken such a chance for some reason, I would have left and gone home never to return after the first forced sex. The Guardian article indicates they had a 'relationship.'
Perhaps she ended up with no home to go to as some of the encampment, although the Guardian article says she only went on the weekends. That would fit with her saying she was scared how he would react. Why be scared of his reaction, unless one felt vulnerable and needed to stay there?
This is a very sad case. Having a 'relationship' does not include the right to be forcing sex on someone.
