April Grolle, Lauren Chief Elk and Lauren Breayans never expected to be called heroes. But they never expected to be called names either.
The three, all soccer players on the highly regarded De Anza College women's soccer team, were thrust into the national spotlight when they rushed in and rescued a 17-year-old girl who was, they say, being sexually assaulted at a March 3 party in San Jose. They say the victim was so intoxicated she appeared to be comatose, and that eight or more men stood around watching one of them sexually assault her.
The three broke in, grabbed the girl and carried her out. They took her to the hospital, notified authorities and volunteered to testify in any court proceedings. What more could you ask?
To keep their mouths shut. To butt out. To mind their own business.
That's the message the soccer players got from the men accused in the case.
"People I didn't even know were coming up to me and saying, 'Stop your lying. Shut your f -- mouth,' " Chief Elk said in an interview last week. "We'd be walking around, and people would actually come up and get in our face."
It reached the point where they felt threatened. Cmdr. John Hirokawa of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department confirms that deputies were called to the campus on a complaint of harassment.
[snip]
Grolle, Chief Elk and Breayans were leaving the party that night when a female partygoer came up to tell them that there was "a girl in a room with eight guys."
"That didn't sound right," Grolle says. "We had no idea who she was, but we knocked on the door."
They were confronted by someone they knew as a De Anza student and a baseball player. He shouted at them that this was "none of your f -- ing business! Get out of here!"
But when he opened the door, the soccer players saw the victim on a mattress on the floor being sexually assaulted. Breayans, who is out of the country until June 17, says she can identify one man who was sexually assaulting the girl.
They shoved their way through the door and confronted the men.
"We weren't very nice," Grolle says. "We were swearing like sailors. I couldn't believe some of the words that were coming out of my mouth."
They got the guy off the girl -- although they didn't get a look at his face -- and tried to get her on her feet. She was unable to stand. Grolle says they looked at the men and asked for help to take her out. Instead, the guys drifted away sheepishly. Breayans and Grolle draped her arms around their shoulders and pulled her through the door, her feet dragging behind.
9 comments:
Stuff like this makes me pro-gun, sadly.
Those young women are heroes and damned brave to boot. For them to receive anything other than praise is despicable and so sad.
It's this weird bias to controlling women and not controlling men. How could anyone think an unconscious girl consents to anything? How could anyone think this is an okay thing to do? Where is the consciences of these guys?
I have made sure my son and daughter have had access to condoms, to complete and early sexual discussions and information, and knew that they are going to be held responsible for their actions.
Where are the parents? Does booze erase everything? WTF?
There are drugs that can cause unconsciousness, too. Very hard to detect.
We should be able to speak openly about this as we would speak openly about the dangers of guns and knives, which can be tools or deadly weapons. Drugs are not someone else's problem. We have drugs all over the place. Prohibition is not working, it is making things worse and spreading ignorance.
Some advocate abstinence, I advocate cannabis. It's an alternative to what people might be addicted to, which does not carry with it the same risks to health and overdose. Many people find cannabis helps them sleep, but unlike sleeping medicines it cannot make you comatose beyond your own control.
(Reworded it)
I have spoken openly to my kids about date rape drugs. Women know not to go to parties alone, not drink from opened bottles or glasses, and to stay with someone if they become ill or pass out. (Even guys have been given the date rape drug, more often just to rob them though.)
It's just sad women have to assume danger. Why does it seem it has always been that way? I thought we'd have grown up by now....
The phrase "Grown Up By Now" indicates that we are destined to mature into creatures with a lot of good qualities and such.
Sometimes I wonder if perhaps that's not the case, and that perhaps by accepting the fact we are highly sexualized, manipulative creatures who never *really* outgrow the terrible two's but instead simply learn "ouch, fire hot" we'd be better off.
It certainly seems to explain a lot.
Well, I think some people have consciences and some people have lost theirs along the way, which isn't to say it cannot be restored. As long as we are a violent society, what can we do about the fact that violence is done within our society?
Ending war means really changing our whole outlook.
Ending war, ending rape, ending the desire to harm one another?
Won't happen.
So I quit. I'm going to go buy an island and declare myself ruler. Although... Marlon Brando tried this and he had siblings killing spouses as I recall....
Maybe the moon....
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