Daryush ‘Roosh’ Valizadeh is the leader of ‘Return of the Kings,’ an online community who are ‘pro-rape.’ He has a noticeable presence on Twitter with the user name @rooshv. The group have joint beliefs that “gender equality is a myth that has no scientific basis” and a “woman’s value significantly depends on her fertility and beauty.”
The group organised a meet-up in front of the main entrance of Naas Courthouse, Kildare, last Saturday at 8pm. The meet-ups around the world were planned to take place in 43 countries all together, all at 8pm local time. Due to security measures that were set up by authorities, Valizadeh cancelled all the events.
In a blog post by Valizadeh published this time last year, “How to Stop Rape”, he has a solution for rape which is “make rape legal if done on private property.”
However he has tried to defend his post by stating on twitter:
“I’ll state once again: the “How To Stop Rape” article was satire. Neither me or my supporters want rape to be legalized. The media is lying.”
Since many countries have become aware of the ‘International Meet-ups,’ and having security alert and ready, Roosh tried to make the locations private.
He said that it’s “time to go underground in the cities that threaten the safety of my supporters.”
Valizadeh continuously speaks out on Twitter of how much traffic and attention his site is receiving “My sites are swamped with traffic. I expect outages soon.” He also posted a screenshot of a conversation between himself and a Sydney Morning Herald reporter. Where, over email, he offers an interview in return for a sexual favour.
The use of social media networks have enabled this community to organise meet-ups such as this. Although there are many perks to these sites, the ease and ability of which to access information on other people can be alarming. Authorities have even linked some assaults to the use of social media apps. “In the UK, 400 offences, including rape, child sex grooming and attempted murder, have been connected by the police to users of dating apps.”
Andy Cooke, Deputy Chief Constable of Merseyside Police National Police lead on Violence and Public Protection, said: “The rising popularity of online dating apps and websites has contributed to an increase in the number of recorded crimes. We strongly encourage users to report offences and seek support if they become a victim of any type of crime. I would urge those who use online dating apps to be as security conscious as possible and not to share personal data with anyone until they are sure about those they are communicating with. Similarly, individuals should stop all communication with anyone who attempts to pressurise them into something they are not comfortable with.”
As of September 30th 2015, there are over 1.55 billion monthly active users on Facebook. There’s an estimated 50 million using Twitter with over 12 million matches per day as of 2014. The youngest user can be the age of just 13.
It is encouraged not to share personal details online, and if you do so to have your profile on private. These days it’s easier than ever to ‘check-in’ online and allow others to see your location at a given time. Never accept friend requests from people you don’t know, as you’re allowing them to see all of this private information about yourself.
According to Rape Crisis Network National Statistics 2007, one in five adult women and one in ten adult men experienced sexual violence. 92% of survivors, who attended a Rape Crisis Centre in 2007 after experiencing childhood abuse, reported that they had known the abuser. In 52% of the cases the abuser was a family member or relative. In 30% of the cases the abuser was an acquaintance, friend or a neighbour.
Conclusions from studies conducted by Rape Crisis Midwest are as follows; “All women face the possibility of rape, not only attractive ones. Interviews with rapists confirm that the woman’s looks was not important to them.” The impact: “The mistaken belief that rape is about sexual attraction leads to excusing the rapist. Some people say that the woman’s looks, short skirt or make-up provoked the attack.”
It’s important to know that help is always available for victims of a sexual assault and they are encouraged to seek it. Rape Crisis Midwest, Executive Director, Miriam Duffy, says “Rape Crisis response to victims is non-judgmental so I hope that by coming to us they know that they will be believed and that a Rape Crisis centre is a safe place to talk.”
According to the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, last year there was a 36% increase of cases of sexual assault reported to the Rotunda Hospital. Centre Chief Executive Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop found the increase in victims at the assault treatment unit “Very concerning.”
Again the use of social media may have contributed to the increase. The number of matches on twitter also rose in the year 2015, with over 26 million matches per day. Although there is no proof that these findings are connected, there’s no harm in being watchful of the information one puts out over the internet.
LAURA CONNOLLY JOURNALISM 