The perpetrator stuck a gun in her back, made her undress, and sexually assaulted her, threatening to do the same to one of her two children sitting in her mini-van. When a car pulled into the garage, the woman screamed and the rapist ran off. Days later the police caught him and he confessed, later pleading guilty in court. The Marriott's lawyers have argued, according to The Advocate in Stamford, per court documents, that the woman "was careless, negligent and "failed to exercise due care for her own safety and the safety of her children and proper use of her senses and facilities."
As the story goes on, it only gets worse with legal tactics such as contacting the woman's friends and family. Bloggers of both genders and all colors are outraged.
MomsRising, a nonprofit that seeks social justice for mothers, has taken action. It's started a petition with the following protest text.
As one of more than a million members of MomsRising, I am very concerned about recent news reports that Marriott Hotels is blaming the victim in the Stamford, CT rape case. Claiming a mom raped at gunpoint with two toddlers in her minivan failed to "make proper use of her senses and facilities" is disgusting and wrong. The woman in this case, and the moms of this county who now have deep concern about staying in a Marriott, deserve more.You may sign it at momsrising.democracyinaction.org
Please read my BlogHer post at this link.
3 comments:
Good morning Nordette,
When is a rape the fault of the victim? According to Marriott, it sounds like whenever a woman is on Marriott property, She should know better than to park in the hotel she and her children are staying at.
Marriott seems to be doing an instant-replay of the rape to avoid any responsibility.
U
Wow! How did I miss this story. Is the Marriott chain still owned by the Mormon church? If so, way to go on the family values.
U, I hadn't thought of it that way, but yes, you could extrapolate that she shouldn't have parked in the garage. Stupid defense.
Lisa, was it ever owned by the Mormon church? I know the Marriott family is Mormon, but did the church itself ever have a stake in the corporation? I honestly don't know the answer to that one. I wouldn't be surprised to learn lots of its shareholder are Mormon.
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