It seems that the original post has been taken from the site but a cached copy was accessible.

The rapist is named as Yaniv Nahoum.

I think it's important to put that name on here as the first and most destructive crime chronicled is rape.

Regarding the point that, if we believe the accounts of women who feel it's now safe to tell of the abuse that they have suffered at the hands of the likes of Weinstein, then there is no reason to disbelieve this account, I would say that chosing to remain anonymous undermines credibility, particularly when the focus of the post is not the man who raped.

One of the drivers of this movement, this tsunami of women speaking out, is courage. Courage to be visible, courage to be vocal - this courage inspires other women, shows them they do not have to remain hidden, anonymous or feel shame.

I'm not saying that this isn't a truthful account but the fact that it's anonymous and that it's preoccupied with Gadot as opposed to Nahoum jars.

The preoccupation with Gal Gadot apparently came about because she was tweeting to the left and right about "standing with women" who had been sexually assaulted, and the accuser took some serious offence with that hypocrisy considering her own history. Which I think is understandable. So Gadot was the reason she came forward to begin with. I'll say nothing about the choice to stay anonymous other than that I think it has severely limited the spread of the story. A lot of the women accusing Roy Moore and Weinstein have made the same choice though.

The point stands that until the source is verified and facts checked by reputable independent means there is reason to wonder about the veracity of the account and to not equate it with the chronicle of Weinstein crimes as revealed by Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd.

We are already in a scenario where our desire to support women who have been raped, assaulted and harassed pushes the requirement for us to believe every account, without pause to consider or access to verified facts of individual circumstances, thus bypassing fair procedures and natural justice.

On a personal note, when I was 12, I was assaulted and abused by an older boy for a whole year when I started secondary school.
I remember him, his name and every detail about what he did, I scarcely remember who I told or who witnessed what happened - for that reason I find it hard to relate to a woman who remembers her rapist as almost a side story.

I'm not saying that this isn't a truthful account but the fact that it's anonymous and that it's preoccupied with Gadot as opposed to Nahoum jars.

That was my initial response, but I framed it in terms of apologising for Gadot, rather than finding the account weird. But it does seem strange. 

I do think there are questions of degree, amid all these allegations, that need to be addressed with sensitivity.

For instance Matthew Weiner stands accused of propositioning a Mad Men writing assistant after a ten hour writing shift, working together one on one. That's not acceptable conduct at work, but it's also not equivalent to rape. The allegation that he froze her out of the writing team later is far more serious …

I personally don't give a shit for a cheerleader of the IDF, but when you make an accusation of this scale you need to own it. Otherwise it's an internet equivalent of a poison pen letter.

The post first appeared as a blog by an anonymous author on Medium.
It was taken down by Medium as it made accusations against "private" individuals which is contrary to the rules of that site.
The author then bought a domain and opened a twitter account to direct people to the blog.
To date no mainstream media have carried either the story or reference to the story.
The last tweet on the account was 6 days ago. 
It currently has all the hallmarks of a fake news story.
Why it was brought in here as a discussion point has more to do with people's intense dislike of Gadot than any sense of disgust at the crime of rape.

I have no interest in defending Gadot in particular, but I think it's noxious to lightly bandy about such damaging accusations against someone who is widely despised anyway, whilst at the same time ignoring the real crime as described in the blog. 

If the anonymous source reveals herself, and the accusations are corroborated by reliable witnesses then it's a wholly different scenario.

On a side note: it's pretty shocking to me that I can tell of personal experience of abuse and that it goes unremarked.
I most certainly didn't post it looking for comfort, empathy or sympathy, but it reveals a lot about that it went completely ignored.

y va marquer wrote:

On a side note: it's pretty shocking to me that I can tell of personal experience of abuse and that it goes unremarked.
I most certainly didn't post it looking for comfort, empathy or sympathy, but it reveals a lot about that it went completely ignored.

I didn't see your response until now Y va, but I'm so sorry about what happened to you. It made me sad to read. Did he ever suffer any consequences for his abuse?

And you're right, I don't have that same frame of reference when it comes to this matter. I take your point. I don't think anonymous, unverified accusations are a great standard either when it comes to these things. My feeling is that this story would have gone out as a blind item under different circumstances.

My own reason for thinking this is genuine is that I know at least one journalist who looked into this story and was able to verify the names, places and relationships that are mentioned in that blog post, along with the identity of the accuser (which has also been leaked), but ultimately the paper opted to not run it because no one else does. That doesn't mean the allegations themselves have to be true of course, and I agree that you're in a better position than me to speculate thereof.

He suffered no consequences Klaus, or maybe he did privately, certainly no official consequences.
At 12, and in the environment that we were in, I didn't know to ask for help or even think that I could be protected. I was a very quiet, shy kid. 
People knew about it as they saw it happen, I would have told friends but it stayed within the group. 
My "boyfriend" who was just 13, and not much taller than me, did try to take him on, he had some success as his older brother was in a tough gang.
 It would ease off for a while but never for good.
I wasn't the only one, but I was a particular target as I was small for my age.
I remember my girl friends would circle in front and around me when they'd see him and his friends approaching down the corridor.
It didn't stop him, he was like some kind of animal, there'd be a scuffle and he'd get through and grab hard and brutal. It was savage and disgusting. 
He was about 16 at the time, I think his family life may have been disturbed, though I'm not sure of that.

Really sorry to hear that happened to you yva. I'm sure it would have been a really difficult and scary thing to experience.

I think I've mentioned before that my partner works in sexual assault, particularly with children. It's truly disturbing how common this kind of abusive behaviour is in schools, even though schools have generally become much better in how they respond.

y va marquer wrote:

On a side note: it's pretty shocking to me that I can tell of personal experience of abuse and that it goes unremarked.
I most certainly didn't post it looking for comfort, empathy or sympathy, but it reveals a lot about that it went completely ignored.

I'm sorry Y, I intended to respond but was at work when I read your post, and couldn't do it justice.

I'm so sorry that that happened to you, and I can only imagine how much that abuse and trauma at that age would have affected your subsequent development, and left you feeling robbed and harmed.

I think all the women I've been in long term relationships with have had a preexisting history of either abuse, or assault. I'm personally convinced that the real frequency of such events is even higher than the already frighteningly high survey statistics.

y va marquer wrote:

He suffered no consequences Klaus, or maybe he did privately, certainly no official consequences.
At 12, and in the environment that we were in, I didn't know to ask for help or even think that I could be protected. I was a very quiet, shy kid. 
People knew about it as they saw it happen, I would have told friends but it stayed within the group. 
My "boyfriend" who was just 13, and not much taller than me, did try to take him on, he had some success as his older brother was in a tough gang.
 It would ease off for a while but never for good.
I wasn't the only one, but I was a particular target as I was small for my age.
I remember my girl friends would circle in front and around me when they'd see him and his friends approaching down the corridor.
It didn't stop him, he was like some kind of animal, there'd be a scuffle and he'd get through and grab hard and brutal. It was savage and disgusting. 
He was about 16 at the time, I think his family life may have been disturbed, though I'm not sure of that.

 

Thats fucking horrible. Sorry that happened to you. Can't imagine how hard it would have been to deal with.

banduan wrote:

Anonymous blog post accusing Gal Gadot of complicity / victim blaming now.

Anyone even remotely surprised? Anyone thinking someone with her beliefs could be an actual feminist let alone a fucking icon needs their head checked

y va marquer wrote:

On a side note: it's pretty shocking to me that I can tell of personal experience of abuse and that it goes unremarked.
I most certainly didn't post it looking for comfort, empathy or sympathy, but it reveals a lot about that it went completely ignored.

 

Sorry Y Va. I hope the scars you bear haven't ruined your life.

I read it yesterday and thought it was shocking but chose not to respond. Of course I should have. 

Jesus, that sounds like a horrible experience y va, really sorry you had to go through it.

It's easier to ignore than to address it and sadly that's probably why people have a hard to coming out with their experiences in the first place unless they're provided with an environment to do so.

I appreciate the efforts to respond, despite it being uncomfortable to do so.

As one of the only females on here I felt compelled to relate something personal and make this thread less speculative and academic - given that this is what this so called "moment" is about (aside: it's not a "moment", women are not having a collective strop that will pass).

On the point of the effects of assault or abuse, on being scarred or broken - I am not any of those things- I am blessed with a mind that grew very strong.
 I'm lucky to have  "only" been assaulted.
I see it that being systematically groped in the genitals in public is less harrowing and traumatic than being raped or forced into performing a sexual act.

When people talk about a sliding scale consider that the acts that are being classified all involve the infliction of physical or emotional pain, most times both, these acts then provoke feelings of fear, hurt, humiliation, shame, doubt, revulsion and loathing in the person on the receiving end.

Then consider that an overwhelming number of women that you know will have been that person.

y va marquer wrote:

I appreciate the efforts to respond, despite it being uncomfortable to do so.

As one of the only females on here I felt compelled to relate something personal and make this thread less speculative and academic - given that this is what this so called "moment" is about (aside: it's not a "moment", women are not having a collective strop that will pass).

On the point of the effects of assault or abuse, on being scarred or broken - I am not any of those things- I am blessed with a mind that grew very strong.
 I'm lucky to have  "only" been assaulted.
I see it that being systematically groped in the genitals in public is less harrowing and traumatic than being raped or forced into performing a sexual act.

When people talk about a sliding scale consider that the acts that are being classified all involve the infliction of physical or emotional pain, most times both, these acts then provoke feelings of fear, hurt, humiliation, shame, doubt, revulsion and loathing in the person on the receiving end.

Then consider that an overwhelming number of women that you know will have been that person.

Thanks for sharing yva. It's not easy to open up about this kind of thing, no matter how long ago it happened. Your last paragraph is powerful and bears remembering