The tone of the coverage of the Reynhard Sinaga case. *Title edited by MNHQ*

[Dogsaresomucheasier]

Just watching tonight’s news. I do not wish to minimise the trauma suffered by the victims of Reynhard Sinaga, but I’m really struggling with the reporting of the case; even from female journalists. It seems so full of empathy and gravitas, when so many female victims go unheard.

I don’t think a prolific rapist of men this country has ever known being jailed is something to be aggravated by. Men aren’t lesser victims. Many female victims go unheard, as do many male victims. A long sentence and the recognition of the heinous nature of rape is a good day for justice. I hope it brings his victims some measure of closure.

Of course you’re being VVU!

I'm sorry OP, but you sound slightly fucked up.

Oh my gosh YES to this. I was talking to my DH about it earlier. It's a truly horrible thing to have happened and I'm genuinely shocked and saddened by it, but why is it that they are only now discussing how awful date rape drugs are

BBC website says Home Secretary Priti Patel said in response to Sinaga's "truly sickening crimes" she had asked an independent council to prioritise a review into whether controls for drugs like GHB were "tough enough"

Yes NOW we should look into controls, because this hasn't been happening to thousands of women all across the country for years and years has it...

Yadnbu no victim blaming or shaming, no one trying to excuse his behaviour. Why can't they do that for women victims too

No, men are not lesser victims, as individuals they are equal victims. Yes, I’m delighted that justice has been served, but I’m not happy that so many women have similar experiences and do not get this level of justice or empathetic media coverage of the trauma that they experienced.

I think I get where you're coming from but just because many (most) men who rape women go free it doesn't lesser the crime or the trauma when a man rapes men and gets caught.

YANBU. The point that everyone should be taking from this though is that regardless of the sex of the victims, it is still a MAN that is perpetrating the violence, as ever.

When will male violence stop?!

YABU to be aggravated that it's a man who has raped males. Your title isn't going to go down well, and quite rightly so. Yanbu about the reporting. There's a thread already discussing this.

What were you hoping for in place of empathy and gravitas?

In fairness, the OP clearly isn't aggravated by the situation itself, more the reporting style around it.

@Dogsaresomucheasier

What on EARTH are you going on about?

You sound a bit messed up!

Would you rather it was women?

Men are attacked regularly too. These are not offences that have only just started happening to men! They are not lesser victims as much as some people portray them to be.

This was the worst sexual offending case to ever go through the British courts, so of course it’s caused attention.

I hope this sends a strong message and the disgusting human rots in jail.

Have some sympathy for the victims. Of course the case should be full of empathy as should any case careless of sex of victim!

Yeah I get this.

On the one hand the sheer number of victims at the hands of this one man means that it was always going to be reported in terms of hyperbole and something must be done.

On the other, your man the taxi driver is thought to have raped at least a hundred women and he was bloody up for parole.

Meanwhile women across the country and actually across the world have had it drilled into them, don't leave your drink unattended, hold the bottle with your thumb over the neck etc, from when they were of age to socialise independently, for at least two generations.

And nothing gets done about it. But now that men are being affected it's a problem.

How did you expect the reporting to go if not empathetic gravitas?

Ok so you'd rather the news took the attitude of, "Fuck them, they're only men"? Very strange thing to be angered by.
Surely if any tiny positive can come out of this sickening series of events, for example a tightening of laws surrounding date rape drugs, it's a good thing? And could benefit women too? Some women on here are so anti-men, it's like you're looking for reasons to hate them more.

I also think that there is something really quite nasty lurking behind the reports that tell us repeatedly that "most of the victims were straight". What, like, so if they'd have been gay it would have been more consensual?

Strange response. If you look at the most prolific rapists you find the reporting very similar.

Why, do you want them to find a more prolific rapist who is currently attacking women?

And how could they possibly report this any differently? Surely you don't expect them to say "But what he did was less bad than raping women?"

I sort of know what you mean. A while ago it was headlined everywhere that (paraphrasing because I can't remember exactly) it's been discovered that two men each week are raped in the UK.

I saw it and tried to remember the last time the fact that two women are murdered in their own homes each week was the news headline, to no avail.

Yadnbu no victim blaming or shaming, no one trying to excuse his behaviour. Why can't they do that for women victims too

If a man were found guilty of attacking similar numbers of women victims in this way, I'm sure the question of victim blaming or excuses wouldn't arise.

This thread depresses the fuck out of me.

Rightly it has made headlines due to the horrid numbers and nature’s of the offences and it would have made the same headlines had the victims been male.

It’s the presentation of “rape causes ongoing mental health difficulties affecting every aspect of victims lives” as news that is my biggest problem I think. I have never seen that for a case where the victims are female, it’s assumed to be common sense. I don’t think I’ve seen appeals for further victims to come forward before either.

I understand OP. The reporting of this case is rightly sympathetic towards the victims. The reporting of rape cases against women often isn’t but it should be.

OP isn’t saying the reports should have less empathy

I think the issue is with the tone of the reporting. I don't think anyone is suggesting that men are lesser victims. Rape is a horrific crime, full stop.