Question about Libya and todays news report - warning very upsetting

[SardineQueen]

really upsetting report on the BBC about Libya about gang rape by the military.

The report is as you can imagine but I have a question. In the report, the men being interviewed say that they were forced to rape. Is that physically possible? Can a man get an erection, to rape someone, when he really doesn't want to? I would have thought not but does anyone actually know?

It's beyond horrific, isn't it?
You would think that a man who is repulsed by what he's forced to do would not be able to get an erection, but penetration would be possible on a half dead girl who has been repeatedly raped without one so that's one explanation, it's also possible that the soldiers are given drugs to ensure aggression, it wouldn't be the first time . I've also read reports from Rwanda where fathers were forced to rape their own daughters before shooting them in the head - I'm sure that any decent man would say they wouldn't be able to do it, but until they are in that situation, who knows?

viagra?

I don't know about this case and the inevitability of rape as a tool of war makes me suspicious. But men have been forced to have sex against their will, the fact that a man is turned on and gets an erection does not mean that he thinks actually having sex is a good idea - their brains don't live in their penises.

Several decades ago there was a serial rapist in Bedfordshire who holed up in victims' houses and then made his male victims rape the other male and female victims. I don't think any of those men thought they were getting lucky by being given an excuse to rape. they thought they were going to be killed and felt a loss of autonomy and humanity.

That's just to say from a mechanical perspective I think the claim could be true. I find the idea they protested and were beaten to be less credible. I think armies can brutalise soldiers and make things they otherwise wouldn't consider seem normal and make them feel like they have to fit in or die.

"Seriously, where does this moral relatvism come from?" Is that aimed at me dittany? If so, could you tell me what you think I'm saying that you object to?

on the note of can you get an erection etc

I was told by a bloke in the army that they were told in training that if they were caught by the enemy they;d be raped, probably infront of their peers and have an erection, so If they can get one whilst they are....I dunno

I wasn't trying to equate or compare the two. I was simply saying that the answer to SQ's question about the mechanics of whether men can be forced to rape is "yes". And I gave an example of that happening.

The men she is talking about however - I don't know if they were forced to or not but I doubt it.