This has actually just made me cry

[Memoo]

sorry for daily fail link

I believe football teams in the past have received sanctions where their fans have engaged in anti-social or violent behaviour. I think the same should apply here. Those who are organising the "protest" should be refused entry to the grounds. If the protest starts at 9 seconds, the match should be suspended immediately. The club also should issue the strongest possible statement distancing themselves from this action and from the convicted rapist as well.

It may be hard to believe the man's girlfriend is standing by him, but I am sure we have all known women who have "stood by their man" even when they have experienced the most hideous abuse, humiliation and/or deception from them. It is possible that she has bought the garbage that women literally throw themselves at professional football players, that being "red blooded men," they are incapable of resisting such advances and therefore, it is impossible that they could "genuinely" rape anyone. Papers like the Daily Mail are filled with stories of women who lie about rape, which also supports this position. Perhaps the girlfriend just feels she has to accept infidelity as an occupational hazard of being in a relationship with a professional footballer.

I suppose I can somewhat understand the sister's support for her brother. It's not the first time that someone has believed a relative despite overwhelming evidence that they are lying.

Bloody hell, that's awful. So depressing.

Just so sickening.

Reminds me of that case in the US where the American college footballer who raped a young woman was venerated while she was denigrated (including the college he played for trying its hardest to protect him so he could keep on playing).

Hideous, all of it.

I know it's not the team organizing it (or not publicly anyway). But the only way you can show a very large number of football that something is frowned upon, not acceptable, etc is to punish the team. Then the fans are punished by not seeing their team play, or not seeing their team win, or seeing their team relegated without playing or something like that. How else are you going to send a message to a large number of plonked who don't care that one of their team has raped a teenager ?

Totally agree Jux.

does anyone know if it happened? the match was earlier this evening wasn't it?

I have no reasonable words. Well given this they probably are reasonable but ...

Unbloodylievable

Why am I not surprised? These footballers are so pandered, adored and idolised that some of them think morality and the law does not apply to them. Would they(fans and footballers) be happy for fellow footballers to treat their sisters or daughters like this? I really hope it didn't happen.

I think this is disgusting. I feel very sad that we live in a world where a rape victim is called a slag and these footballers think a) it's ok to treat a woman as some sort of object and b) get away with it because they're rich and famous. As for the "football fans" applauding a rapist...I don't even know how their attitudes can be put right because they are so wrong. I think the club needs to send a strong message to these people that they do not condone rape, and anyone involved in this clapping should be banned from buying tickets to see future games.

It's made me cry, too. I feel so desperately sorry for the young woman at the centre of this. I was raped when I was 19 and it was hell on earth without all the additional aftermath this victim's going through. How can you even begin to put your life back together after so much abuse?

Does anyone know what happened at the match today?

does not change how hideous the idea and everything behind it is, but good to know that at least they failed
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/04/28/bid-for-public-show-of-support-for-ched-evans-at-sheffield-united-falls-flat-91466-30861200/

Thanks for the link, Hazle. I was just searching for any news on the game. I'm glad they failed.

me too.

That's good to know, thank god the majority had more sense!

Only just seen this, but I am so relieved to see that the attempt to show support for this bastard failed.

I am so sickened by this that I cannot find the words to express my disgust.
I've reported that foul facebook page and I hope other people have as well.
How can people (women as well) call that poor young woman a slag? They are rape apologists. What the bloody hell do they think the footballer is, boasting about how many girls he can get?

Thanks for that link. Im so relieved it didn't happen.

i clicked on the facebook link. the thing that shocked me was the number of females supporting him - i suspect here lies part of the problem - these girls are going to raise boys and tell them that 'sometimes a girl just asks for it' "...and the cycle repeats.

ignorance is breeding ignorance

just to avoid any doubt - i am NOT blaming the mothers for this - i'm just saying that amongst the myriad of influences that lead a footballer to believe he can rape a girl and that's all right - the fact his mother has been brainwashed into thinking that's acceptable is very unhelpful.

i despair.

Poppadum, why don't you blame the mothers? Anybody who encourages men to think that this is acceptable is part of the problem, regardless of their sex. Excusing women, just because they are women, is shameful. All too often, feminists seem to want to absolve women of any blame in any situation (and to avoid any confusion here, I am referring to those supporting Evans, not the victim).

On a related point, I am just watching Chelsea play QPR. A Chelsea player is about to stand trial for racially abusing a QPR player. Nothing proven yet, but Chelsea fans are abusing the QPR player because he has had the cheek/guts to stand up to the abuse and take it to trial. This behaviour is not restricted to anti-women, nor does it have particularly misogynistic roots. It is purely down to the tribal, low-IQ, uneducated nature of football fans.

Something which I find nearly as odd and unpleasant is the way in which footballers are generally excused for violence against women but vilified for consensual sexual activity eg Collymore got far more stick for going dogging (which is consensual) than for beating up Ulrkika Jonson, no one seemed to care that Gasgoine put his wife in hospital but some or other footballer (forget who, not interested in football) got into trouble for attending a fetish club (again, consensual stuff).
But the whole WAG thing around football is just misogyny cubed.

I'm with Sanjeev on both points.

I do think that the phrase "No means no," and the associated campaign, is partly to blame for what has happened since Evans was convicted. It puts the onus on the victim to say "No" - and there may be many reasons why she cannot say it. She might be drunk, she might have been drugged, she might be paralysed with fear and unable to utter a sound. It allows the blame to be shifted wrongly onto the victim because she was incapable of saying "No." That doesn't mean that she consented though.

The teaching should be: in the absence of a specific "yes" or other consent, it is rape. The victim shouldn't have to refuse sex. The default should be: I don't want sex unless I specifically say so.

I haven't phrased this very coherently but I hope you understand what I mean!

Yep, I agree with you Solid, I've ranted and raved about the Stan Collymore/Ulrika Jonsson situation upthread, and have been doing so in RL since I first read this thread yesterday. I didn't mention Gascoigne coz I wasn't sure of my facts but I distinctly remember the revelations about him hitting his wife and the fans certainly didn't seem to care. The misogyny is terrifying.

I'm still trying to understand why the other bloke who raped her got away with it. If she was too drunk to consent to Evans, then surely she was too drunk to consent to anyone.

These people are only showing themselves up for the vile people they are. It makes me very angry too, but honestly most people probably don't sympathise with these idiots, who think that they are above the law because football is practically a religion.

"It is purely down to the tribal, low-IQ, uneducated nature of football fans." This.

(Many football fans anyway.)