Oxford schoolgirl abduction didn't happen, police suddenly announced

[Yunitsa]

Help, fellow feminists...

I've written a bit on other threads about my daughter (same age) being hugely upset about this abduction and rape. She was cycling along the same street at the same time as it was meant to have happened. As a direct result I've had to go back to giving her lifts to and from school.

This is a name change because it was all just getting a bit close to home/potentially outing.

I've had texts from her already this afternoon... news of this press release must have broken at school. She's confused. The girl was raped but not abducted? Why did she say she was abducted? Is she in trouble? Have the police made a mistake?
And then just now:
Now the police won't believe the next girl who is abducted. Is that right?

And this is before she's seen any of the vitriol that has already begun on social media... schoolgirls should never be believed, apparently; it wasn't rape either, more than likely, she just changed her mind after a threesome. - vomit.

Anyone got any words of wisdom? I have to pick her up shortly and I have no idea what to say. I'm really shaken by this. Though also, of course, kind of glad that the abduction didn't take place and that my daughter might start to feel safe to travel alone again.

link here

Frustratingly the press release on TVP's website is now showing as having an orator and not loading. (It was working an hour ago.) Like more confusion is needed here.

Oh my word, I'm sickened.

No I can't believe how horribly bullying you all are. Is that shocking?
Simply because I said it may not be true. Well someone else already pointed out that it might not be.

If she has been raped, and they are confirming that it has happened then it's happened and that's horrible.
The abduction didn't take place, so we know that's not true.

That they weren't sure if the allegations were true and that it was possible it was made up? Really?

Condemning? Meant condoning obviously.

You can't force someone to have the same views as you just because you say so.

Pickledonions- did you read this?

"From the police statement-

"Thames Valley Police continue to investigate an offence of rape against the victim"

Have a nice night :)
You lot need to go have a bath and calm down or something.

Pickledonions, you paraphrased what they said and extrapolated from that the rape allegation was possibly made up. They say they are investigating the rape.

Bullying is more like the kind of disgusting things people are saying about a 14 year old girl in her own community.

Sadly, even if the peretrators are found now (and they may be - my rapist was identified through DNA well over a decade after the event), her chances of getting a conviction will be affected by this, no matter how understandable her reasons.

Lots of child abuse victims don't tell the truth about what happened to them, for many reasons (including not wanting people to think they invited it), and get viewed as unreliable witnesses as a result. It's horribly unfair.

BBC News said this:

They said that they're not sure if the allegations are true right now but have confirmed that no abduction took place.

It's possible that the story is made up.

Did they?

How very strange. It doesn't say that anymore.

I read it and didn't really understand it, which is probably why people are getting confused about it. Which is what OP was saying firstly!!

Please don't put words in my mouth.
That isn't what I said.
I'm not confused by the content of the police statement.
I said she's confused. She being my 14YO who has only at that point heard school gossip.
And I mentioned that it is adding confusion for the police statement page to be currently unavailable.
At no stage was I confused as to whether the police believe the victim had been raped. The statement makes it clear that they do. As much as anything else, by referring to her as the victim.

"You lot need to go and have a bath and calm down or something" I'm glad you can be calm when a 14 year old girl is victim blamed and doubted at every turn. I won't deny seeing that happen enrages me and doesn't exactly keep me calm.

It's pickledonions who is confused, not anyone else.

Sadly, even if the peretrators are found now (and they may be - my rapist was identified through DNA well over a decade after the event), her chances of getting a conviction will be affected by this, no matter how understandable her reasons.

And of course if there is no conviction then everyone doubting her story will have a field day.

Cue lots of "I told you she was lying!", "throw her in jail!", "name and shame her, etc!".

Because everyone knows that no conviction = false accusation...

Poor girl. Those who are calling her a liar and feeling sorry for the men should feel ashamed of themselves. It's all too common a story though.

I'm currently reading 'Misogynies' by Joan Smith and sadly it seems that in the couple of decades since it was written, as a society we don't seem to have moved on from the 'it must be her fault' narrative for rape. This is a 14 year old girl who 'may' have met up with a man/men willingly but that does not mean that she wanted to have sex with them. I can understand why she might have lied about going willingly - I probably would have made the same decision if I was scared and worried that I would be blamed for the actions of the man/men in question. The belief that girls/women routinely lie about sexual assault is so bizarre. Poor girl...she seems to have fallen out of the 'perfect victim' category and is now deemed somehow complicit in the crime.

I hope she has supportive friends and family around her.

DP is convinced that the previous statement said that 'the victim said she had been abducted' and now says 'said she was taken from the street.' And that it previously said that the silver car they had been seeking was no longer of interest, which it doesn't say now.

Just to clarify for anyone hard of thinking, both versions of the police statement say that they continue with this case as a rape investigation.

now they need to find the attackers.

If they weren't strangers then surely the victim can identify them?

Terribly sad story and this poor girl will be vilified for saying she was abducted when it seems she wasn't. As others have said, this will unfortunately cast doubt on her report of being raped if this ever reaches court. The defence team will have a field day with it

The polive haven't said they weren't strangers.

For example - she could have communicated with them online beforehand, and gone to meet up, but that doesn't mean they were honest about who they were. She could have thought she was going to meet a boy her own age.

They would still be strangers, but there wouldn't be an 'abduction'.

(That is a hypothetical scenario btw - I don't know the details)

Gbh, given how common online grooming is, and how often older men lie about their identity in order to lure young girls into meeting with them, that seems like a strong possibility to be. Grooming a girl online and lying about your identity may not have the shock value of an abduction, but it's every bit as abhorrent.

^ tbh not gbh!