Pro-Rape Group Will Have Meetings Worldwide on Saturday February 6

I came across this article because my friend had forwarded me an email that came from East Quad's DPS to alert students of events that will be happening on our campus. I decided to blog about this particular article to alert anyone who has not heard about it because it is a matter of safety and because I wanted to touch on what the availability of the internet and free speech can allow others to do.

There will be a meeting on Saturday February 6 at 8PM in Nickels Arcade at the entrance closest to State street of men who believe that rape should be legalized if it occurs on private property. These men believe in gender-based oppression, homophobia, and racism and the leader and coordinator, Daryush Valizadeh (pictured below), wanted to set up an "international meeting" so that all of his followers and believers do not have to hide behind their computer screens, but form real "friendships" instead. He is promising 165 meetings in 43 different countries to commence this Saturday.

I felt huge waves of disgust as I read this article because the things that this man and this group is advocating is exactly what we are trying to eradicate and make right. In today's era, anyone can be the "media." Media news does not have to come from traditional newspapers or companies anymore, but it can come from anyone's computer on a blog post, tweet, Instagram, or opinion column. The advances in technology and the internet have allowed great things to happen, such as the fundraising website GoFundMe, which allows people to collect money from anyone who wants to donate to the particular cause. But, it is things like this in which I believe the Internet is hindering our advancing in society.

With the topic and issue of sexual misconduct on college campuses becoming exponentially more of an issue, it is heartbreaking to hear of something taking place such as this meeting. The article details that many other countries such as the U.K, Australia, and Canada have already condemned the blogger and have created petitions that have gained over 50,000 signatures to revoke Valizadeh's travel rights. There was no mention of the United States taking any action, or maybe I have just not come across any information, but it just shows how far behind we are in this issue. From articles that we have read in class, this kind of stuff happens because of the society we live in. I can only hope that something of this nature will make people realize that this is in no way okay and that sexual misconduct and issues of rape is a very real problem that needs to be tackled.

List of Meeting locations