Are rape jokes the last taboo, or a line that should never be breached?

Jokes about rape are almost always vile. The rarest of humorists can
ride the line of provocative and thought-provoking, but more often,
rape jokes are coming from said victim-shamers, or those who seem to
take the topic lightly, or confuse the issue as to what is actually
rape. (If that sounds odd, take note that it took the FBI nearly a
century to officially revise its own definition of rape as something
that most people would recognize as such.)

Sexual violence activists concur that normalizing conversation and
better education about rape prevention would actually increase the
frequency of reporting. But the question is, in the right hands, can
rape jokes actually help with this? Can they provoke and make people
think, in the same way that, say, Richard Pryor’s jokes about race in
America helped further the thinking on it?

The New York Times recently (sort of) asked this question, in a
profile of several female comedians who seem to be pushing the bounds
of good taste, and playing with the line between uncomfortably funny,
and just plain wrong. Primarily focusing on vulgar nerd Sarah
Silverman, the article traces several recent threads that seem to stem
out from the spunky comedian’s willfully declasse style:

http://www.alternet.org/story/153305/when_is_it_ok_to_tell_rape_jokes?page=entire

Moral panic? No. We are resisting the pornification of women

Don't mix up feminists fighting the the corporate media with rightwing attempts to police sex - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/01/feminists-pornification-of-women?commentpage=12#start-of-comments


Since when did women's lib mean dressing like a porn star?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2068915/Since-did-womens-lib-mean-dressing-like-porn-star.html

Cardiff council deputy leader Neil McEvoy suspended by Plaid Cymru over Twitter and Facebook comments

One of Plaid Cymru’s most prominent councillors has been suspended by the party after making controversial remarks about two women’s groups.

On Twitter, Cardiff council deputy leader Neil McEvoy accused Welsh Women’s Aid and Safer Wales of being responsible for "publicly funded child abuse".

Mr McEvoy said the remarks had been in the public domain for 18 months, and he was surprised they had been raised now.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/11/30/cardiff-council-deputy-leader-neil-mcevoy-suspended-by-plaid-cymru-over-twitter-and-facebook-comments-91466-29871246/


Coun McEvoy’s claims included accusing Safer Wales of supporting women who “break court orders” and “denying good fathers contact”.

The Fairwater councillor wrote: “I would argue that Safer Wales helps to abuse children.”

The remarks coincided with White Ribbon Day, which marks the campaign to end all violence against women. Welsh Women’s Aid CEO Paula Hardy said the claims were “outrageous and unsubstantiated”.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/welsh-politics/welsh-politics-news/2011/11/30/plaid-councillor-neil-mcevoy-slammed-over-twitter-rant-against-women-s-charities-91466-29866977/

Rape: Don’t Call Me a Liar

UK digital network BBC3 is lining up a season of programs on crime, including Rape: Don’t Call Me a Liar, a one-off doc looking at the issues surrounding rape and sexual violence in the UK.

The 60-minute program investigates why so few sexual assault cases come to court in Great Britain, and why conviction rates are so low. It is produced by BBC NI Current Affairs.

Source http://realscreen.com/2011/11/30/bbc3-turns-to-crime/