Girl raped and rejected by Swedish community

[Sir Sirius]

http://www.thelocal.se/25750/20100326/

Girl raped and rejected by Swedish community


A storm of outrage has met revelations by Sveriges Television (SVT) that a 14-year-old girl from a small Swedish community was raped at her school only to be rejected by her friends and adult society when she reported the attack.

Sweden's education minister Jan Björklund is among those that have directed criticism at adults, the school and the church.

"We have to do everything we can to make sure that this sort of thing should not happen. It is a question of adult responsibility and moral courage," he told SVT's discussion programme Debatt.

Equality minister Nyamko Sabuni argued in her weekly newsletter that the school, the municipality and the church should be "ashamed of themselves".

The SVT Uppdrag Granskning television programme broadcast on Wednesday told the story of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, named as 'Linnea', who was raped by an older pupil in the toilet of a school in Bjästa, a small town in Örnsköldsvik municipality in northern Sweden.

The girl reported the attack to Örnsköldsvik police in March 2009 and the 15-year-old boy, named as 'Oskar', initially denied to police that he had been in the toilet with Linnea and that he had raped her.

After news of the rape and the police report emerged, a campaign began which divided the community - with many of the girl's and boy's friends, school teachers, and parents questioning the validity of Linnea's story.

In interviews with SVT, community members related their theory that Linnea had reported the rape as a form of revenge on Oskar, who she was alleged to have had an unrequited crush on.

The momentum of the campaign of rumours built up with a poster campaign in school and a Facebook group launched supporting Oskar as the community increasingly turned its back on the 14-year-old girl.

"She wanted it. I don't think he seemed like the type of person that would have to (rape someone). He is good-looking, he is nice," said one 51-year-old local resident.

The prosecutor was one of the few that doubted the growing body of public opinion which had come down against the girl, who became increasingly isolated in the town.

"Her testimony was also supported by other evidence. There was a medical forensic report and also witnesses," prosecutor Stina Sjöqvist told SVT who explained that a teacher had confirmed that he had found Linnea in a shaken state shortly after the attack.

After his initial denials the boy eventually admitted the offence in police interviews, which were played during the SVT programme.

"I want to confess. I sat on her arms to prevent her from fleeing," Oskar told police.

In his third interview he related the full, and almost identical, version of events that Linnea had previously submitted. He confirmed that Linnea had told him repeatedly to stop and confirmed that he understood that his actions were carried out against her expressed will.

But two weeks later Oskar changed his version and claimed that Linnea had consented. Despite the change in his position Oskar was convicted for the rape of a child in both the district and appeals court.

Despite the clear convictions passed down by the courts, the campaign against Linnea continued with pupils at the school even going out on strike in support of the popular boy.

SVT reported that Oskar's brother began to maintain a blog on the case and almost 2,000 signed a petition to have the conviction overturned. Bjästa is home to 1,800 people.

Oskar's mother launched a further Facebook group to argue for Linnea's 'guilt', soon attracting 4,000 members, many of whom arguing that the 14-year-old should be ashamed of herself.

But despite the fact that Linnea's story remained consistent throughout, was identical to Oskar's confession, and despite the upheld conviction, the rumours persisted at the school and in the community.

The situation ultimately became unsustainable for Linnea and her family, and she was forced to move 500 kilometres to a new school, a long way from the Örnsköldsvik community that she had grown up in.

Furthermore when the end of the school term arrived, three months later, Oskar was allowed to attend an awards ceremony in the local church service with the consent of the pastor, despite no longer attending Bjälsta school, and despite having a restraining order against him to stay away from Linnea.

The service ended in a vocal public demonstration in support of the 15-year-old. Film footage from the service posted by Oskar's mother on the internet, broadcast in the SVT programme, showed him passing out flowers to his former schoolmates and receiving applause and hugs in return.

The film was used as part of the campaign orchestrated by the boy's family to "free Oskar", SVT reports.

The Church of Sweden pastor, Lennart Kempe, explained his decision to allow the boy, now a convicted rapist, to participate.

"The church is open for all. There was an enormous demonstration. He had flowers with him... I thought it very courageous of him to have the strength to come here and do that," Kempe told SVT's reporter.

Linnea was herself not in attendance at the service as her family had suspected that something of this nature would occur, and that it would be too much for the young girl to handle.

After SVT broadcast the programme on national television on Wednesday evening, Lennart Kempe has expressed regret and asked Linnea for her forgiveness.

"I deeply regret it. I have let the girl down and should have never let the boy into the church," he told SVT's news programme Rapport.

Later that day, Oskar joined up with the his schoolmates to celebrate the end of term at a nearby beach. During the evening the boy raped a further 17-year-old girl, Jennifer.

Oskar was later convicted of the new rape. Jennifer's testimony backed up by witness statements was sufficient for the district court to pass down a guilty verdict despite his protestations of innocence.

DNA evidence was later produced in the appeals court which lent further support to the victim's version of events.

But support for Oskar remained strong in the Bjästa community despite the second rape conviction.

The campaign continued with Jennifer now taking Linnea's place at the centre of the community's ire and suspicions. Comments on the Facebook page, blog and other internet sites, which had collected 4,000 members, became more and more accusatory against the girls.

Many of the comments and threats directed at the girls were made openly by people unconcerned with hiding their identities, according to SVT.

The programme reported that not one single adult at Bjästa school took a stand against either Oskar or the campaign or rumours that spread around the small community - neither before nor after the court convictions.

"We should stay neutral. We can not take one side or another," said Carina Fager, the teacher responsible for the school's bullying group, to SVT.

The Swedish Schools Inspectorate (Skolinspektionen) has criticised Bjästa school for not providing Linnea with sufficient support. The discrimination ombudsman (DO) is currently investigating violations.

The school principal Inger Karlsson, as well as Carina Fager, were on Friday reported to the Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) accused of failing in their responsibilities to support the girls and neglecting a specific policy that requires the school to act to tackle internet smear campaigns.

"It is quite clear that we need to work on our values, and the internet aspect," Inger Karlsson conceded when challenged by SVT over why the school did not take a stand and act when one of its pupils had been convicted of raping a fellow pupil.

Education minister Jan Björkund has called on Örnsköldsvik to get to the bottom of the matter, while equality minister Nyamko Sabuni has stated that the burden of responsibility for what happened to Linnea and Jennifer is one broadly shared.

"All of the adults who in various roles and responsibilities within the school, the municipality and the church whom have a responsibility to act, have let themselves down - both professionally and from a human perspective," she wrote in her newsletter published on the Liberal Party website.

I saw the documentary about this incident yesterday. Disturbing to say the least.

[Spekio]

Can't she sue them? Because, frankly, this is preposterous, to say the least.

[Big Phil]

Is there a racial, religious, or class component here? Is the boy from a wealthy family, do his parents have political or economic connections, is he Swedish and the girls are Polish? Is he Christian and the girls are Jewish? Or is it really as simple as he and his family are more popular/well liked than the girl(s) and, small towns being the insulated shitholes they are, people joined what they perceive as the more popular team?

[Sir Sirius]

Is there a racial, religious, or class component here? Is the boy from a wealthy family, do his parents have political or economic connections, is he Swedish and the girls are Polish? Is he Christian and the girls are Jewish? Or is it really as simple as he and his family are more popular/well liked than the girl(s) and, small towns being the insulated shitholes they are, people joined what they perceive as the more popular team?

As far as I could tell from the documentary there is no racial, religious or class component to this. Or at least they made no mention of such. The main explanation offered by some of the interviewed people was that the rapist was older and more popular then the first victim and, of course, male.

[Kingmaker]

She wanted it. I don't think he seemed like the type of person that would have to (rape someone). He is good-looking, he is nice," said one 51-year-old local resident.

The ever-popular "slut was asking for it" defense rears its head. And the horseshit excuse that someone popular and good-looking wouldn't rape someone because they wouldn't need to. This is completely revolting. The town might be forgiven for being initially skeptical of the claims of a possibly jealous girl. That she was driven out of the community, and that they continued to support this scumbag in the face of strong evidence and a second rape charge (one of which he was convicted) speaks pretty clearly about how the people in this community think.

[someone_else]

That's easy to explain.
Noone wants to admit they know a rapist, since that means they have some fault in not recognizing him as such, and to not stopping him. But if there is no crime you don't have any fault. So that's an easy choice most people do automatically.
The same as for the ones fighting mafia here in Italy. "if you were really fighting mafia you would be dead by now" and so on.

That said, I'd personally kick the asses of the people involved in the rumours. If you don't have proofs you should shut the fuck up, not throw mud at random to feel better.

[Zaune]

I had a little sympathy for the boy in the case at first. He's fifteen and stupid, she allegedly has a crush on him... maybe it started out consensual, but then she backed off, he took it the wrong way and things got out of hand. That still makes him someone who's who's in need of urgent and thorough attitude-adjustment, to put it politely, but that scenario is not on the same level as a premeditated sex attack.

Except for the fact that he did it again. My head may have hit my keyboard at that point.

[Gil Hamilton]

There is also the component that people will tend to blame the victim due to the notion that if they accept that she was raped against her will by someone who is by all accounts a normal person, it can happen to them or their family too. That's why prosecuters want all male juries when they are trying to convict a rapist, because women will on average tend to say that the slut was asking for it because that's alot more comforting a thought than that such violence could easily happen to them.

[Morilore]

I had a little sympathy for the boy in the case at first. He's fifteen and stupid, she allegedly has a crush on him... maybe it started out consensual, but then she backed off, he took it the wrong way and things got out of hand. That still makes him someone who's who's in need of urgent and thorough attitude-adjustment, to put it politely, but that scenario is not on the same level as a premeditated sex attack.

Except for the fact that he did it again. My head may have hit my keyboard at that point.

The fact that he did it again sort of underscores the original need for an "attitude-adjustment." Seriously, think about the message that he was sent: rape a girl, gain a massive city-wide support network including Facebook groups, online petitions, and loud public applause.

[aieeegrunt]

Unless some internet tough guy backs up his words with action (while I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony), and/or perhaps some e-stalking by a certain internet group starting with "a" if they decide to make this one of their little crusades, this kid is going to walk with little or no consequences. His age + Popularity Cult + Small Town virtually guarentees it, unless a local politician stands to gain from nailing him.

What's even worse is that he's pretty much guarenteed to rape again. He did it not, once, but twice. Not only did he get away with it, but he actually garnered attention, popularity and a sense of power. He raped and his victims, not he, were punished for it. The next girl that gets raped may decide not to even bother reporting it, since it's more likely to result in negative consequences for her than the rapist.

Maybee in thirty years there will be some scandal about Mr Popular raping high school girls once the lustre of whatever it was that made him a community idol has faded. Barring Hollywood Fantasy Revenge Scenario, that's about as close to justice as this is likely to get.

[Kyler]

Seriously what the fuck is wrong with people!

That young girl showed a lot of courage coming forward with the rape. Most women find it extremely hard to come forward after being sexually assaulted. I have heard different figures that in the US alone that anywhere from (4 out 5) to (7 out of 10) sexual assaults or rapes go unreported.

I find it pretty disheartening that the community would turn their back on her so quickly. I am glad to see the police kept going after the kid and finally got a confession and than a conviction. Popular guys can take rejection just as hard or even harder than less popular guys. As soon as he pulled out the "she was asking for it" excuse, people should have realized it was a rape. This one of the unfortunate cases that shows to many people social status is strong basis on who is more truthful.

[Thunderfire]

We had a similar incident in germany a few years ago.
Here is the link(german source).

[Eleas]

Or is it really as simple as he and his family are more popular/well liked than the girl(s) and, small towns being the insulated shitholes they are, people joined what they perceive as the more popular team?

As horrible as it is, I think this one is closest to the mark.

Bjästa is ordinary. It's a sedate, slightly parochial all-Swedish small town, with its (probably mixed-evangelical) congregation by all accounts dispersed and laid-back. It's the kind of quaintly old-fashioned place where everybody knows everybody, and people largely strive for an ordinary middle-class existence devoid of pretentious displays.

That existence, of course, makes a perfect breeding ground for the usual myths common to small towns (of them being less violent compared to the nearby city, with a more compassionate and just plain salt-of-the-earth population). This isn't stated outright, mind, but there's a subtle tendency to assume it from the outset, especially on part of the inhabitants themselves. "Sure, our little community might not have a big mall or be cool or hip or trendy. We may just have the one pizza place and a single train stop, but dammit, it's ours, and we all take care of each other."

So the insinuation that these people might have spawned a Monster (an irredeemable human being) is therefore intolerable to them. It's a mark of shame on every resident, because (since everyone knows everyone) it's inconceivable that nobody would have noticed. This suspicion comes to taint the entire community. What could be so wrong with them that they could have created a demon in human form, and never notice anything?

Instead, it's a lot easier to just brand the girl a cock-teasing slut, partly because that doesn't require the entire community to be at fault, and partly because the residents the perpetrator well enough to realize he's not a completely unhinged Satanist cannibal whose mere presence curdles milk. Yet at the same time everyone knows that those hallmarks are the very definition of a rapist, because the tabloids never lie.

Easiest, least worrisome conclusion: there's been some kind of mistake. If the girl insists it happened, she's wrong; if she persists, she's lying. And that, in turn, opens a door to communal redemption - now everybody can reaffirm their wavering faith in the village by, well, showing support for the wrongfully accused.



I should add that I grew up in a small town myself (though one mercifully free from the cloying low-level evangelism of many others). It's hard for me to dismiss the symptoms, particularly since people close to me have felt similar effects to a far greater degree. So for anyone who wonders why I tend to take a hard stance in this type of discussion, now you know.

[Dooey Jo]

Unless some internet tough guy backs up his words with action (while I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony), and/or perhaps some e-stalking by a certain internet group starting with "a" if they decide to make this one of their little crusades, this kid is going to walk with little or no consequences. His age + Popularity Cult + Small Town virtually guarentees it, unless a local politician stands to gain from nailing him.

This story is actually over a year old (well the events took place over a year ago anyway, the news got out in March or something), and it was the fact that he did get convicted that sparked the local outrage against the victim. He was also convicted after his second rape.

Interestingly, when the story broke, there immediately sprung up the same kind of Facebook groups, but now directed against the rapist and his family, or even the whole town. I found that ironic, because I bet those who did that would have been just as eager to attack the girl had they lived in that town, with that sort of though-guyism whose only purpose is it make themselves feel good and righteous.

As an aside, my lady friend actually went to that school, but graduated several years before this incident. She was not surprised because she says it is a bit of a shithole of a town.

[Zaune]

Eleas, you've nailed exactly what I was trying to articulate. It's not just the falsely accused who suffer when we start demonising anyone, even categories of criminal.

And the most depressing part is that the townspeople's response has greatly worsened the odds of the stupid, selfish little twerp actually experiencing a painful mea culpa and becoming a better person, instead of ending up being exactly who and what pops into their heads when they hear the word, 'rapist'. Nice work, Bjästa.

[Tribun]

That just a typical case of "Our little town", where you should add "-full of the worst scum with just a coating of seeming civility". Honestly, I have already heard enough stories where these small communities band together to protect the criminal in question, that it doesn't surprise me.

The difference is, that unlike in the past, where it was swept under the rug by local media (who of course wanted to "protect the community"), everyone can now read what huge douchebags these people are.

[Eternal_Freedom]

This was depressing to read. As some have said, the initial reaction that she just called it rape afterwards to get at him or whatever seemed vaguely reasonable

but continuing to support him after he confessed, AND DID IT AGAIN, is just retarded

The only consolation is that he is now probably fucked for life cos he'll think that's the normal response when he rapes someone. One day, he'll be in a big city, do the same thing and suffer the consequences. Hopefully

[Eulogy]

The only consolation is that he is now probably fucked for life cos he'll think that's the normal response when he rapes someone. One day, he'll be in a big city, do the same thing and suffer the consequences. Hopefully

This subhuman waste of semen is just stupid enough to piss off the right wrong people, I'd wager. Or he gets recognized by someone with more than a chip on her shoulder. Or, most likely, tries to rape someone who is armed.

Meanwhile, anyone intelligent in that town now has more than enough cause to get the fuck away from that shithole, letting the remaining population rot away from inbreeding and stupidity. They won't even get any tourism money, let alone immigrants, because who wants to visit a town that supports rape? A rural town, at that?

It's less than the town deserves, but that's probably what'll happen; and when it happens there won't be anything the sheep can do about it and nobody will help them. Good fucking riddance.

[Julhelm]

I don't think people here really appreciate just how enclosed small rural communities like this can be. As an example, my parents moved from Billinge to Stockamöllan (two villages in the south of Sweden that are 3km apart) back in 1986 and they're still treated as newcomers. And this is in the south of Sweden which is the most densely populated part. I can only imagine what it's like in the north where it's not uncommon to live miles away from the nearest general store.

[The Romulan Republic]

This was depressing to read. As some have said, the initial reaction that she just called it rape afterwards to get at him or whatever seemed vaguely reasonable

but continuing to support him after he confessed, AND DID IT AGAIN, is just retarded

The only consolation is that he is now probably fucked for life cos he'll think that's the normal response when he rapes someone. One day, he'll be in a big city, do the same thing and suffer the consequences. Hopefully

The consolation is that he'll have the chance to do it again?

This subhuman waste of semen is just stupid enough to piss off the right wrong people, I'd wager. Or he gets recognized by someone with more than a chip on her shoulder. Or, most likely, tries to rape someone who is armed.

How likely is that last bit? I don't know what Sweden's gun laws and such are like, but I doubt its got as many armed people per capita as America.

[Eternal_Freedom]

The consolation is he'll attempt it and watch his world collapse around him

[Julhelm]

Nah, he'll likely be released after no more than a year as he was under 18 when the crimes were commited, and then he'll rape again.

[His Divine Shadow]

How likely is that last bit? I don't know what Sweden's gun laws and such are like, but I doubt its got as many armed people per capita as America.

8th most armed in the world. Aaand extremely unlikely.

[Molyneux]

For a bit, I thought that it was a "he said, she said" situation and that the mob might have some shred of justification, until I read:

"Her testimony was also supported by other evidence. There was a medical forensic report and also witnesses," prosecutor Stina Sjöqvist told SVT who explained that a teacher had confirmed that he had found Linnea in a shaken state shortly after the attack.

Fuck that. Fuck them, fuck this whole situation, you've got physical evidence that he raped her and you're on his side? I am going to end this comment now, because the urge to internet-tough-guy in this situation is nothing less than overwhelming.