I felt utterly gleeful reading the following two stories of women crime victims fighting back:
The tale of the savvy 19-year old prostitute
Via Feministing, we learn the tale of a young prostitute who was afraid no one would believe her if she reported the off duty police officer who kept forcing her to have sex with him against her will. So, as she described it, "When his pants were down around his ankles, I just took his badge." Actually she took more than his badge -- she took the black leather case containing the officer's badge, police identification photo, license to carry a firearm, and Social Security card. The FBI had her set up a telephone call with the officer ostensibly to arrange return of his items but in reality to get him to incriminate himself. The officer's name is Michael LoPriore of Everett, Massachusetts.
A plea agreement has been filed with the court in which LoPriore will plead guilty to a felony with the agreement that the prosecutor will recommend a year in prison and his lawyer will seek probation. It seems like a light sentence to me for a rape, especially given that this was an abuse of power and that this officer has committed at least one other crime before and is currently facing other charges. In any case, I have to give a big thumbs-up to the victim and make the observation that you should never underestimate anyone!
(Zuzu beat me to it again!)
Feminist Mormon Housewife terrorizes muggers
If that weren't great enough, this post from Janet absolutely made my day. She describes what happened when she was surrounded by eight man who demanded that she hand over her purse:
Like I said, I felt tired and cranky. If I’d been smart I’d have just handed over the purse and tried to run for it while they looked for money. Instead, all the humiliation of the last 10 minutes, my headache, the @#%$^& missing key, and my ridiculous embarassment at being white converged on a point of utter bitchiness. I stomped my foot, held the purse out in front of me, and yelled, “FINE! IF YOU WANT A BAG FULL OF TAMPAX, BE MY BLOODY GUEST!”
The men took literal steps backwards. They held up their hands, as though my purse contained a gun. About half of them looked at their feet. I shook the purse at them again and made a “Hmmph!” noise. Finally, the guy who I guess was the leader looked me straight in the eye, gave me a big grin, and said, “You’re a cool white girl. We’ll walk you to your door.”
Read the whole post.
I don’t know about the underestimating part. I mean, how did she think stealing his badge was going to prove rape? It worked out for her because he called her to get it back and the call was recorded, but I don’t understand her thought process there.
The sentence recommendation is a scandal. A year!? You can get that for recidivist jay walking in most states. But hey, it’s Massachusetts, what can you say?
Posted by: Richard | October 16, 2006 at 10:43 PM
Posted by: ballgame | October 16, 2006 at 11:00 PM
It corroborates her story and it's tough for him to account for. He would have a lot of 'splaining to do as to how she might have gotten his badge.
Posted by: The Happy Feminist | October 16, 2006 at 11:00 PM
Great story, ballgame!
Posted by: The Happy Feminist | October 16, 2006 at 11:02 PM
The only way it corroborates her story is if it was common knowledge that he kept his badge safety pinned to his scrotum. “You have my badge, big deal. So you’re a liar and a thief!” he’d say. I just don’t think it was really that clever, but glad it worked out for her anyway.
Posted by: Richard | October 17, 2006 at 12:32 AM
Really? I think it's pretty damn clever. I wouldn't have thought of it.
And yeah, he would have to come up with a good story as to (a) how she got it off his person, (b)how she got away with it, and (c) why he didn't report it immediately (the loss of his badge which is a major security breach) which he predictably didn't.
Posted by: The Happy Feminist | October 17, 2006 at 05:42 AM
I think it was clever of her- all she really needed was something to get someone in charge to pay attention to her claim. Obviously it worked out really well for her because he was foolish enough to incriminate himself over the phone. But even if he hadn't conveniently incriminated himself, he would still eventually have to account for quite a few details. Her posession of his badge does nothing but lend credibility to her story- it's better than her showing up at the station with nothing but her testimony.
Posted by: Starfoxy | October 17, 2006 at 11:05 AM
Janet's story is great. And if you haven't read through the comments on the post--Go! Do so now! The whole conversation is wonderful.
Posted by: Shawna R. B. Atteberry | October 17, 2006 at 03:23 PM
At the very least, the badge proves that he had sex with her (even if it doesn't prove coercion), which would be improper conduct for an officer.
Posted by: The Grouch | October 20, 2006 at 12:28 PM
i believe i am a feminist but dont you think the whole post feminist womens movement is in the grip of a terrible monomania about our sex? aside from the fatuousness of sex chauvenism generally what annoys me about it is awful bourgeois political complacency, its lack of serious radicalism, which will always flow not from sex but from class and feminism has nothing to say about class injustice..the injustice utterly indifferent to sex. an educated middle class professional woman is infinitely more powerful than a working class man and this has always been the case. sex is an incidental thing to my mind.
Posted by: susan corbett | March 16, 2007 at 01:21 PM