Rape is always an horrific crime. The rape of a 16 year old girl at school by four schoolboys is appalling. The fact that it was filmed by one of three schoolgirls who were watching is unimaginable. But what has made this crime so shocking to so many people here in Greece is the racist element of the crime and the response of the school towards the victim.
The girl is from Bulgaria. She has stated that racist insults were used during the rape. She and her mother have been forced to leave the village where they have lived for seven years because of threats they have received. The school has apparently refused to talk to the girl’s mother and the town major actually said that consideration should be given to the boys because they
were upset by all this as well
One of the boys is the son of a teacher at the school and another is the son of a local policeman.
Racist incidents are on the rise here. Media sensationlism has helped to fuel this growing trend. Almost daily, rabid xenophobes scream their way into our living rooms and very little serious discussion about racism exists here. No-one seems to want to face it or deal with it in any serious way. Children are growing up in an atmosphere of hatred. I have no doubt that unless a serious and dedicated effort is made now, we will see more racist attacks and incidents in school and elsewhere. The time for denial is over.
This rape is a serious indication that something is very wrong here. Even the Greek president has spoken out in this case
Greeks have experienced emigration and racism and we will not impose what we have been through on the immigrants living and working here
My thoughts are with this girl and her family.
Via the Independent Online
Hello DD,
Thank you for blogging about this. I have been following the story with horror for the last few days through the Greek online newspapers and have hoped to see something about it in the Greek blogs I occasionally read (yours has been the first so far). I completely share your opinions and feelings on the matter and on Greek society. I hope there will be appropriate punishment but I am very worried that once more things will be covered up. Surprisingly, there has hardly been any coverage from the european press. My thoughts, too, are with this girl and her family.
1. Why are the boys presumed guilty. Whatever happend to the democratic principle of innocent until proven guilty?
2. Why has the medical examiners report of the girl not been released if it shows that the sex was not consensual?
3. Why are the thousands of rapes comitted by illigal immigrants over the past 20 yrs against Greek women not reported by this blog, and why are these not considered racist rapes?
4. Why must multicultural group sex be considered racist? Shouldn’t monocultural group sex be considered racist?
5. Why is the video of the alleged rape not released? The claim is that i t was delted, but with todays tech, it is possible to recover deleted files.
6. WHy have so many people gone up in arms over a stil unproven rape?
1. I agree totally in the notion of innocent until proven guilty. There’s obviously been enough evidence for them to be charged with the incident, now let’s hope the fact that they are the sons of teachers and police officers mean they wont recieve a fair trial.
2. The medial examiners report of the girl will be made available to the relevent authorities who are dealing with this case, it’s not going to be kept a secret now is it? Or do you mean why hasn’t it been released to the public so we debate its contents?
3. I think the point that racist insults were used during the rape were what leads to the conclusion of “racist rape”. It’s not because the alleged rapists are Greek and the victim Bulgarian.
As for your other point about rapes against Greeks. Rape is a crime no matter who commits it and no matter who it’s against.
4. See point above? I don’t believe that you’re actually being serious with this point. If you are then sheesh, it just means that you really are that dumb.
5. It was recorded on a cell phone. You delete a file from a cell phone and it’s gone. There’s no way to restore it.
6. I think the reactions to this crime have caused the “up in arms” reaction. How does this make us look overseas? The fact that the mayor of the town made such a stupid statments. The fact that the school suspended the victim and refused to talk to her.
At the end of the day, a school girl got raped at school.
This is one of those cases that was bound to wind people up. People do not want to face the fact that racism does exist in Greece.
What I am trying to point out here is not that ALL Greeks are racist but that some Greeks are. Racist attitudes are on the rise here. There is no question about that. The media is helping to fuel that in no small way. What I would like to see is some serious discussion about what can be done about it before it is too late. Given the extremes of denial here I cannot see that happening.
For more on the racism issue in this case (written by a Greek journalist) please read this article
I believe EllasDevil has clearly addressed the comments made by IRTW above.
Racism is a growing problem in Greece as well as every other country that accepts immigrant workers. But the underlying cause of this problem is not just racism. It also has to do with sexual orientation and education. No one so far is addressing this important issue.
To add insult to injury the school ruling council decided that Both the alleged rapist and the victim were suspended for five days!!! Therefore is the board is telling the world that they are all equally to blame?
The only ray of light in this whole, sordid story is the unequivical condemnation of the school’s actions that is coming from across the political spectrum .
I think there is a long term solution to this: Peace Education. I have been working to put Peace Education in Greek schools: an attempt to provide kids with a new paradigm of how the world can function; the concept of world citizenship and gender equality as well as non violent solutions to global’ local and personal problems. The response from teachers has been very positive, but as always for this kind of thing funds aren’t available and (until now) the government has not been interested. I’m trying to get a meeting with Ministry of Education to see if NOW they finally see the need for such a thing….
Thank you for the reminder, Smiley Inside. I did a post on the Peace Education project quite a while ago. You can read it here at Peace Education
HA! Like the ministry has time and funds for this? I don’t see how world citizenship will…well…prevent rapes. There have been many stories of immigrants raping TWELVE year old girls and their mothers…so, I do not understand why a more worldly education will bring about positive change…
Ellas Devla,
1. WHERE is the evidence…on the media? I might have sattelite TV and a law degree…but it is far from certain without the medical examiners report. You, and Diva, are guilty of jumping to conclusion! Why is it beyond doubt that the girl is lying? The version that has been playing over the sattelite is that the girl had a crush on the boy, the boy said he would make love to her, but first she had to make love to his friends. She consented. THis is disgusting in itself, but it is not rape.
2. I belive IRTW meant that while the boys have been deemed guilty by even the president of Greece, we, the democratic public including politicians that sympathizes with all people regardless of race, religion, and number of teeth in our mouths, do not have the evidence before us…those who say this or that person is guilty is guilty him or herself of slandering without any evidence…I believe in truth and justice, and so does my friend IRTW. Justice requires truth. So, I will wait until the scientific evidence shows whether or not it was a rape. Until now, this has been nothing but a media circus. If it was rape, then those guilty should be tried. If it was not, then I fear that there will be some sort of backlash against immigrants.
3. I have not heard any evidence of there being racial slurs…but then again I am not in Greece, and only have sattelite TV…please lemme know about what the slurs were.
ELLAS’ point 5: Your technical expertise is lacking ALL data is recoverable regardless of whether or not it was deleted. Just yahoo something on the subject of data deletion. In order for digital data to be fully destroyed, it must be overwritten at least 4 times for it to never be recoverable… EVEN ON CELL PHONES (check out the news a couple of months back about this) Therefore, WHY HAS THE VIDEO OF THE RAPE NOT BEEN MADE AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC?)
and on yourfinal point…who cares how this makes Greece look oversees? Rapes happen everywhere…if you want to see real racism, go to the ghettos of Miami…if you are a white woman…you’ll be called all sort of demeaning names…I have personally been a witness of a quite large black man treating me and my other friend (female too) like we were white meat. That was in my more naive days…Ive since woken up to the realities. No matter how good of a heart one might have, mosters will be everywhere…
Therefore, we should all celebrate Anti-RACISM day…there exist racist fascists, semites, blacks, blues whites, and browns…
I just wonder what the reaction of the local community would be if the girl was greek and the guys were Bulgarians. Uhm, maybe then they would not be “our innocent studs, who felt that the girl needed violent sex and ass kicking”. By the way if you see the way greek small societies handle the matter of rape you shall be astonished.They will alway react in the way of “she asked for it”, or “she wanted sex, but not to be called a whore”, or ” can you believe that whore?”
Why is it so hard for people to believe that this was rape?
People didn’t believe me.
I believe her.
I can’t believe anyone is really arguing what happened here. And my god, why should they release the video even if it wasn’t deleted? How sick is that?
Whether the rape was racially motivated or not, obviously the boys took advantage of the girl and her feelings, which unfortunately is a very easy thing to do at such an age, and is a prevalent factor in many acquaintance rapes through high school and college. The outcome would have probably been the same had it been a Greek girl. However, the possibility exists that she was targeted because she was an immigrant.
What is most disturbing to me is that boys of this age seem to think there is nothing wrong with this sort of behavior. Bully type behavior is spreading across the globe so quickly, it makes me worry about our future generations, and what we are teaching them.
Anon, I am very sorry that people did not believe you. Sadly, this is the case for many people who have suffered rape. Have you made contact with a rape crisis centre (or equivelent) if there one where you are ?
I just read today that a private high school in Athens has offered the girl a three year scholarship. I hope she is able to take it.
We need to move from a world where the burden of proof lies with a rape victim. Sure, people say the legal system doesn’t work that way, but it sure as hell seems to when it comes to rape.
By the way, Anon, if you want to talk or anything, feel free to email me.
thedeviousdiva@gmail.com
Go read this post….and tell me that Diva is not trying to slander Greece here on the internet.
http://deviousdiva.com/?p=246#comment-5063
Anna, I’ve just read the post. Now let me tell you something.
Diva is not trying to slander Greece on the internet.
Happy?
DD, I’m always amazed at how calm you manage to remain when faced with these trolls. I always totally lose my temper!
I am afraid this incident shows the real human nature.. boys raping girls filming..
Racial motive is also another reality. Whoever has the power tries to crash the others. I am loosing my hope