Category Archives: Rape and sexual assault

Tara Reade says she didn’t explicitly accuse Biden of assault in Senate report

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Tara Reade, the former Senate staffer who alleges Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago, has said she filed a limited report with a congressional personnel office that did not explicitly accuse him of sexual assault or harassment.

“I remember talking about him wanting me to serve drinks because he liked my legs and thought I was pretty and it made me uncomfortable,” Reade said. “I know that I was too scared to write about the sexual assault.”

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Joe Biden denies sexual assault allegation from former staffer Tara Reade

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Joe Biden has categorically denied allegations from a former Senate aide that he sexually assaulted her in 1993.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s first public comment on the allegation came at a delicate moment for his campaign.

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Joe Biden to break his silence on Tara Reade’s sexual assault claim Friday

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The presumptive nominee has come under pressure to address the allegation from fellow Democrats and progressive activists

Joe Biden will publicly address for the first time a sexual assault claim against him during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Friday morning, after weeks of silence on the subject.

Biden, the presumptive nominee, will “respond for the first time to the recent allegation of sexual assault”, the network announced in a tweet on Thursday.

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Pressure mounts on Joe Biden to address sexual assault claim

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Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has remained silent amid new reporting on allegation of 1993 assault

Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is facing growing pressure to publicly address an allegation of sexual assault made by Tara Reade, a former aide to his Senate office.

The former vice-president has remained silent about the accusation, a position that is seen as increasingly untenable in the wake of new reporting. Many major Democratic women’s organizations and prominent feminists have also declined to comment publicly on Reade’s claim that Biden, then a senator from Delaware, assaulted her in 1993.

Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield, said in a statement this month that “this absolutely did not happen”, but she has not commented further.

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Rwandan police chief accused of sexual assault of child refugee at UN centre

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Boy, 16, evacuated from Libya under EU scheme, alleges incident took place at Gashora transit facility during coronavirus curfew

An allegation that a Rwandan police commander sexually assaulted a child refugee has rocked an EU-funded scheme, under which hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers have been evacuated from detention centres in Libya.

The allegation was made by a 16-year-old Eritrean boy, who had returned to Gashora transit centre, south of Kigali, after a coronavirus-related curfew on 13 April.

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South Korean businessman convicted of rape gets suspended sentence

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Ex-chair of DB Group Kim Jun-ki ‘forgot his responsibilities’, says Seoul court

The former head of a South Korean conglomerate who was convicted of raping his maid and sexually assaulting a secretary has been given a suspended sentence.

Kim Jun-ki, the 75-year-old former chair of DB Group, which has activities in finance and steel, repeatedly violated the two women, the Seoul central district court found.

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Four men jailed in first year since upskirting law was introduced

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Work is still needed to raise awareness about the problem, campaigners say

Four men have been jailed in the year since the upskirting law was introduced in England and Wales, figures show.

Campaigners said the legislation offered a route to justice for victims, but said more work was needed to raise awareness about the seriousness of the issue.

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Duffy praised by Rape Crisis for going public with details of ordeal

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Account of kidnap and rape will help to stop others suffering in silence, says charity

A national rape charity has praised the bravery of the pop singer Duffy for going public with harrowing details of how she was drugged, held captive and raped early in her career.

On Sunday Duffy posted details of an ordeal which she kept secret for a decade, hoping that it might bring comfort to others that it is possible to “come out of the darkness”.

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Urgent action needed as rise in porn site traffic raises abuse fears, say MPs

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Pornhub is using coronavirus lockdowns to promote and drive traffic to its site – but campaigners raise alarm over criminal and non-consensual videos

MPs and campaigners are calling for urgent action to stop videos of rape, revenge porn and child abuse being posted on Pornhub as traffic to the site booms amid a worldwide Covid-19 lockdown.

Worldwide Pornhub’s traffic is up a record 12% this March compared to February as millions of people across the world are told to stay in their homes.

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India hangings bring end to gang-rape case, but no real justice

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Until India accepts brutality begets brutality, plague of sexual violence will go on

It was a grisly end to a story that has been a stain on India for almost eight years. The hanging on Friday morning of the four men who carried out the 2012 gang-rape and murder of Jyoti Singh – who was christened Nirbhaya by Indian media, meaning “fearless” – marked the end of a drawn out and painful saga that exposed the country’s appalling record on sexual violence against women.

Nirbhaya’s parents openly celebrated that “justice” had finally been served, yet the crowds baying for blood outside the Delhi jail where the execution took place, bearing signs calling for “death to rapists” and cheering as news of the hanging was announced, made for uncomfortable watching.

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Harvey Weinstein begins 23-year sentence at New York state prison

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Convicted rapist will be evaluated to determine which state prison facility meets his security, medical and other needs

Harvey Weinstein was transferred to a state prison in New York on Wednesday as he begins to serve a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault in his landmark #MeToo case.

The disgraced film mogul, who will turn 68 on Thursday, is locked up at the maximum security Wende correctional facility near Buffalo, according to state prison officials. He is known behind bars as inmate No 20B0584.

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Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 23 years in prison on rape conviction

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New York judge imposed 20 years for a first-degree criminal sex act and three years for third-degree rape, to run consecutively

Harvey Weinstein, the titan of Hollywood turned convicted rapist, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison on Wednesday in New York.

Related: Weinstein’s lawyers say 'remarkable accomplishments' warrant light prison sentence

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Weinstein’s lawyers say ‘remarkable accomplishments’ warrant light prison sentence

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Defense team pleads for minimum sentence after Weinstein was convicted of forcing oral sex on one woman and raping another

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers have petitioned the judge who presided over his trial and rape conviction in a New York court to sentence him to the minimum of five years in prison, controversially citing the fallen producer’s “remarkable accomplishments”.

The disgraced mogul’s defense team, led by Donna Rotunno, are pleading for the very lightest possible sentence. Judge James Burke will reconvene at the New York supreme court at 9.30am on Wednesday to hand down his sentence, which could be as severe as 29 years in prison.

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Pornhub needs to change – or shut down

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A petition is calling on the site to prevent non-consensual videos being posted – and highlights the lack of industry regulation

The news that 350,000 people – and counting – have signed a petition calling on Pornhub – the world’s most popular porn site – to stop posting non-consensual videos and marketing them as “pornography” is not surprising to me.

Pornhub’s argument that “extremists” are lobbying to shut them down is ridiculous. I’m non-religious, liberal and sex positive and in no way “anti-porn”.

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World’s biggest porn site under fire over rape and abuse videos

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Petition highlighting failure of Pornhub to protect rape and revenge porn victims has attracted over 350,000 signatures

An online petition accusing Pornhub, the UK’s biggest open access porn site, from profiting from videos of rape and sexual abuse has reached over 350,000 signatures.

Pornhub is the world’s biggest porn site and was visited 42bn times last year. It is free to access, with no age restrictions, and raises revenue through advertising and paid-for promotions by porn producers.

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Harvey Weinstein sentence should reflect ‘lifetime of abuse’ – prosecutors

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Harvey Weinstein’s record of sexual attacks and harassment against women dates back to the 1970s in a “lifetime of abuse” in which he “trapped women into his exclusive control and assaulted or attempted to assault them”, according to New York prosecutors.

In a note to the New York supreme court released on Friday ahead of Weinstein’s sentencing next week, the lead prosecutor at his rape trial essentially threw the book at the fallen movie mogul. Without providing the state’s desired sentence, Joan Illuzzi-Orbon urged Judge James Burke to impose “a sentence that reflects the seriousness of [his] offenses, his total lack of remorse for the harm he has caused, and the need to deter him and others from engaging in further criminal conduct”.

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Harvey Weinstein: how a Hollywood mogul was undone – video explainer

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Harvey Weinstein, the titan of Hollywood turned convicted rapist, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison. In February 2020, a New York jury found Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault against two women who had hoped he could help build their careers. The Guardian's Ed Pilkington looks back at how the disgraced producer was able to operate above the law for decades, and what the verdict means for the #MeToo movement and his dozens of accusers.

In the US, Rainn offers support at 800-656-4673 or by chat at Rainn.org. In the UK, the rape crisis national freephone helpline is at 0808-802-9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800-737-7328) or 1800respect.org.au. Other international helplines can be found at Ibiblio.org

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Harvey Weinstein trial: jury appears to reach partial verdict

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Jury indicated that in three counts they have reached their decision, and will now break and return to deliberations on the other two counts on Monday

The jury at Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial in New York appears to have reached a verdict on three of the five counts facing him, though they are deadlocked on the most serious charge – predatory sexual assault.

Shortly after the lunch break on Friday, the five men and seven women of the jury were called back into court having indicated that in three counts they have reached their decision. These are: the count that alleges the fallen movie mogul forced oral sex on a then Project Runway production assistant, Miriam Haley, in 2006 and two counts of rape in 2013 of a woman who the Guardian is not naming as her intentions on identification are unclear.

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Fashion executive accused in rape lawsuit reportedly hosted Prince Andrew at Bahamas estate

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  • Peter Nygard is accused of luring women to the property
  • Photos from 20 years ago show the royals visiting the site

A millionaire fashion executive accused of raping 10 women and girls at his Bahamas mansion reportedly hosted Prince Andrew and his family at the property in 2000.

A class action lawsuit lodged in New York City claims that Peter Nygard lured “young, impressionable, and often impoverished children and women” to his Bahamas property with cash payments and promises of modeling opportunities, only to then “assault, rape, and sodomize them”.

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