[Crossposted on Alas and on TADA. Anti-feminists, conservatives, "feminist critics," and MRAs may post in the comments on TADA, but not in the comments on Alas.]
Here’s how James Joyner describes the accusations against Julian Assange:
Assange had consensual sex with two women, unbeknownst to one another, who were friends. They had hurt feelings afterwards and confided to a female police officer that Assange had engaged in sex with one of them without a condom, having worn a condom the night before. In the case of the second woman, Assange’s condom broke but he continued to climax, anyway.
Now here’s how the Press Association describes the charges:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been remanded in custody in London after appearing in court on an extradition warrant.
The 39-year-old Australian is wanted by prosecutors in Sweden over claims he sexually assaulted two women. [...]
Gemma Lindfield, for the Swedish authorities, told the court Assange was wanted in connection with four allegations. she said the first complainant, miss a, said she was victim of “unlawful coercion” on the night of August 14 in Stockholm.
The court heard Assange is accused of using his body weight to hold her down in a sexual manner.
The second charge alleged Assange “sexually molested” miss a by having sex with her without a condom when it was her “express wish” one should be used.
The third charge claimed Assange “deliberately molested” miss a on August 18 “in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity”. The fourth charge accused Assange of having sex with a second woman, miss W, on August 17 without a condom while she was asleep at her Stockholm home.
I guess I just don’t find anyone in this case trustworthy. a lot of the press accounts — like this article by mark Hosenball, which Glenn Greenwald called “informative, credible” — seem very biased. The first two pages are filled with anonymous claims. Buried on the third page, Hosenball finally mentions the actual charges against Assange by saying:
Tuesday, a lawyer representing the Swedish government laid out for a British judge four specific charges of sexual misconduct, three related to miss a and one related to miss W. The word “rape” was not part of the charges but “unlawful coercion” and Assange’s alleged reluctance to use condoms was.
Funny how Hosenball doesn’t mention that Assange is being accused of physically holding one woman down with his weight during the alleged sexual assault, and of having sex with another woman while she was asleep.
Although I’ve had opinions about some cases in the past, I don’t have an opinion in this case. but I’m really bothered by the way the apparent charges against Assange are being soft-pedaled, including by some liberal sites, and by big-name feminist Naomi Wolf.
Anyway, here are some very good posts about this case — or really, most of the time, not about the case itself, but about the way people are discussing and framing the case.
(Due to posts added in future edits, the number of links no longer adds up to 20. sorry!)
Julian Assange at a news conference in Geneva earlier this month. Photo: Valentin Flauraud/Reuters
