Last weekend, Canadian investigative program the fifth estate delved into the circumstances that led to the suicide of fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd in October 2012. Apparently, her parents did all the right things: over the two years that their daughter was being sexually extorted by an anonymous person who had captured a screen shot of Amanda flashing her webcam on a live stream chat site, Norm and Carol alerted the RCMP at least five times.
The RCMP, on the other hand, did... hardly anything. A year before Amanda's death, the extortionist sent her a terrifying Facebook message, which her mother handed over to the cops: "U already forgot who I am? The guy who last year made you change school. Got your door kicked in by the cops. Give me 3 shows and I will disappear forever. you know I won’t stop until you give me those 3 shows. If u go to a new school, new bf, new friends, new whatever, I will be there again. I am crazy yes. so your answer?" The RCMP's response? An email a month later from an RCMP constable suggested Amanda close her email and Facebook accounts and stay off the Internet, since "there is only so much we as the police can do." These details, outlined nicely in ONTD Political, add another layer to an already devastating story of how slut shaming can lead to teenage suicide. But the comments section reveals a spectrum of inappropriate responses, from suggestions that they "get rid of the computer" or "cut Internet service to her home" because "she wouldn't have been able to perform in private for her stalkers" to blaming her parents for being "in friendship mode" rather than "in parent mode" - because how many times have your friends called the police to report that you were being sexually extorted? Some comments imply that Amanda is entirely responsible for what happened to her - "I just don't understand these young girls today" - while some outright blame Amanda's "sinful" behavior: "She was enticing, sexual luring seeking, giving and getting pleasure. Why somebody did not say to her it is a sin?" A year after Amanda's highly publicized, tragic death, it is beyond disheartening to see that the comments section on a story about the sexual extortion she suffered is largely dominated by slut shaming. She and many other young girls are dead. What will it take to change these attitudes?
6 Comments
Carla Del Fuoco
11/21/2013 09:44:27 pm
Absolutely appalling!
Reply
Mr. X
4/18/2014 02:15:28 am
No, Amanda is a slut because she knowingly slept with guys who already had girlfriends then an heroed for sympathy. Of course those guys are no better, but the fact is she did it knowingly.
Reply
B
1/22/2015 07:48:35 pm
you have no right to be saying this! her family and everyone can see this! you are just an arrogant arsehole ! you have no idea what that guy had said to her! he may have said he would finish with his girlfriend ! she did not deserve what she got! she also did not deserve to die! everyone makes mistakes and you my friend have just made one messing with me and her family! she was a beautiful girl who yes made a mistake but you do not know what happened to keep your FAT ARROGANT SELF OBSESSED BRAIN OUT OF IT! you have no right to judge her unles you knew her so fuck of back up your mothers vag!
Reply
A
4/11/2015 04:33:17 pm
Actually she said that he told her his girlfriend was out of town and that she should come over, so she did knowingly help a guy cheat. But she didn't deserve all the bullying, it should have stopped (shouldn't have even begin) when she moved but instead they stalked her to her new school.
Greg
4/28/2014 09:55:38 am
Of course everyone blames the police because girls can't be held accountable for their actions. And of course there is demonization of men like every other mainstream news site covering this. If Todd never exposed her breasts on the Internet, none of this would have happened. She also could have redeemed herself by admitting she made a horrible mistake, but nope, she is a female and therefore a continual victim and no one is going to blame her for making horrible decisions, and the cycle of exhibitionism done by teenage girls to older men over the Internet will continue, because girls think manipulating and sexually arousing potential pedophiles over the Internet is fun and OK since all blame will solely fall on the predators if anything goes wrong.
Reply
Anissia
1/31/2015 09:43:57 am
She did admit she me a horrible mistake. I quote " Guys I was eleven and scared and made a stupid decision I have to live with".
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |