Like what happened in Steubenville young women in Norman, Oklahoma were sexually assaulted by a classmate. Like Steubanville gossip about the assaulted spread throughout the student body nearly immediately after each assault. There is (allegedly) a video of one of the assaults. There's audio confession to one of the assaults on Jezebel.
Like Steubenville the school administrators have largely FUBAR'd the situation. Like Steubenville the assaulted have been...are being brutally assaulted again both by in person bullying and via social media. It's been intolerable for these young women. These girls have been chased out of their schools. The entire situation is covered by Jezebel and they have done an excellent job in telling the details of what up to now is a typical story of high school sexual assault.
But, this is where the situation departs from what happened in Steubenville.
On a positive note.
Unlike what happened in Steubenville the family and friends of these young women are fighting back. Not everyone is agreeing with the bullying and social media attacks. Some are calling for the Norman High School Principal and administrators to do better. Some students from Norman High School in Norman, Oklahoma decided the slut shaming must stop. More than that, they decided a protest is in order. Not only that, but they have put their high school administrators into a corner and they are going to "allow" the protest.
Scott Beck, the principal of Normal High School is restricted by education's HIPAA law, called FERPA, in what he can say. His letter attempts to be objectively dismissive. He says there will be a police presence for "safety", but it comes across as intimidating. He plants the idea that the parents can "forbid" their children from attending the protest. Maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the intent of this letter, but I'm impressed that the protest will occur tomorrow.
If I was the parent of a student at Norman High School, I'd be concerned about the rape culture at the school. There are three girls that we know of who were allegedly raped off school grounds and off hours, but by a student of Norman High School (now suspended for the rest of the year). I'm concerned that the three girls can't come back to their school because of bullying. Rather than be proactive in teaching "Don't Rape", a school administrator actively blamed one of the victims in front of her mother. As a parent I would be concerned about the underage binge drinking. I'd like to know why the school tolerated and enabled the slut shaming bullying on school grounds and I'd want to know what the plan is for putting an end to the bullying and bringing the girls back to class.
The only glimmer of decency in this mess is that one girl came forward to be the face of an organized protest. She (and others) created #yesalldaughters. It's an offshoot of #yesallwomen where women share their abuse stories. #yessalldaughters is about rape victims being someone's daughter. (They miss out on the fact that boys and men are raped and are somebody's son, but there is no equivalency. I can still support this effort. The face of sexual harassment and rape is overwhelmingly female.)
The situation in Norman, Oklahoma is different than what occurred in
Steubenville. It's not a lot different as the girls are being revictimized by their peers and their school district, but the fact that someone cared enough to campaign for a change is heartening to me.
It's a start.