I thought the following passage from the linked article was a bit strange:
“Not to blame the victim, but going off to the room of a perfect stranger isn’t smart, no matter which country you are in. We have seen the tragic results such actions can have. Remember American teen Natalee Holloway, who mysteriously disappeared in Aruba after hooking up with Joran Van Der Sloot?”
Other than to downplay the responsibility and distinguishing characteristics of the perpetrator, what is the relevance of this commentary?
One of the Irish papers is reporting on the possibility that the girls’s drinks may have been spiked. Regardless of what happened, I would not blame them. They had just spent an academic year living in one of the safest countries in the world. Living in such a bubble, they may not have realized until too late the dangers of the American urban culture, as embodied by these two gentlemen.