Free Republic

One of the student survivors I worked with, Jenna*, was gang-raped by five fraternity men early in her freshman year. Despite the severity of the assault and injuries she sustained, Jenna still experienced a feeling of personal responsibility. Looking for affirmation, she sought out peers and told her story. Sadly, each and every one of the friends she reached out to responded with varying denials of her experience; these responses worsened her feelings of self-blame – that she must be confused because that fraternity “is full of great guys”; that she must have made them think she was “down for...

It isn’t exactly surprising news, but it is news nonetheless: The hotel maid who was allegedly assaulted by former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Monday filed a long-awaited civil suit against “DSK,” accusing him of a “violent and sadistic” sexual attack that has done her permanent damage. The lawsuit by Nafissatou Diallo comes on the heels of her decision to speak publicly in media interviews and at a news conference about the alleged attack by Strauss-Kahn after she entered his suite on May 14.  Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office are still investigating whether to pursue or...

She was paid to clean up after the rich and powerful. Then she walked into Dominique Strauss-Kahn's room—and a global scandal. Now she tells her story. “Hello? Housekeeping.” The maid hovered in the suite’s large living room, just inside the entrance. The 32-year-old Guinean, an employee of the Sofitel hotel, had been told by a room-service waiter that room 2806 was now free for cleaning,  “Hello? Housekeeping,” the maid called out again. No reply. The door to the bedroom, to her left, was open, and she could see part of the bed. She glanced around the living room for luggage,...

 The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn is on the verge of collapse as investigators have uncovered major holes in the credibility of the housekeeper who charged that he attacked her in his Manhattan hotel suite in May, according to two well-placed law enforcement officials. Although forensic tests found unambiguous evidence of a sexual encounter between Mr. Strauss-Kahn, a French politician, and the woman, prosecutors do not believe much of what the accuser has told them about the circumstances or about herself. Since her initial allegation on May 14, the accuser has repeatedly lied, one of the law enforcement officials...

  Dominique Strauss-Kahn is expected to claim his arrest was marred by irregularities when he is formally arraigned in New York state court on Monday on sexual assault charges.   The former IMF  chief faces several charges including  attempted rape, sexual abuse, and unlawful imprisonment on a New York hotel maid.  He was arrested on May 14 as he sat in an Air France jet awaiting takeoff for Paris after contacting the Sofitel hotel to say he had forgotten one of his mobile phones.  Police traced the call and arrested him, citing fears he might seek to  flee the country.   A source...

The sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, which continues to crowd out much other news here, is becoming something of a civics lesson in American justice — one that has inspired both biting criticism and some respect. Legal experts say much of the consternation here over what many consider rough treatment in the news media and the courts is rooted in a general unfamiliarity with an American justice system that differs profoundly — in procedure, tone and philosophy — from the French model. “There is an aspect of pageantry that we don’t have in our country,” said Judge Marie-Blanche Régnier,...

Ever since the news broke, a week ago Saturday, of the IMF head’s surprise arrest, for alleged attempted rape, in the first-class cabin of an Air France jet minutes from takeoff on the JFK tarmac, the Dominique Strauss-Kahn meltdown has caused France to experience a kind of cosmic O.J. moment. Specials take up every slot between news bulletins on all cable channels as well as on network prime time. Talking heads and supposed experts are called in to wall-to-wall illustrate, commentate, and pontificate. Every front page and magazine cover features a tieless, unshaven, haggard DSK—as he is known here—snapped during...

A judge has begun delivering the verdict in the trial of ex-deputy president Jacob Zuma as supporters rallied outside the court to hear whether the man they see as South Africa's next president will be found guilty of rape. Once the frontrunner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki, Zuma is accused of raping an HIV-positive woman at his Johannesburg home six months ago, a charge he denies, testifying that he had unprotected, consensual sex with the woman. AFP photo A guilty verdict could see Zuma spend between five and 15 years in jail, and bury the career of one of South...