Login to Change.org
Use Facebook to connect with friends and mobilize your social network.
Create an Account
Marcella Chester
Rochester, MN
Marcella Chester is an anti-violence advocate whose life changed forever when she was raped by her boyfriend at age 15. After breaking 2 decades of silence and misplaced shame over being too trusting, she wrote the autobiographical novel, Cherry Love, which captures the dynamics of how a seemingly decent guy could rape someone he claimed to love and didn't want to lose. After coming out as a rape survivor she volunteered for over 9 years on her local rape crisis line. She blogs at Abyss2Hope.com and is the owner of daterapeisrealrape.com. She specializes in revealing the illogic of allegedly logical reasons used to attack, deny or dismiss those who have been victims of sexual/relationship violence.
Recent Activity
-
Marcella commented on the article |Isaac Shepard wrote: "Okay, so I thought I had laid my role in this discussion to rest when I had admitted that I hadn't considered other measures the hospital staff could and should have taken before jumping to conclusions"
The problem is that they jumped to conclusions not that they could have taken other measures before jumping to conclusions.
-
Marcella commented on the article |
@Isaac S, coincidence is not evidence. Neither is speculation. If we use your standard of trying to understand those who made incorrect assumptions about this woman then any time someone says they are so mad they could kill they should immediately be jailed for conspiracy to commit murder. This doesn't happen even when there is evidence of specific threats.
What this entire case sounds like is bias triggered by the woman's admission that she had earlier considered abortion. That bias seems to have caused those people to want this woman locked up until she gave birth.
Too often those who support these types of laws fail to support the types of services this woman needs during her pregnancy and after giving birth. Punish her, yes. Help her, no.
-
Marcella commented on the article |I agree that the methodology is deeply flawed to be a study about the actual number of bloggers and the demographics of those bloggers. If the blogs which were the source of building the network of blogs is skewed, which seems likely, then then the entire measured network will be skewed.
-
Marcella signed the petition | -
Marcella signed the petition | -
Marcella signed the petition | -
Marcella commented on the article |Elizabeth, I find your dismissal of the seriousness of rape cases and your baseless speculation about the victim in this case to be insulting. There is not one shred of credible evidence to support your speculatative slurs on her character. He admitted in court to having sex with a girl he knew to be 13 and he admitted it in interviews after he fled so he is absolutely guilty of the charge he pleaded guilty to in exchange for the non-statutory rape charges being dropped.
He said in 1 interview: “If I had killed somebody, it wouldn’t have had so much appeal to the press, you see? But… f—ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f— young girls. Juries want to f— young girls. Everyone wants to f— young girls!”
This was not an "incident" it was a crime.
-
Marcella commented on the article |
Oceania OZ, I disagree with your assessment of this rape victim which seems dangerously close to calling her a golddigger. Since she is often painted as immoral and has her life disrupted each time this case makes the new why wouldn't she want this case to finally be over once and for all?
As a rape survivor and volunteer advocate I know the toll criminal rape cases can take on victims and their families. They don't call it secondary trauma for no reason.
Melinda Sito, her parents had her there because it was a modeling job not a date. Polanski sought out an assignment with Vogue Hommes doing a series of photos of teenage girls. Now it is clear that the assignment was dangerous, but there is no evidence that her parents any clue about the danger.
-
Marcella commented on the article |Patricia W,
Blaming Loving's latest arrests on external systems fails to understand that the cause of sexual assault comes from within the sex offender. Other men could face all the same external issues (losing opportunities to work, public scorn, homelessness, etc.) and they would not respond by committing sexual assault.
The pre-release assessment of Loving identified him as high-risk to reoffend but he had served his full sentence and had to be released. That means he was likely to reoffend even if his post-release situation had been ideal.
Post-conviction interventions are important, but treatment is no magic fix. Too often the call for treatment goes hand in hand with failing to hold mentally competent people fully accountable for their crimes.
Some people take material items they have no right to just because they can and some people take sexual actions they have not right to just because they can.
Your suggestion to remove non-dangerous people off the registry is flawed because many of the people you would view as non-dangerous may be very dangerous. Some of those who forcibly rape children may end up with only statutory convictions. So-called Romeo and Juliet convictions may come after terrifying acts of dating violence.
-
Marcella commented on the article |
Forgot to add that this is the second alleged sexual assault alleged to have been committed by Loving since he was released. He was also charged in late July with third degree criminal sexual conduct.
Impact
14 Actions
0 Recruits
Top Causes
|
6 Actions
|
3 Actions
|
|
1 Action
|
|
Organizations
-
CARE1 Action 0 Recruits -
National Women's Law Center1 Action 0 Recruits -
Plan USA1 Action 0 Recruits -
Polaris Project1 Action 0 Recruits -
National Partnership for Women & Families2 Actions 0 Recruits
