When the powerful hurt the powerless and the very powerless – there needs to be justice done for those who cannot defend themselves….in all walks of life
When Shannon Ruth, a disabled girl with cerebral palsey and Autism, came out last week (Oxygen true Crime, 9 December 2022) and publicly announced she had been raped by Backstreet Boy Nick Carter – it was a major breakthrough not only for those with disabilities ( of which her lawyer noted 83%of women with disabilities are sexually assaulted in their lifetimes) but for girls in general who have been exploited or sexually assaulted. Young women are always vulnerable to these attacks, and young women with disabilities even more so. Shannon said in the Oxygen True Crime article "After my assault, I started cutting myself to hide my pain," she added. "I felt like I had nowhere to turn, no way to express my emotions — pain and confusion — except by hurting myself and I truly believed that if I told anyone, I would go to jail. I am still struggling with that because it just kind of hangs in the back of my mind."
There are three other girls who have been called Jane Doe not named who so far who have come forward and are standing with Shannon, they do not have disabilities, but they also allege that Nick Carter raped them when they were young – aged between 15 to 17 years old and also contracted a disease from him, and were virgins when he did this to them. The other person to come for is 22 year old Melissa Schuman, a pop singer, who alleged that in 2003 Carter of the Backstreet boys forced her into sex acts. She did not pursue litigation now because of statute of limitations, however other news outlets noted that she said Nick Carter has top lawyers working for him and she did not have the money to fight. Of course, the Backstreet Boy Carter denies all allegations.
The article notes that “Carter's reps denied Schuman's charge, saying the incident was consensual.”
But “… Ruth's lawyers were having none of it. “You’ll hear the perpetrators offering the same tired excuses ad nauseam: 'She consented, I didn’t know her, I have no idea what this is about,'" Ruth's lawyer Boscovitz said at the press conference. "That’s hogwash.”
I love that these other girls are standing with Shannon – because she is the most powerless of all to be coming up against a celebrity and they are with her because of her standing up for herself! We all need to stand together when those of us are attacked or wrong is done to our children or ourselves. Parents need to stand together when their disabled children are harmed, neglected or wronged by providers.
Of all the girls Nick Carter raped, it was one with Cerebral Palsy and Autism who stood up and spoke in the end when others were too fearful. It just takes one person’s courage to give others the strength and will to come forward. Shannon/Shay was the weakest least of all person, in terms of power, yet she was the most powerful by speaking up.
Shannon said that she was standing up with her story, so that no other girls would be abused by Carter in the future.
“Ruth, for her part, thanked her three "sister survivors" — the Jane Does — for coming forward to support her and encouraged any other victims to do so as well.” She said in article by Megan Carpentier (9 December 2022, Oxygen True Crime) "Even though I’m doing this in my name, I’m doing this for all of us, because all of our stories matter," she said. "And I know it’s super hard to come forward and it’s scary, but we have to stand together and we have to show Nick that we’ve taken our power back, that he doesn’t get to have our power anymore. He’s had it long enough." Go Shannon.
‘Shannon "Shay" Ruth, 39, filed the lawsuit against Carter, 42, in Clark County, Nevada District Court on Thursday alleging sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress, according to documents obtained by Law & Crime. It asks the court to award at least $30,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.’ (Megan Carpentier, 2022, 9 December, True Crime)
Let us stand up for those who have no voice, even our own children – let us fight and get the Justice they deserve so that they will have better futures – at present a non verbal child has little chance of being listened to by police or courts. Because we cannot prove what a worker or teacher has done to them without cameras – just like the rape cases we have little chance of our children’s harm and assaults on their lives being charged to the perpetrators – our children are victims of an uncaring society. We need cctv Cameras to be made mandatory in disabilities.
How so, with rape victims like Shannon and other girls now these victims do not remain victims any longer and instead of trying to charge their attacker with rape – so impossible to try and prove these days even in the 20th Century there has been no progress for defending the vulnerable – girls and persons with disabilities from harm or bringing justice. Now victims stand up and are instead suing the person involved or organizations who have harmed or sexually assaulted them for trauma. Such as the father of the choir boy who as an adult could not prove the high up catholic priest had abused him for years and the boy suicided, and now his father is suing the Catholic church for trauma at losing his son.
Shannon is suing Nick Carter for damages for the disease he gave her and the trauma he put on her as a result of his sexual assault on her - why try to prove this rape when the victim is treated at the criminal and interrogated in court and by police never able to prove it, until she is traumatized again and again.
Perhaps that is what parents of disability children and adult children who have been attacked and harmed should be charging the workers and organizations with – the trauma inflicted on their child, the damages and the trauma inflicted on the parents! We should take the same tack.
In this case there is physical evidence of disease, and emotional trauma inflicted by the perpetrator , this should then be taken to court, if rape or attacks cannot be proven. Yes, even a Backstreet Boy should not be above the law. He should be charged and pay the price. Do whatever it takes, in whatever way you can get the perpetrator and get justice. It is better than no justice. We need to give the power to the powerless to be able to get Justice regardless of the uncaring society we are living in who do not regard those vulnerable as important enough to listen to or believe. We have the power through the law and using for those who cannot fight their attackers our vulnerable girls, and disability children who have been ignored thus far.
All the best
Anndrea x
sign my petition for cctv cameras to be made mandatory in all places of disabilities care and classrooms change.org/disabilitycameras
#disabilitylivesmatteroz