Every story in Bug Week clacks and hums with the anger of women. Here, the author explains why. Content warning: this article references sexual assault and family violence. It seems like a bit of a self-indulgent exercise writing about the genesis of a book. Books are texts, separable from their authors and the biographical circumstances … Read more
We need to challenge those who minimise the actions of rapists based on the gender or ages of their victims, argues Emily Writes. Content warning: this article contains descriptions of sexual assault. News out of Australia of another college supporting a sexual predator is as unsurprising as it is horrific. Victims of sexual assault, regardless … Read more
Roll Red Roll is a brutal, painfully illuminating documentary on the Steubenville High School rape case, a shocking crime that made headlines worldwide. Emily Writes reviews. This review discusses rape and sexual violence August 11, 2012: two teenage boys rape an unconscious teenage girl as two of their peers watch and take photos on their … Read more
Over the weekend, horrific false news about a teenage girl being “euthanised” due to mental illness was reported all around the world. The truth was almost as uncomfortable: a teenage girl dying by suicide from the impact of sexual abuse and assault. Emily Writes discusses the conversation we must have. Content warning: This post discusses … Read more
There’s something about universities that make entitled young men feel safe pushing the boundary between consensual sex and rape – and it has to change, writes Jai Breitnauer. Admittedly, when I saw my old higher education institute, the University of Warwick, hit UK headlines earlier this year over a group rape chat scandal, I wasn’t … Read more
The three-part mini-series Three Girls tells the story of the horrendous Rochdale child rape ring in the UK. It’s a harrowing watch, says Emily Writes, but it’s important we don’t look away – on screen and in real life. I’m not a fan of true crime; it too often feels like ingesting someone’s agony as … Read more
All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books revisits the great poet James K Baxter. Today: John Newton reviews a new book of Baxter’s letters, in which he calmly reveals he raped his wife. For the rival heavyweights of New Zealand poetry, recent years have brought a boxed-set bonanza. James K Baxter’s Complete Prose (VUP, … Read more