One of the things I love about Twitter is the fact that it allows me to stay on top of current events so easily. Like this one:
@YouDiligence UK man using Facebook to try to identify fiance’s rapist. http://ydurl.com/6vfp
Of course I had to check out this news item. The short blurb before pretty much describes what’s going on, although the article gives a little more background. Apparently they have been using pictures distributed through a Facebook group to try and find the guy that attacked this woman. The police are aware of the Facebook group and are closely monitoring it.
I think this is a novel and interesting way to “out” rapists, but I have to admit, it makes me a little nervous. First of all, I really, really hope that this man’s fiance is okay with having everyone on Facebook made aware of the fact that she was raped. I would imagine there are now many people that she doesn’t even know who have all this knowledge about what happened to her. Then there’s the whole “man swooping in to save woman” piece of it that bothers me. If she really wanted to pursue this, why not let her take care of it? And although her fiance proclaims on the Facebook page that this should not be an invitation for vigilante justice, isn’t that exactly what this is? If the police aren’t the ones running this group, then it’s basically a vigilante effort.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Did this raise similar questions for you? Or do you feel like this is a good way to go in publicizing rape and getting the message out there? Let us know what you’re thinking!