A 17-year-old Canadian girl died Sunday following a suicide attempt last week. The family of Rehtaeh Parsons said that their daughter never recovered from an alleged rape by four teenage boys in November 2011 that left her deeply depressed and rejected by her community.
Placed on life support last Thursday at a local hospital, Rehtaeh Parsons died on April 7 after her family made the decision to take her off the life support.
In a Facebook memorial page, the girl's mother, Leah Parsons, wrote that Rehtaeh had been shunned and harassed after one of the boys allegedly involved in the rape took a picture of the incident and distributed it to their "school and community, where it quickly went viral."
"Rehtaeh is gone today because of the four boys that thought that raping a 15-year-old girl was okay, and to distribute a photo to ruin her spirit and reputation would be fun," Parsons wrote.
Rehtaeh Parsons, Canadian Girl, Dies After Suicide Attempt; Parents Allege She Was Raped By 4 Boys
I blame this on slut shaming and double standards. No one harassed the boy who took the picture or the one who raped/had sex/whatever happened.
A similar case happened where I live last October. A girl allegedly had sex with a few boys at a party, and supposedly there was video of it and the boys were going to put it online. Word got around and the once well-liked girl was bullied relentlessly, and even her own "friends" deserted her. Within days, she jumped in front of a train and died. I use the train station where she jumped and there was a memorial the next night. All the high school kids there were in total shock and dismay.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/26/felicia-garcia-suicide_n_2023835.html
I don't know what became of the boys who had sex with her, but supposedly there were suspensions. But why weren't they harassed? Why that poor girl?
I'm just sickened over all this.