Influencer
At least there’s no palaver about who’s a woman and who’s a man when we’re talking about the Tate brothers.
Two women who say they were raped and strangled by the controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate have spoken to the BBC about their experiences. Another woman has alleged, for the first time, she was raped by Mr Tate’s younger brother, Tristan – also an influencer with millions of followers.
The Tate brothers, aged 37 and 36, currently face charges in Romania of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women. Andrew Tate is also charged with rape. If found guilty, the two men could be jailed for more than 10 years. They strongly deny the charges against them.
Oh, strongly – that makes a big difference.
Andrew Tate is currently under house arrest in Romania. In addition to the charges he already faces, prosecutors are considering new allegations against him, including having sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons. Both brothers are also being investigated for trafficking 34 more women.
Now, in a new BBC Panorama programme, two British women not involved with the Romanian case against the Tate brothers, have given detailed first-hand accounts of alleged rape and sexual violence by Andrew Tate. The allegations date back at least 10 years, to when Mr Tate was living in Luton.
Look, it’s their lifestyle, ok?
In 2014, Anna told Bedfordshire Police about the alleged attack. Two other women made similar allegations, and the investigation was taken over by Hertfordshire Police.
In 2019, a file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, but it was decided there was not enough evidence to bring charges.
As usual. Rape is seldom reported; when it is reported it’s seldom sent to the CPS; when it is sent to the CPS it’s seldom prosecuted; when it is prosecuted it’s seldom convicted. Four filters; the end product is tiny. Rape is all but legal.
In the second half of the last decade, Andrew Tate began his rise to online fame. The self-proclaimed misogynist’s videos on YouTube and TikTok, and posts on Twitter, gained him millions of followers and a worldwide profile.
He preached a message aimed at boys and young men that women should be dominated. In one video, he said women were “intrinsically lazy” and added: “There’s no way you can be rooted in reality and not be sexist.”
Meh. It’s just women. The real victims here are the trans women.
“The real victims here are the trans women.”
Don’t tempt fate. Given that Tate is on record as being impeccably progressive (when it comes to his choice of sex toys) there must be a few transwomen out there who can be centred as the real victims.
The seedier aspects of heterosexuality utterly baffle me: “I only fuck creatures I find contemptible.” Wut?
Well, male heterosexuality. Or Andrew Tate male heterosexuality.
Unless a shockingly large number of rape trials are being halted by judges deciding that the defendant could not be safely convicted on the evidence presented, the statement that when it is prosecuted, it’s seldom convicted appears to contradicted this link: Juries convict defendants for rape more often than acquit. Is there another possibility that I am missing?
I don’t know. I’ve seen that claim about the conviction rate quite a few times but haven’t dug for more.
I’ve been finding some fact claims (but none that answer your question) – one depressing one is that a large percentage of victims withdraw before the case goes to court. One reason is that they’re required to hand over their phones and they don’t want the violation of their privacy.
This WaPo article from five years ago might help.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/06/less-than-percent-rapes-lead-felony-convictions-least-percent-victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/
31.0% of incidents are reported to police. 5.7% (18% of the reports) are arrested. 1.1% (19% of the arrests) are referred to a prosecutor, by which I assume they mean they go to trial. 0.7% (63% of those prosecuted) are convicted. 0.6% (85% of those convicted) are incarcerated. From this, it looks like a majority of those who go to trial are convicted, but the big stumbling blocks are between reported incidents and arrests, and between arrests and trials. It is not surprising that the reporting levels are as low as they are, given the lack of action.
Thanks for the stats, Sackbut. And it’s not just the lack of action. A lot of women who do report are abused by the police, their friends, their families, etc. I’ve heard cases of women who drop the accusation because they are browbeaten by police, and threatened with arrest for false accusations unless they do. Women who are raped are put through a terrible experience no victim should have to go through.
When is the last time you heard a robbery victim told ‘you asked for it’?