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Title: Det Var Ikke Voldtekt: 10 Menn Forsvarer Seg I RettenAuthor: Heidi Helene Sveen
Published: 2019
Language: Norwegian
Pages: 269
Rating: 4/5
Summary:
By taking a look at ten different rape cases appearing in court in Norway, Sveen explores rape myths, consent and how we look and talk about rape and sexual assault in our society.
Review:
This was a difficult book to read, but really, really interesting. I've never read a book about rape specifically about Norway and I think that I went in with some sort of idea that "oh, we all know about rape myths and almost all of us know that those things aren't true." Apparently that is not the case.
We take a look at ten different cases in this and throughout them, we explore different rape myths and ways people accused of rape try to use them to free themselves of blame. At the end of each chapter, the author takes a closer look at the approach of each case and explains why whatever tactic was used could be effective (but usually isn't, luckily) and talks a little bit about public perception of things versus what the science tells us, like for example: some people think that victims who don't react to a rape the way "you're supposed", that calls into question their credibility, whereas in fact, studies show people react in all kinds of different ways to traumatic events and there is no "right way" to react.
It's extremely provocative to read about both the accused and their defence going after the victims with questions that all try to shift the blame on to them. The book also includes a lot of details about the different assaults and those bits definitely make the book harder to read, but I think it was the right choice to keep them in there.
One thing to note in this is that all the cases mentioned in this book ended up with the court condemning the accused of rape; there are no cases where they go free and so we only see that side of what these cases can be like.
Overall, a very interesting book that I think most people would find infuriating, but also educational.
You can read more about it on Goodreads
