From Andy de la Tour in Managua OUR LAST DAY in tionary the headquarters of the Sandinista Workers the CST, to buy books, posters and badges as we could carry. In the reception area enormous pictures of Marx, Engels look down on us.
One of the CST comrades gives us a copy of a leaflet run off that morning. At 4pm there is a picket of the privately owned Esso refinery on the outskirts struggle going on over unionisation. The management in line with the company's international policy are trying workers want the CST recognised in Luc laill Tired as we all are from a hectic two weeks there is no question of not going down to show solidarity. When arrive the 200-strong crowd is in WC full voice. , Speeches, interrupted every half minute by militant slogans, denounce the role of the management also accusing it of fuel shortage which has torcea petrol rationing to be introduced.
We are warm v welcomea. ana a Spanish-speaking comrade is invited to address the crowd. Two minutes of revoluvisit Federation, Hally and Lenin union'. The May Day rally in Managua his militant speech are shown that evening on national television.
distinguishes this scene familiar scenes in England is addressed by OLIC OI the govertical. this nest of counter-revolutionaries. This govern### TRABATAU POPULAR ment represents the workers and we MacDonald (the plant manager) and the rest, that it we respect private property here they cannot be sure that we will do the same tomorrow'.
A better experience could not have been learned by us to understand the knife-edge upon which sits the strainsenior ed relations today sector.
tative of the International Relations Tae ecorony. respond popular sector' of occassion:
SUICELS prisonment.
coully armed are numbered.
hetween the sandinista government and the private industrial Th one ina vie pal inve sentor. tri is becoming impossible' says a represenmany years.
thev do it and what should be done with them? Par ticularly tions. say. Contrary to the general myth, effective punishment squashed.
A comparison between 20 men convicted and imprisoned for rape, men found showed that the same group would commit The Sexual 0 Ugramme came down on the side of individual or group therapy as the answer to lave At least the stereotype of the middle-aged, tall, dark, bearded rapist draped in a long mackintosh who should be sent down for life was laid to rest. sen evidence is a counter to those who sentences for rapists and it alsu the claim that only 'abnormal' men commit rape.
Unfortunately this initially progressive slant to the programme was undermined by the answers given lo tne madle and central questions 'Why do they do it'. Despite the fact that their own showed most rapes men, of the ihree rapists committed ordinary they interviewed, it was on Toe "abnormal Peter the programme focussed on. so wc co nold out wil ordinary typical men commit rape, like 'men who Hetherington, 'YOUNG RAPISTS' on LWT Sunday 15 August set out to answer the question: 'Who are they, why do when discussing the first and last questhe programme had some interesting things to the majority of rapists are not older persons, but are between 16 and 25 years old. Also the idea that long prison sentences deterrent was Close touch with reality and convince themselves that unel vicum Is willing to have sex with them'; men wil ice gully aller wards, men who even ask for their victim's telephone numbers afterwards and others who actually ask for another date afterwards.
Peter, of the minority with sexual problems was the centre of the programme. Described as socially inadequate, but dangerous disturbed, the stereotype would nave us think, Peter explained now. with the hein of a prison psychiatrist he had started to understand his problems in relating women as being a product sexually repressed childhood. He explained bed '... us with a scrubbing aust and wakes bold with it when he had been playing aoctors and nurses as a six year old. He told therapy now enabled him to start Te anue to women and to keep his fantasies his his urges'.
Married now and aged 31, his wife goes nearly everwhere with him and Last week the press were pestering Sir Thomas director of public prosecutions to find while he still has fantasies of 'stroking, touching and rubbing up against The stops himself carrying out what he correctly describes as sexual assault.
But here is the problem. Peter is presented to us as a statistical minority (imprisoned twice for sexual crimes). - abnormal -but what he describes as wanting to do to women is on v what all men tantasise about, and what a good many of them do every day, on buses, on the tube, at work, and on the street.
Ignoring Enem oWi statistics that shows rape is comanted oralary men, the picture the pro1s the rapist who is 'different' like the Cambridge rapist who was described as psychopal Ripper the Yorkshire characterised as 'the prostitute hater' to the 'socialinadequate' Peter the question oI ine orainary man commiting rape is igIn a programme of 40 Nute lies ength minutes given OSCUSSIO ot the involved. These important minutes. They included a short interview with Carol Topolski from the Canterburv Rape Crisis Centre who defined the problem as one of male attitudes to sex and women. She explained it in the context of how men and women see themselves and how sexuality defined Even these drastic measures can't completely society. The other part was pupils who also described the crime of rape as d problem of sexual I COUL CH and attitudes based on domination and oppression.
The other time that the showed that out allie the problem had something to do with the position of women was when it showed two files, the other for Rest Hibeo tights, Assured Beds with: life written on an image of improve your night between pink satin sheets.
such comments and clues were rare. Finally any progressive message that might have come out of the programme was smothered by the two closing remarks, again by two sixth formers. One asked: Is it really rape if you know the man?' said: "If a girl accepts a lift and eggs the bloke on, then it's not fair to punish the bloke.' The programme just did not explain that rape is a socially produced crime and that rape is the logical extension of the relegation women to a position where they are secondary to men. It never explained that rape is the result of a SOCICLY which oooresser women in every aspect of their lives. as sisters, movers as wives. Nor did is mothers, explain that rape is the inevitable result of a society which does not recognise the crime within marriage!
In the end 'Young Rapists' was a hypocritical film, which although posed as stereotyped the preconceived ideas of the rapist — ideas which are to some extent created by the media itself — it replaced them with a set of ideas which placed the problem within the individual psyche of men who can be cured of this 'one abnormality' by session of therapy: This hypocricy was driven home by the adverts shown before, durand after the programme. These as usual showed women as stupid, nagging, narcissistic and sexually provocative. Probadly ine daverts snowca us more about the problem race DIO gramme did.
Perhaps the most usetul thing to come out of the programme was wher Peter explained he 'would have run a mile' if his vic tim had turned around and said: 'Look you little go aWay She didn't, she just asked him not to hurt her. • At least his remark gives the lie to the usual advice of don't fight back.
By Bob Pennington