I remember too clearly Haidl: what defense could they possibly have? She was unconscious or nearly unconscious the whole time, and her assailants videotaped it! And they concocted a story of consent that was the worst kind of slut-baiting, and it worked! The jury hung the first time. To get a conviction, the prosecutor had to take the last jury to school, and teach them that whatever a woman’s sexual behavior, and even if she’s a sex worker, she still has a right not to be raped.

The comments at AOL are a cesspool; there is a new and worse one along precisely the lines that I described after the one you cited. The comments that are not victim blaming are outright racism.

My only hope is that at least this is so horrible that the victim blaming will remain in the realm of the anonymous commenter. But that’s not what I expect. I expect that soon enough, we’ll see mainstream media outlets putting forth earnest “how not to get yourself gangraped” advice.