All this week we have been reading your comments on Twitter and Facebook regarding the Steubenville rape case. We’ve seen the outrage over the parents' and the football players’ behavior. But on other parts of the web, you can find comments that call the victim into question. In fact, earlier this week two teens were arrested for threatening the victim online.
It was those kinds of comments that led Lynn Beisner, contributing writer for rolereboot.com, to start a Facebook group. Within 24 hours of starting the “We Support Jane Doe” Facebook group, thousands of people began asking to join. She didn’t realize she was not only carving out a space online for people to show support for Jane Doe, she was also creating a safe space online for women to talk about sexual assault.
“She needs to know this was not her fault,“ Beisner said in a phone interview with HLN before the show Wednesday. “People are saying, ‘You’ll recover. Take your time. There’s no need to be ok today.”
Other messages left on the page offer to start a college fund for Jane. Some say they are also familiar with the pressures of being in a small town and would be happy to help her find a safe place somewhere else.
And it’s not just women sharing supportive messages. Beisner said she was surprised by the number of men who have stepped forward with their kind words.
Beisner doesn’t have any future plans for the page, which has only been in existence for a few days now. She simply wants to keep it as a “positive place” on the Internet for women who need support.
For more conversations like this, watch Raising America every week day at 12 p.m. ET on HLN. And be sure to tweet @KyraHLN with the #RaisingAmerica hashtag or leave your thoughts on Facebook.com.
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