A couple weeks ago, a woman reported a sexual assault at the New York Occupy Wall Street encampment, prompting a lengthy statement from the OWS “survivor’s support team.” Despite the rambling statement accompanied by an extensive list of anti-rape groups, it seems that the suspect was dealt with by the NYPD rather than the OWS crew.

The Occupy protests have been in the news out West, as well. The mayors of Portland, Seattle and Oakland have had their hands full with the camps, which, if news accounts are to be believed, have degenerated into filthy drug dens. The characterization may be a bit unfair; in all likelihood the real problem is that a bunch of kids accustomed to living in a bubble have tried to implement the “enlightened” social theory they learned in college, and naturally they can’t manage the result.

The alleged NY sexual assault is a sterling example of this. It appears that an 18-year-old female from Massachusetts had a fight with her boyfriend, and another man, one Tonye Iketubosin, offered his tent to her, in what was surely a gracious and altruistic gesture. She accepted the offer, something subsequently happened, and the man was accused of rape. Iketubosin was also accused of repeatedly groping a 17-year-old girl. Following the accusations, he returned, and when confronted by OWS members, he ignored them. Eventually, the OWS organizers had to turn to their nemesis, the NYPD, to deal with the man.

As time goes on, those who might have supported the movement are growing skeptical of the ability of OWS protestors to do anything at all effective, and their statement concerning the sexual assault only reinforces this skepticism.

Here’s an excerpt:

On the morning of October 29, a woman participating in OWS was sexually assaulted at Liberty Square. The person who she identified as having assaulted her was arrested on November 1 for a previous assault and is currently incarcerated.

On the morning of the assault, the survivor was accompanied to the hospital by a group of women from OWS, including a social worker, to support her and act as advocates. From the moment the incident was discovered to the present time, the survivor has been surrounded by a network of allies and trained advocates offering resources to provide emotional, medical, and legal support. At every step of the process, and in line with the core principles of survivor support, her wishes as to how she wanted to proceed have been honored, and information from a range of sources has been provided to her about her options.

[...]

We have been saddened and angered to observe some members of the media and the public blame the survivor for the assault. A survivor is never at fault. It is unacceptable to criticize a survivor for the course of action they chose to take or their community for supporting them in that choice. Additionally, we were troubled at the time of her report that responding police officers appeared to be more concerned by her political involvement in OWS than her need for support after a traumatic incident of sexual violence. A survivor is not at fault for being assaulted while peacefully participating in a public protest to express their political opinions. We are aware that this is one of several known cases of sexual assault that have occurred at OWS. We are dismayed by these appalling acts and distressed by the fear among many Occupiers that they have caused, as well as their negative impact on our ability to safely participate in public protests. We have the right to participate in peaceful protests without fear of violence.

For one thing, if the protestors have to spend all their time chaperoning teenage girls in the camps, they are not going to have much time for anything else. Additionally, while the alleged victim may not be at fault in a strictly legal sense, it sure was stupid of her to jump in a strange man’s tent at night, but all the “Occupiers” can do is bleat on about victim-blaming, all while they denounce the very police who are dealing with the problems they invited and can’t handle. Slutwalkers in a nutshell…

If the OWS protests are run according to the principle that women have “rights” to safety and such, but no responsibilities and no obligation to exercise discretion, and it appears they are, the movement is going to fall apart in short order. Running a camp based on feminist principles is very expensive and requires a great deal of policing, and these kids just aren’t up to the job.

If OWS really wants to be effective, it has to be militant and organized. Having adolescent females traipsing around will not contribute to this, and will only invite the kind of trouble demonstrated above. Women like to believe that we live in an “equal” society, but for all of feminism’s accomplishments, men still rule the street. The NYPD, an overwhelmingly male force, showed that quite clearly — without the boys in blue women are at the mercy of any thug who wants to take advantage of them. If the men running the OWS protests cannot demonstrate some real authority and take control, they will fail miserably. Of course, if they tried, in all likelihood the female protestors would call the police on them.

It’s a catch-22. Occupy Wall Street will fizzle out because the ideology underlying their movement is a sham. Hopefully a few of the men involved will learn a lesson from this, and next time they’ll forget about what they learned in gender studies class.