Score 28/40

Brave book about a very disturbing subject.  Sports book of the year but not sure I would of picked it up had I known what I was going to read but maybe that's a good thing.

Cognitive Ease= 4    Technical = 4     Story = 5     Enjoyment =  3    Memorable = 5    Ronseal Effect = 2    Talkability = 3    Longivity = 2

night games - anna krien

The difficult questions that this books discusses and asks the reader to consider include....
  1. Only 6% of case cases in the UK lead to a conviction.  So what is rape? - How can it be proved and when does consent turn to sexual assault?
  2. What does consent look like?  Is a man guilty if he incorrectly believes consent is given?  
  3. In most cases the accused is not a stereotypical loner and it is one word against another.  So where should the burden of proof fall?  
  4. Does protecting the identity of one or both parties help or hinder the judicial process?
  5. Should sport clubs be responsible for their players and their attitudes to women?
  6. Why does the lack of women in professional male sport matter?   
Major thoughts 
  • ​Details the problem Australian sports has had with their stars treatment of women and the persistent tales of team mates sharing one women leading to rape claims    
  •  Looks at an important but uncomfortable subject from all angles and grey areas. 
  • Only 6% of rape cases lead to a successful prosecution in the UK.  94% of women making these claims are not lying.  Something very wrong with current laws.
  • Started reading it while giving blood not realising it was about a rape case and was going to get very dark, very quickly.  Brutal in places.  
  • Downside is we only ever see the defendants point of view as the women who this happens declined invitation to be involved and her testimony was behind closed doors.  
  • Although it is about Australian sport its subject of male sports stars and their treatment of women is global,  In the UK think Chad Evans, Adam Johnson and the Leicester City players on tour in Thailand 
Book Summary
  • The core of the book is a rape trial where a minor league Aussie Rules Player is accused of rape but more famous star AFL players from Collingwood who were involved in group sex with the same women on the same night are all but one not even called to testify
  • Once the star players are mentioned top laywer David Galbally is drafted in by Collingwood to ensure they are not implicated.  Once they are not he dissapears leaving minor leaguer with mountain of legal debt and on his own to defend himself. 
  • Details the problems Aussie Rules and Pro Rugby (NRL) have had with accusations of gang rape following Group Sex which in reality is gang banging with many team mates and one women.  Deplorable case 
  • Tactic is for a player to bring back a women for consential sex and then when he has finished and bedroom is dark for his team mates to take his place.   The girl is usually unaware of this plan.
  • Seen as initiation and humiliation ceremonies.  Part of the male homophobic lad culture that exists within a group of young adult males forced to live and work in close group.  
  •  Shocking account of Clare a 19 y/0 hotel employee in Christchurch subjected to 2 hours of sexual abuse by 12 members of a Rugby League team on a pre season tour which she detailed in a 2009 TV show titled Code of Silence.       

read

• Started - April 23rd
• Finished - May 2nd

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