{"id":13051,"date":"2016-10-05T04:55:33","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T04:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=13051"},"modified":"2016-10-05T05:11:10","modified_gmt":"2016-10-05T05:11:10","slug":"she-called-the-man-who-sexually-assaulted-her-a-rapist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/she-called-the-man-who-sexually-assaulted-her-a-rapist.html","title":{"rendered":"She called the man who sexually assaulted her a rapist"},"content":{"rendered":"

She called the man who sexually assaulted her a rapist. Then he sued her for defamation<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

She called the man who sexually assaulted her a rapist. Then he sued her for defamation<\/strong> : For four years, Yee Xiong fought to put it all behind her.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sexual assault. The questions about what role she may have played in it. Two hung juries and, finally, a plea deal that sent her attacker to jail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just when Xiong thought it was over, it seemed like it was starting again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiong, now 24, was sued for defamation by her attacker, Lang Her, 26, who claimed that she and her siblings tarnished his reputation when they called him a rapist online in reference to the assault, according to the Sacramento Bee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her, the perpetrator, was not convicted of rape; instead, he pleaded no contest to felony assault and was sentenced in July to one year in jail, according to news reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were shocked, speechless,\u201d Xiong told the Bee about the lawsuit. \u201cWho in their right mind would do this? I felt re-victimized. I want to move on with my life and this is still holding me back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Xiong\u2019s attorney, McGregor Scott, told The Washington Post that a judge in Northern California dismissed Her\u2019s lawsuit on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her\u2019s attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

In July 2012, Her and Xiong, who both grew up in the same Hmong community in Marysville, Calif., not far from Sacramento, were students at the University of California at Davis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiong told authorities that after a night of drinking at an off-campus apartment, she fell asleep and later woke up \u201cfeeling intense pressure on her lower body and intense pain,\u201d according to court documents cited by the Sacramento Bee at the time. She said her arms were pinned at her sides, and she could not speak \u2014 but she did not say why. She said Her was having sex with her without her consent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Her has continued to deny that he had sex with Xiong, DNA from his semen was found in Xiong during a medical examination, according to the court documents.<\/span><\/p>\n

As The Washington Post\u2019s Peter Holley reported at the time, Xiong said her struggle has not only been about moving past the night she was assaulted but also trying to explain her own actions: Why did she go to his apartment in the first place? Why did she stay after she said she was assaulted? And why did she let him drive her home the next morning?<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiong responded in a powerful statement that she read at Her\u2019s July 19 sentencing, saying, \u201cI do not exist for anyone\u2019s entertainment purposes or to fill in anyone\u2019s curiosity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I am also not here to explain to you why I was at Lang Her\u2019s apartment in the first place, why I didn\u2019t do anything else other than what I did, and why I didn\u2019t call the police sooner. Even if I did take what people think of as \u201cthe right steps,\u201d we\u2019d still be here. The truth is, I shouldn\u2019t owe anyone an explanation! But I\u2019m here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiong added that the burden of proof is almost always on the victim, which \u201cfurther perpetuates our rape culture that continues to excuse rapists for their heinous actions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Going over to a friend\u2019s house never justifies someone getting raped. Drinking with friends until drunk never justifies someone getting raped. Sleeping next to a friend in the same room never justifies someone getting raped. And believe me when I say that those who believe that someone\u2019s actions made them deserve rape are cowards and fools \u2014 just like Lang, including those who have continued to protect him.<\/span><\/p>\n

That woman who was raped in 2012 could have been your daughter, sister, niece, aunt, and cousin.<\/span><\/p>\n

On July 19, Her was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation and ordered to register as a sex offender and receive sex offender counseling, according to reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

That same day, while Xiong and her family were celebrating closure in the case, one of Her\u2019s relatives handed Xiong a defamation claim, stating that she and her siblings made \u201cfalse and defamatory\u201d statements against him on Facebook during his trial, according to the Sacramento Bee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiong told the Associated Press that she saw the lawsuit as a \u201cslap to the face\u201d and a way for Her to \u201ccontinue to harass my family and me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Xiong\u2019s attorneys declined to discuss the Facebook posts with the AP, the Sacramento Bee reported that on May 21, 2015 \u2014 the day Her\u2019s first trial resulted in a hung jury \u2014 Xiong\u2019s older sister, Ger Xiong, posted several photos of Her on Facebook along with a note saying, \u201cRapists destroy lives. Rapists hurt all of us, not just their victims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ger Xiong also posted a photo of Her with a message, \u201cWe will not be silenced. We will fight for justice against Lang Her, who is a rapist,\u201d which was shared by Xiong and two of her other siblings, according to the Bee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Xiong told the AP that she and her siblings were not trying to tarnish Her\u2019s reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Eric Rosenberg, an Ohio-based lawyer who has represented clients in similar civil lawsuits, told the AP that defamation in these cases is real.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no bigger stain on a person in this culture than being labeled as a sexual assailant, and that\u2019s what they\u2019re labeled as,\u201d he told the news agency, adding: \u201cThey can\u2019t get into school, they can\u2019t get into the military \u2014 a lawsuit\u2019s their only way out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For that reason, Laura Dunn, executive director of SurvJustice, a nonprofit organization that advocates for victims of sexual violence, told the AP that victims should avoid naming their attackers outside the courtroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Emily Austin, from the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault, added that the issue is when the threat of defamation lawsuits keeps victims quiet.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact could be, if these become more common, that survivors are going to double-think reporting, afraid anything they\u2019re saying could be grounds for a lawsuit against them personally,\u201d she told the AP.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Her\u2019s case, despite the fact that he was not convicted of rape, legal experts said it would have been difficult for him to claim defamation because Xiong and her siblings could argue that they were only commenting on a case that had been widely publicized by the news media.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the Sacramento Bee:<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the early 1990s, speech protections have been enhanced by the California Legislature because legislators feared that a preponderance of lawsuits were having a chilling effect on free speech. The Legislature created language that allows judges to quickly toss defamation cases if the judges determine that the plaintiff has little chance to win.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of states achieve summary dispositions of cases that can otherwise take up judicial and legal resources,\u201d Lisa Pruitt, a law professor at the University of California at Davis, told the newspaper. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to win these cases because of speech protections.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In any case, Xiong said she questioned Her\u2019s motivations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I saw he was asking for $4 million, I had to laugh,\u201d she told the Bee. \u201cI thought it was a joke.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong>https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/post-nation\/wp\/2016\/10\/03\/i-felt-re-victimized-woman-sued-for-referring-to-the-man-who-sexually-assaulted-her-as-a-rapist\/?utm_term=.eb8c97d3d3e8<\/span><\/p>\n

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