There's a huge, huge backlash against this kind of coverage, a backlash that I'm worried may make violence against women seen as even more of a "private, family" issue not worthy of public discussion than it already is. There is, of course, no similar backlash, against stories about snow-stranded families or missing Boy Scouts.

I think that publicizing these stories in and of itself does raise some awareness about violence against women, but putting them in the context you suggest would probably be a big improvement.

Bob Herbert wrote an excellent column today--"Politics and Misogyny"--http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15herbert.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Just like that column after those horrible murders in Nickel Mines, PA and Boulder, CO, the one voice who pointed hey, "THIS IS A HATE CRIME AGAINST GIRLS, MSM!"

He discusses the jaw-dropping mentality against sexual assault victims in the military and the desensitizaiton to misogyny....allowing it to fester in the market place, through prostitution, the softcore child-porn of the fashion industry, etc.

I am LIVID about the Lauterbach cases and other cases (Jamie Jennifer Leigh) of recent, incredible cover-ups of sexual assault....

Stepha Henry is dead?

Stepha Henry is dead?

Sadly, that seems to be what the assumption is. They searched the suspect's car and found evidence of foul play.

Thank you so much for talking about this. I needed that after someone in my class last night said that the coverage of the Lauterbach murder makes our military look bad. Then after class, I heard her talking to someone about the recent media coverage of teachers who sleep with their students. "And they're always women!" she said She should turn off the Nancy Grace and tune into Dan Abrams, who always remembers to point out that the vast majority of these crimes are committed by men. Bottom line, the media really need to wake up.

A reporter at the Miami Herald was told to cancel and interview about Stepha Henry because Paris Hilton coverage was more important.

I've heard and seen a ton of info about Lauterbach but this is the first time I've heard Henry's name, or anything about her case.

What bothers me most about the MSM coverage of these stories are the comments about "how senseless" it is, how some crimes just "can't be explained," etc. etc. I can't believe with all these stories that keep coming at us, and in addition the ones that don't get as much MSM attention, I can't believe that some people are still willingly blind to society's violence against women patterns. It really boggles my mind.

The night before her body was found, they were talking about the Lauterbach case on MSNBC. Their "reporting" included an interview with her step-mother, who was very keen to point out that Lauterbach liked to "make up stories" (and then the talking heads' suggestion that this was just another "runaway bride" case). I saw read, and immediately I looked at this stepmom and wondered about all the other abuse that Lauterbach may have suffered throughout her life that her mom just dismissed out-of-hand as "making up stories." It would be really nice if someone had re-played that interview and pointed out that sometimes a family member's assertions that someone is lying isn't iron-clad evidence.

Isn't it *more* equal to simply treat it the same way as when a man is killed? The news reports a dead person? Making it a separate, special situation calls attention, and makes women a "different, other" being, instead of just being recognized as a murdered human.

If you specifically treat every murder of a woman as a specific case of a hate crime, or an act that was only done to target someone because they were a woman, all you do is draw attention to the fact that people still see women as "other".

Not every act of violence committed against a woman is done so because of her gender, just like not every act of violence against a man, or a minority, is done because of those factors.

I just think calling attention to gender in some ways only serves to make it appear separate and unequal.

Not every act of violence committed against a woman is done so because of her gender, just like not every act of violence against a man, or a minority, is done because of those factors."

That's true.

The point is--there is not enough attention being paid to cases where violence- against women and children-as-norm are related.

I suppose social class and criminality of a neighborhood is related too.

This is what pisses me off--at least in the military--is that misogyny and CONDONING IT have been big problems and our commander in chief, the Pentagon, the DoD et al are either indifferent or condone the cover-ups and patterns of abuse.

Jessica you should put up a backlink to that Bob Herbert column of the Nickel Mines and Boulder murders....that explained it well.

The problem is that society and government are not doing enough (I despair to think....how much CAN they do, at least in the short term?) to address the type of violence that does seem fall disproportionately on women and children, and the toxic environment surrounding it (again--read the Herbert column...I may be biased but it was pretty convincing and explanatory.)

P.S. I doubt anyone thinks violence against men should be ignored either, but sometimes it DOES occur under different circumstances than that which befalls women and children.

P.S. I doubt anyone thinks violence against men should be ignored either, but sometimes it DOES occur under different circumstances than that which befalls women and children.

Oh, I know that. I'm not disagreeing with that at all. I just don't think women should be made to look as "other" or separate, because it still creates that dichotomy in people's minds that there is something inherently "different/not the same/not equal" about women.

88mph, I think the problem is that in many of these cases there -are- patterns and indications of hate crimes, but that society is still pointedly looking away from the evidence of that. I agree that emphasizing those aspects could potentially "other" women, but the way that this violence is being reported now often accomplishes the same thing (emphasizing the sexualized aspects, sensationalizing the crimes, etc). I think exposing the misogyny inherent in the vast majority of these crimes is more important than the potential for othering that is already occurring.

Thanks for mentioning that, Ponygirl -- I remember hearing about the Lauterbach story for maybe a week, and it was being spun really heavily as some crazy chick who just ran off after she couldn't deal with the pressure of being pregnant. There was lots of speculation from her mom (or stepmom is it?) about why she would've run off, and statements that basically amounted to her saying that her (step?)daughter had made up the rape allegations. Then when it started looking like maybe something had actually happened, everyone shut up really quick and pretended like no one had said any of that. No analysis, no apologies, not even an "oh wow, this is more serious than we thought." Just a sudden overnight shifting of gears.

WHOA. I have heard a decent amount about Lauterbach, but have not heard of Henry. There's some lovely MSM racism for ya.

Two things that *really* irritate me about the Lauterbach murder: the MSM is constantly pointing out that she was pregnant -- and while this is absolutely a tragedy, I can't help but wonder "so... if she weren't pregnant we wouldn't care as much?" Second, the MSM is *completely* glossing over the (likely) fact that HER MURDERER RAPED HER AND SHE WAS FORCED TO CONTINUE TO WORK UNDER HIM AFTER IT HAPPENED. It mentions the rape and then moves on, like it was no big deal, and like the fact that her superior abused his authority has nothing to do with the fact that he ultimately (allegedly) murdered her. How people in the MSM cannot see the obvious, bright as day connection between rape and violence simply baffles and horrifies me.

Thanks Jessica, I hadn't heard of the Henry case either, but I've seen plenty on the other case.

Thank you so much for talking about this. I needed that after someone in my class last night said that the coverage of the Lauterbach murder makes our military look bad. Then after class, I heard her talking to someone about the recent media coverage of teachers who sleep with their students. "And they're always women!" she said She should turn off the Nancy Grace and tune into Dan Abrams, who always remembers to point out that the vast majority of these crimes are committed by men. Bottom line, the media really need to wake up."

@FEMily: No offense, but that kid (and there are probably plenty of people like her) is f*cking stupid. Really, really stupid. What an imbecile.

Maybe those around her are equally stupid...."it's always women!" Is that a joke?

And the sad thing is I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of nauseating idiocy--that which condones these crimes to continue--is not so rare.

Dammit...how can people be SO STUPID? Especially regarding that teacher thing--what is she, 12? Has she been living under a fucking rock? "

And the military thing--it looks bad because it IS bad.

Sorry but just a reminder that there seem to be more people who condone this crap--including the cover-ups in the military--makes my blood boil.

Do these people have to be skinned, murdered or brutalized themselves before they wake up and consider the prospect of empathy?

thanks for sharing this news. i have been following stepha henry's case since it broke and am extremely saddened.

i am a true crime junkie so am reading crime news stories constantly. it is disturbing the number of cases of murdered or missing women (and children) that involve repeated and ignored patterns of violence. and, as noted in the lauterbach case, the way these facts are dismissed. it makes me think about how we are taught to respond to instances of violence or signs of abuse in our lives. how we have become desensitized to calls for help and our responsibility to do so.

the MSM clearly does not advocate for victims without prejudice and systematic notions of who is worth airtime.

Might Ponygirl: My husband told me about that interview with the step-mom in the Lauterbach case. Even if it were true, it didn't change the fact that she was missing under suspicious circumstances.

I know this type of reporting occurs all the time, but another one I saw recently was about the Egyptian man in Texas who murdered his daughters in an "honor killing". There was no mention of violence against women and the patriarchal beliefs behind it.

Nne of the things that bothers me about the media's handling of the Lauterbach case is the fact that very few outlets are using pictures of Maria in uniform. She's a Marine, and that is an important part of this case. I know the media loves pretty girls who are missing, and I can see that her high school portrait (right?) is very pretty, but a big aspect of this case is sexual abuse within the military and failure of the military to provide legal and psychological counsel for it's female soldiers. I think showing a picture of her in uniform would draw more attention to those facts, and put more pressure on the military to handle to re evaluate how it handles these cases. It would also be a more balanced portrayal of the military itself. Not all soldiers are abusive, horrible people. SHE was a soldier.

I don't understand why media outlets focus so much time and attention to this cases if no focus is being put on anything other than the fact that someone is dead. More emphasis on the why, not the how, of violence in America would help this nation in so many ways.

I am really glad you posted about this. I talk about it in my sociology class and one of my assignments is that they must watch a news show and write up a commentary on how shows are presented and notice victim blaming phrases and who is interviewed vs who isn't.

88mph: I think the issue is not that it's always necessary a hate crime but that fact that any violence perpetuated by men is considered the norm. If a women commits murder you will undoubtably have a special on the rise of women committing violence. The same after a school shooting. There are always the large discussions about kid on kid violence (generally o nly in the white middle class area)

However whenver a man committs a murder,whether a male or female s a victim, noone ever comments on the fact that statistically males commit the most murders and what this says about men's violence in this society and what it says about our culture and values

I can't see anything wrong with the way these were reported. They covered the facts of the case including potential motive eg: "...vanished about a month ago, on Dec. 14, when she was about to testify in the rape case."

While the reasons behind the murders are important I don't think it's the role of a news report to speculate. Some important wider issues have been pointed out that probably do deserve more media coverage, however the place for these issues is not in a news report about a specific event.

"I heard her talking to someone about the recent media coverage of teachers who sleep with their students. "And they're always women!""
I'm not aware of the statistics of how many abusive teachers are male vs female. But what I have noticed in the numerous reports of abuse is that the female teachers generally get lighter punishment and are reported differently. The males are 'rapists' and 'abusers' while the women have 'affairs' and 'inappropriate relationships'.

Bullshit. They were eager enough to speculate that she just ran away to get attention; they actually invoked the "runaway bride" in one report.

If it helps, I think the press conference the Marines and NCIS is giving right now is pretty informative and fair. That said, I'd been in the dark about the case before I went to work out an hour ago, so I can't say how it's been covered to date. What I can say is there seemed to be a long, slow investigation, that while it was on everyone's radar, the victim indicated that she was not afraid of the person she accused, and that the rape cases and disappearance case were treated as separate, something that seems to be regrettable. There's a lot of grey area here, and I don't envy the representatives trying to get through it all.

The media was doing a pretty good job of raking them through the coals (questions like, what the fuck were you thinking when she went missing and the person she accused of rape was right there in front of you?)

Katxyz, CNN's coverage had more military pictures than glamor shots, IMO.

Nne of the things that bothers me about the media's handling of the Lauterbach case is the fact that very few outlets are using pictures of Maria in uniform. She's a Marine, and that is an important part of this case. I know the media loves pretty girls who are missing, and I can see that her high school portrait (right?) is very pretty, but a big aspect of this case is sexual abuse within the military and failure of the military to provide legal and psychological counsel for it's female soldiers."

Damn straight. Lack of counsel OR preventive protection.

There are plenty of honorable men and women in the military and they live up to the notions of bravery and sacrifice (not to mention betrayal for an asshole-filled government's folly...)but THESE cases and the fact that are a significant number of them speak volumes about the mindset of the type of people in the military, at least in the lower rankings and among those that are less educated.

It's terrifying. Talk about an abuse of power (for the alleged perpetrators...they're supposed to PROTECT our ideals and laws) and an environment that puts victims between a rock and a hard place physically (imagine having someone in your platoon attack you....where the fuck can you go in you're overseas?) or legally.

Exactly Mighty Ponygirl!

When pretty little girls make up stories, it is not speculation. When men kill and we notice it's because they believe women should be their property - why that's just opinion.

Funny how that works.

Good comment, Katxyz. I agree that showing Maria in uniform would be a potent image. Also highly relevant, since she was a Marine, worked on base, and was probably raped and murdered by a co-Marine. Hm, now I wonder why the MSM has 'chosen' not to do this?

88mph said: "If you specifically treat every murder of a woman as a specific case of a hate crime, or an act that was only done to target someone because they were a woman, all you do is draw attention to the fact that people still see women as "other"."

I don't disagree with your assessment, but I don't think that is what the post is calling for- what we're saying is there is a reason these crimes happen, and it needs to be addressed. If a person is shot due to a gang shooting, say, the story isn't complete without reference to the underlying reason for the shooting. If a person is "shot" and the incidence around the shooting are not explored, it's shoddy journalism- was he hunting? Was she in a personal altercation? Did he shoot himself?

The same applies to these "missing" women. More often than not, they don't simply "go missing" for no reason (runaway bride is an exception). Physical altercations, Domestic Violence- these are reasons for the women to be missing, and reporting them as such is important.

At least, that's my interpretation behind the post, feel free to school me, I'm only on Chapter 2 of Full Frontal Feminism :)

The truth is this: Military just defending itself. They are partially responsible for this woman's death.
Violence against women is like every other topic involving women. SILENT. Why are we so scared to scream about the rage men have for us? Why are some women so oblivious to the fact that we are always at risk?

While I don't think that this should get more coverage than similar circumstances with a man, the issue is that the media does not cover these stories as much as they should and they do not talk enough about the reasons behind it.

If a man was sexually assaulted in the military and then killed, I would hope they would make a big deal out of it, same as I would have hoped they'd make a big deal out of this. Sexual assault is not covered enough in the media unless it's regarding a minor.

Same thing for murders of minorities. I never hear about African-Americans getting killed, except a few scattered cases. People don't get outraged about murder or rape any more, and the media is part of that desensitizing.

And of course, if the reason behind it was due to their gender, or their race, or whatever, that should be brought up and it should be a hate crime. Whether these were hate crimes against women or if there were other reasons behind them, I don't know.

it's interesting that even in the slew of comments following the posting the bulk of the focus is still on Lauterbach.

Even our first poster, "the15th" voices a bizarre concern that to even question the media's inequitable focus on white women could be somehow "dangerous".

Having lived in all-black neighborhoods most of my life where numerous black women (and black men) have been killed missing, etc. I can not name a single time where their stories merited media coverage or any sense of collective "Oh My God Let's help" beyond our immediate 3 to 6 block radius. This despite the Center of Missing Children, the FBI and virtually every police force in america noting that the vast majority of people who go missing each day are neither white, nor female. (Boys of color and Girls of color are killed and go missing at a much hire rate than white women/teen females.)

But this dynamic is the result of a much bigger issue at work; an issue which is reflective in far too many posts and seemingly important issues within the feminists movement:

"Women" being coded language for White Women.

When we say, "missing woman"we are consistently referring to a white women as if the definition of womanhood is whiteness. Hilary Clinton talks of being the first woman candidate without any deference to former congresswoman Shirley Chisolm's historic "Un-bought, Un-bossed" run in 1972. Why?

Because when Hilary says woman, she only sees women who look like her. When Gloria Steinem rants about "feminism" she's talk about white women. When we say "missing woman" regardless of last name, we only see women who look like Natalee Holloway or Chandra Levy or Maria Lauterbach.

In the end "women" is still about white woman first. And until we lose the White Female Matriarchy glasses that women and feminism is fixed on being viewed through, we'll continue to have these very same problems hurting all women.

unfortunately, if you want to know about missing non-white women you have to go to the "what about our daughters" blog.

black women, and darker-skinned women just aren't worthy of coverage anywhere else.

such is life.

@FEMily: No offense, but that kid (and there are probably plenty of people like her) is f*cking stupid. Really, really stupid. What an imbecile.
Maybe those around her are equally stupid...."it's always women!" Is that a joke?
And the sad thing is I wouldn't be surprised if that sort of nauseating idiocy--that which condones these crimes to continue--is not so rare.
Dammit...how can people be SO STUPID? Especially regarding that teacher thing--what is she, 12? Has she been living under a fucking rock?
And the military thing--it looks bad because it IS bad.
Sorry but just a reminder that there seem to be more people who condone this crap--including the cover-ups in the military--makes my blood boil.
Do these people have to be skinned, murdered or brutalized themselves before they wake up and consider the prospect of empathy?

Hey, you're not offending me. I feel the same way. The discussion was about the behavior of people in authority, and I thought she was going to mention the lack of accountability when it comes to military and mercinaries. But no.

But what I have noticed in the numerous reports of abuse is that the female teachers generally get lighter punishment and are reported differently. The males are 'rapists' and 'abusers' while the women have 'affairs' and 'inappropriate relationships'.

I believe this is due more to gender stereotypes ascribed to women that keep women oppressed (e.g., women don't think, they're ruled by their emotions) than gender stereotypes that aren't as harmful (e.g. young men like to have sex with anyone who'll have them) or sexism against men in the trying teacher-student sex cases.

@h.williams: The Lauterbach case is a little different b/c someone actively tried to cover up this murder and because it wasn't just a random asshole that killed her, as with Stepha, but her fellow soldier. Those who could have helped her at every step of the way resisted and contributed to her murder.

Stepha's case is horrible, and the MSM was lacking in fair coverage, but the spate of sexual assaults and cover-ups in the military stands out (versus one more horror story about a "missing" woman whose story has a sad ending).

"Having lived in all-black neighborhoods most of my life where numerous black women (and black men) have been killed missing, etc. I can not name a single time where their stories merited media coverage or any sense of collective "Oh My God Let's help" beyond our immediate 3 to 6 block radius. This despite the Center of Missing Children, the FBI and virtually every police force in america noting that the vast majority of people who go missing each day are neither white, nor female. (Boys of color and Girls of color are killed and go missing at a much hire rate than white women/teen females.)"

I agree with this, but its not as simple as "the media is racist" (they are in their coverage) or "the audience only cares about pretty white girls."

How about all the resistance in the communities you bring up to (white) social services workers? There may certainly be racial bias, but in child abuse cases; parental kidnapping cases; and other crimes that disproportionately effect low-income adults and children/adults and children of color....who else is supposed to help? What are these agencies supposed to do?

What about when a victim lives a dangerous lifestyle (prostitute? Drug addict/dealer?) and people expect them to go "missing" because they're in prison or in rehab, not kidnapped?

In the short term, what do you expect people to do about abused/missing women and children in poor communities when poverty, hostility to the police (not all of it illegitimate, of course, but those "stop snitching" campaigns...), and conditions within those communities--unstable families for the children to grow up in, normative violence (especially among young men)?

I imagine the community you discuss was lower-income....the poor are more likely to be victimized by crime, for a number of reasons, and to know their attackers.

The problem of socioeconomics, disjointed communities, broken families, and normative violence can't all simply be pinned on racial discrimination or indifference of Middle America, can it?

It is just so sickening to hear about each case. In fact, I find it appalling that the AMBER Alert isn't used for people of all ages.

What I find really repulsive is the coverup of gang rapes in our military.

No it can't, but there's this overwhelming implicit cultural arrogance that says, "us good decent Middle Americans (white) are reaching out so you less than people of color had better appreciate it."

Fact is there's a myriad of hypocrisies from which women of color are on the receinving end that white women do nothing to fix when they're the ones best qualified to fix it if for no other reason than they have louder voices and people are more attentive if not sympathetic when there's a white face attached to the issue.

Tha someone goes on a missionary effort on the south side of chicago or in the "inner city" and should be met with rose petals and block parties simply because they're doing their job and treating people with humanity is a little bit absurd.

How would you like to live in communities where when you as a resident scream for help your cries are marginalized as ungrateful whining, but when som white person says you need help, then your issues are taken seriously?

Almost all black folks i know simply what to be taken seriously enough so that that issues affecting them are considered human issues and worthy.

That it takes a white woman to go missing or murdered for domestic violence to be an issue is as pathetic as domestic violence and missing women.

We're one step from insinuating that if no white women are reported missing, murdered or assaulted then these issues aren't happening to women at all.

and for the record only one of the communities i lived in was "lower income"--the other two were middle to upper middle class. but the treatment is the same--"you're black and if we as media, police, healthcare workers, acknowledge your missing children, abused women, etc. on par with ours, then give us a pat on the back, because we don't really have to do this."

Basiorana, if a man was raped by another man, it would get even less coverage than these two stories. If a man was raped by a woman, the media would stay silent. Same song, second verse if a man missing for days was found dead and the wife was charged in his murder.

And the on the murders of Afircan-Americans. The only time I hear about black people dying is if it is the so-called "black-on-black" crime. And if a black woman was murdered, you would hear zero coverage of it. Zero.

What all of that said, I totally agree with Basiorana. We have become desensitized. I propose a Sensitivity 101 class for our youth.

88: Isn't it *more* equal to simply treat it the same way as when a man is killed?

Maybe you're right. How about this: When a man kills his wife, this should get just as much media attention as when a woman kills her husband. And it should be reported a similar way, not "One dies in domestic dispute" vs. "Preacher's wife shoots huband."

And when a married military man rapes a female enlistee of lower rank, impregnates her, later abuducts her, slits her throat and buries her in his back yard -- Let's give that as much attention as if a married military woman raped a enlisted man of lower rank, impregnated him, then abducted him, slit his throat and buried him in her back yard.

Sounds fair to me.

I am not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet, but today a few hours ago I watched the live coverage of the military responding to the incident in a press conference. I was shocked. the Col. said that she was not raped and that the sex was consensual. And when further questioned about it, he said that they are treating them as two seperate investigations, so one has nothing to d