Tags: couchsurfing, rape.
I just read this article on the British Dailiy Mail web site.
Terrible, terrible news. I only hope this leads to CouchSurfing improving the trust systems. I hope they don’t use it to promote verification even more, or make verification compulsory.
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18 Responses to “Alleged rape through CouchSurfing”
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1 Amused
August 12, 2009 at 4:35 pm
What sort of improvement would you recommend?
2 Pickwick
August 13, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Responding to a report of rape under the name of ‘Amused’ must be worth a 1st prize of some sort. Is your mother proud of you?
3 We are not amused
August 13, 2009 at 8:13 pm
What sort of improvement would you recommend?
4 Jean-Baptiste P.
August 13, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Does anyone know whether the alleged rapist was a verified member?
Does anyone know whether there has been any acknowledgment of the case on the Couch Surfing Web site?
Does anyone know whether there are grounds for libel or defamation under UK law if Couch Surfing were to acknowledge that the incident has led to a criminal prosecution?
5 Hmmm ....
August 15, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I quite like how the MSDT is willing to delete the profiles of members who pose a political threat to them or their friends at the drop of a hat (Anyone note all the recent complaints about established members of various communities with hundreds of positive references and vouches being deleted on the basis of vague “police reports”) but allow the profile of an alleged rapist to remain on the site for months, potentially to host other victims, and only get around to acting when the cases comes to the media’s attention.
6 Jean-Baptiste P.
August 15, 2009 at 6:44 pm
@hmmm…
The profile is not there now. What information do you have to support the statement (actually your insinuation) that Couch Surfing allowed the profile to remain on the site for months after a police report?
@hmmm…
The newspaper article cited by Pickwick at the start of this thread includes this comment about Couch Surfing by the prosecutor Mr Phillips:
‘This site enables travellers to find free accommodation with like-minded individuals, people interested in travelling, people who want to meet new people, interested in hosting people overseas, showing them some hospitality and perhaps showing them the area where they live. It’s a recognised forum for finding accommodation. There is nothing disreputable about it.’
@hmmm…
Do you believe that the prosecutor, after having built and presented a criminal case as horrific as this, would speak so highly of an organization that left the profile up for months after the investigation was known?
@hmmm…
Yes, I know we are supposed to renounce Couch Surfing and all its evil works, but what makes your inference plausible?
@hmmm…
Can you provide a link to any instance where Couch Surfing has tied an individual profile deletion to a police report? Of course, I can provide a link to your allegation that they do this, but that does not prove much.
7 Hmmm ....
August 16, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Lol @ Jean-Baptiste P’s multiple @’s. Nice attempt at intimidation, JB. I am sure you will get that Global Ambassadorship you so obviously desperately crave in no time.
“What information do you have to support the statement (actually your insinuation) that Couch Surfing allowed the profile to remain on the site for months after a police report?”
Nice deliberate misrepresentation of my comment, JB! Where exactly did you see me state that CS allowed the profile to remain after a police report? I stated that CS allowed the profile to remain, even though the victim reported the incident to the MDST months ago. CS’s own official statement on the incident confirms this.
“Do you believe that the prosecutor, after having built and presented a criminal case as horrific as this, would speak so highly of an organization that left the profile up for months after the investigation was known?”
So JB, you think “It’s a recognised forum for finding accommodation. There is nothing disreputable about it.” constitutes speaking highly of an organisation? Sounds like someone is not used to ever hearing genuine praise. All the prosecutor said was that CS is not completely disreputable.
“Can you provide a link to any instance where Couch Surfing has tied an individual profile deletion to a police report?”
Here are some for you:
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=202758 Jean-Baptiste P.
August 16, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Ok, I’d say you went four for four in not answering the questions. But you did it with verve, and that has to count for something.
9 Hmmm ....
August 17, 2009 at 1:38 am
Hey JB,
A snide one sentence response attempting to pretend the half page of answers to your questions is not visible to all? You really are an ideal candidate to be a CS Global Ambassador! Of course, that was obvious to all anyway given your previous attempt to suggest that verification would have prevented the alleged rape from occurring i.e by asking “Does anyone know whether the alleged rapist was a verified member?” when it has been widely reported that he was a new member who would not have had the time to seek verification. It looks like JB feels that using the rape of a fellow couchsurfer to boost verification rates is completely justified.
10 Amused
August 21, 2009 at 1:52 am
The OCS community continues to demonstrate the in-fighting and trash-talking that undermines its ability to ever do anything actually constructive or effective.
Complaining and taking potshots at people is easy. What is more difficult is coming up with genuinely constructive solutions. I will ask again:
*What sort of improvement would you recommend?*
11 Hmmm ....
August 22, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Well, my first suggestion would be for the banning from Couchsurfing of anyone who thinks it is appropriate to use the phrase “Amused” when discussing the rape of a female couchsurfer. While it is obvious that the rape and traumatisation of a woman is “amusing” to you, the rest of us have a little more human decency then that.
The second suggestion would be the removal of any posters who are obvious Couchsurfing Management Team shills, who only post on this site to:
a. Attempt to stifle any valid criticisms of the CS management team by using such generalisations as “The OCS community continues to demonstrate the in-fighting and trash-talking that undermines its ability to ever do anything actually constructive or effective.”
b. And then in a breathtaking, yet perfectly characteristic, display of hypocrisy, begs for suggestions on how to better run the CS site, presumably because the CS Management team is too busy planning their next junke … uh, cooperative to do so themselves.
12 No surprises
August 22, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Hmmm, the LT seems pretty confident in themselves. I don’t think they feel the need to employ shills to disrupt this forum. Those that don’t agree with the critical rhetoric here on Open Couchsurfing are more likely to simply not be friends of either side. You can indeed be neutral in this fight, by disagreeing with the LT, but being satisfied enough with the functionality CS provides to resist calls for revolution.
And as much as I disagree with LT, the cures often proposed by frequent posters here seem much worse than the disease.
13 Jean-Baptiste P.
August 23, 2009 at 10:02 pm
@No Surprises
You have to give our friend Hmmm… credit for being evenhanded. He furiously and indignantly refused to answer Amused. And he furiously and indignantly refused to answer the same question from We are Not Amused.
But I have my doubts about your conclusion that the LT does not employ shills. Actually, I think Hmmm… is a shill. The idea is to make the LT opponents look like such rabid, raving lunatics that the LT will look good by comparison.
Might work…if you ask me.
14 Amused
August 25, 2009 at 1:00 am
For what it’s worth, I have posted under the name “Amused” elsewhere and previously on OCS – so the name “Amused” does not refer to the rape situation or victim.
Despite about a dozen posts on this thread insulting various members of the community (including myself), not a single person has yet come up with anything actually constructive to say … so I will be logging off to spend my time more productively elsewhere.
Cheers
15 Hmmm ....
August 25, 2009 at 4:50 am
@Amused
So once someone calls you on the inappropriateness of using the phrase “amused” to discuss the rape of a couchsurfer, your immediate response is to cry and run away? How very brave of you. I guess discussing rape is only “amusing” when no one calls you on the utter insensitivity of your “amusement”.
@Jean-Baptiste P
And once again, you display your obvious contempt for the intelligence of readers of this blog. It is obvious that “Amused” and “We are not amused” are the same poster, given the question they both pose is identically worded, and that the new username was simply a weak-kneed response to the initial criticism of his original user name “Amused”. Yet, you attempt to portray them as two seperate users in a rather pathetic attempt to deflect attention away from the fact that it is you who has continued to avoid responding to questions directed specifically to you. I will repost them again:
“What information do you have to support the statement (actually your insinuation) that Couch Surfing allowed the profile to remain on the site for months after a police report?”
Nice deliberate misrepresentation of my comment, JB! Where exactly did you see me state that CS allowed the profile to remain after a police report? I stated that CS allowed the profile to remain, even though the victim reported the incident to the MDST months ago. CS’s own official statement on the incident confirms this.
“Do you believe that the prosecutor, after having built and presented a criminal case as horrific as this, would speak so highly of an organization that left the profile up for months after the investigation was known?”
So JB, you think “It’s a recognised forum for finding accommodation. There is nothing disreputable about it.” constitutes speaking highly of an organisation? Sounds like someone is not used to ever hearing genuine praise. All the prosecutor said was that CS is not completely disreputable.
“Can you provide a link to any instance where Couch Surfing has tied an individual profile deletion to a police report?”
Here are some for you:
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=20275So JBP, I ask again, what reason do you have for continously harping on the fact that the alleged rapist was not verified in this and other forums, when it has already been widely reported that he was not, aside from it obviously being a disgusting attempt on your part to somehow insinuate that had the host been verified, the rape would not have occurred? It is nice to know that you think exploiting the trauma suffered by a rape victim is acceptable if it means an increase in verification income for CS!
16 Jean-Baptiste P.
August 25, 2009 at 8:05 am
@Hmmm…
Sorry, to disappoint you again. I posted the comment under “We are not amused.”
17 Hmmm ....
August 25, 2009 at 9:17 am
@JBP alias We are not Amused alias Amused
Thank you for admitting that you are willing to post under a variety of aliases to attempt to deceive people into believing that more supports actually exists for your “It is ok to use the suffering of a rape victim to generate more revenue for Couchsurfing” position. I note that you referred to “We are not amused” in the third position, in another pathetic attempt to convince people you were seperate individuals.
I think given the similarities in writing styles, it is also obvious to all that you have been posting as “Amused” as well – So in fact, your grand gesture of leaving the site in “disgust” was a pathetic sham, as you immediately returned to post as Jean-Baptiste P.
I am eagerly awaiting your next snide one sentence attempt to “furiously and indignantly refuse” to answer any of the questions directed your way, JBP. Perhaps you could create another pseudonym to attempt to deceive people into believing there is actual support for your belief that rape is “amusing” and acceptable to use as a means of generating additional income for couchsurfing.
1 couple wang
August 29, 2009 at 4:22 am
you can discuss it here too
Security issue
https://www.xing.com/app/forum?op=showforum;id=283581
