Lara Logan, a top foreign correspondent for CBS news, is currently hospitalized in the U.S.A. after what was reported as a barbaric, sustained sexual assault last week in Cairo, Egypt.
She and her crew were covering the joy and relief in Tahrir Square, the day Hosni Mubarak stepped down as president when the brutal attack occurred.
Read more and see the video of Lara Logan explaining her job, in a question and answering session below. The video is from October, 2010.
Normally, victims of a sexual assault are not named in the media unless the victim comes forward on his / her own.
No clue what happened here, but CBS news has let the world know that one of their top foreign correspondents and ace reporters, Lara Logan, was the victim of a brutal beating and barbaric sexual assault on Friday, February 11, 2011.
Many of us watched the crowd in Tahrir Square last Friday when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak finally stepped down—after weeks of protests and unrest. Regardless of where we stood on the issues, we were relieved to see the upheaval come to an end.
Lara Logan and her team, including security, were there to bring us the latest updates in the ongoing saga. They found themselves surrounded by the worst of human-kind, roughly 200 frenzied miscreants, and Ms. Logan was separated from her crew.
CBS says Lara Logan “suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault,” before being rescued by a group of women and approximately 20 Egyptian soldiers.
She was taken to her hotel and put on the first flight out of Cairo the following morning.
Upon her return to the states she was immediately hospitalized and remains so as of this writing. She is expected to recover—-but I think that depends on what your definition of ‘recover’ is.
There will be no further comment from CBS News and correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time.
A little bit late, don’t you think? The time to respect your employee’s privacy would have been before you released this horrific story, along with her name!
Ms. Logan and crew had been detained briefly on February 3, 2011, as the riots and protest were heating up. They were all released unharmed at that time.
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement in 2005, pointing out some of the dangers to journalists. It says, in part:
A report published in 2005 by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights said that “journalists in Egypt suffer numerous forms of discrimination including unfairness in legislation, judicial prosecution of journalists for their writing and opinions, assault and death threats, and sexual assault of female journalists.”
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CBS and Lara Logan were fully aware of the danger, yet chose feed our appetites for salacious stories by ignoring the warning.
I want to blame Logan, I want to blame CBS and I want to blame us; yet the fault belongs to the perpetrators of this barbaric, sadistic and violent act.
They wanted democracy yet chose mob rule. How very cowardly.
I am so angry, outraged, that this happened—-as are most of reading this. Much of my anger stems from knowing that the whole “equality” movement has backfired on women. In my opinion, there are some jobs that women simply shouldn’t be allowed to do. Whether Logan wanted to be there or not is beside the point; we know how these people and their ‘religion of peace’ really are. They have very little, if any respect for women at all.
Please do not think I’m placing any blame on Lara. I am not—she should have been able to do what she does without being assaulted. However, when you factor in all the variables, it would have been much kinder if her boss had said ” No, Lara, you can’t go this time.”
Of course he would have set himself up for a lawsuit, but that is preferable to this travesty.
I doubt these men will ever be caught or punished. Savaging women seems to be okay with the general population of those peace loving folks. Obviously the peace they seek is in the ruination of women.
From watching this young woman over the years, she appears strong and determined.
We can only hope and pray she remains that way and comes away from this brutal, “sustained sexual assault” with her head held high.
As for CBS, was naming her and the trauma she endured really necessary? Are the ratings worth it?
Logan made her name as a war correspondent for Britain’s GMTV during the start of the U.S.-led Afghanistan war in 2001 and subsequently reported on the war in Iraq. She joined CBS News in 2002.
What do you think? How do you feel about CBS exploiting this tragedy? Should we rethink having women in danger zones—-those known for their mistreatment of women?
Do you think whoever, or whatever is in charge of Egypt right now will even attempt to find and punish those responsible for this heinous attack?
Please watch a great interview with Lara Logan and leave your thoughts in the comment section beneath the video.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
There are an awful lot of ‘buts’ in this commentary and if a male journalist had gotten beaten up and raped (and yes, it does happen) would he be blamed for wanting to go out and do his job. Quite apart from the rape itself, the most sickening aspect of all of this crime in the speed with which Logan herself if being blamed for being the fearless dedicated reporter that she is. As someone who has worked in war zones—and yes, I am a blonde, petite female, am I setting myself up for rape because i happen to believe that the human rights of women are important? if not us women then who? Women have a huge role to play in reporting from war zones. If it wasn’t for courageous women just like Logan the rape camps of Bosnia would never have been covered nor would the mass rapes in the DR Congo and elsewhere. Forcing women to report from the sidelines means stories of critical importance to ALL people—male and female—will not be covered. Shame on you for such a short-sighted and blaming blog.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Well said, Patricia. I hope Logan is able to recover and go back to her job- it takes a lot of bravery to be in dangerous territories anywhere.
February 15th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
I am not blaming her at all. I am questioning why women knowingly take these risks especially in countries that tend to abhor women.
I certainly wouldn’t want my daughters doing it.
It’s damn shame this stuff happens, but it does. And yes,I know it can happen to men—but it’s quite rare. With men it usually stops with a beating.
Now get off your womens lib stepladder and quit preaching to the choir. It’s the worst thing that ever happened to women—well that and Roe V Wade
February 15th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Lara thought that she was in London – think again…
*edited for vile content and hate speech
JT
February 15th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
She wanted a story so badly that she put herself in harms way. Bad decision on her part, sad it happened but you go where animals are and you get bitten.
February 15th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Much of what the eygptians showed us was choreiographed to garner our support. An image of peaceful yet almost childlike people probably in part, pandered to the western media. The students and organizers knew what they were doing and I have no doubt they are sincere as they can be. No doubt this outraged older members of the regieme and others who were going to lose their jobs over this revolution. And as you say they took it out on a woman who doesn’t fit in their scheme of a male dominated world there. I believe about a few days before she and her crew were arrested by the regimes police and treated horribly, physically abused, denied proper medical care and sorely intimidated. I think that is where this episode started. I think its a mistake to overlook the dark side that has its tentacles wrapped around these people as well. It can come out in scary ways. Ultimately, its going to take a lot of jobs and money to quiet everyone down there, separate from what every new freedoms they get out of all this. If a combination of freedom and employment come about, thats the best we can hope for. Otherwise dark characters will prey on them to manipulate the form of government, law, and culture they ultimately get.
February 16th, 2011 at 4:53 am
it is no different if a female soldier was doing her job and was attacked …there are risks with every job …but i will say as an ex soldier ..i tried to stay away from those areas if that was an option for me