"Claim" of rape of a nine-year-old in the NYTimes
"While much of Brazil has been riled by the case of a 9-year-old girl
who aborted twins this month after claiming her stepfather raped her,"
Claiming? A nine-year-old doesn't have the capacity to consent. She was raped. How could they get this so wrong?
Claiming? A nine-year-old doesn't have the capacity to consent. She was raped. How could they get this so wrong?
I completely agree with you that this is a clear case of rape. However, I would interpret the "claimed" in this sentence to be about *who* raped her. We cannot assume without further evidence that it was her stepfather. (That evidence may exist, but it's not in the sentence that you quoted.)
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You're right, Betsy. I jumped the gun.
I wonder if they did any paternity testing on the fetal remains after the abortion.
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Yes, I believe that the "claim" was in reference to who the perpetrator was. Yet when this story was on the NY Times homepage, I noticed the headline: "The case of a 9-year-old who had an abortion after saying she was raped has revived a debate over abortion rights." A nine-year-old who had an abortion, by definition of rape, was raped. "After saying she was raped" sounds like "after claiming she was raped" to me. Why not write just "after she was raped"? Takes up fewer characters anyway. You can still view the headline for yourself if you search for the article on the site.
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