...depends on where you are living.

No, unfortunately we are not. One consolation is that the family did not murder her or kidnap one of the boys and force her to marry him. That, apart from being farmed out for prostitution, would have been her fate in tribal areas of Africa, Asia and the M.E.

Yes.

Embrace Diversity! (Or not.) The upside for the girl is that she is probably better off, even in the child welfare system, than with this family.

the same planet? yes the same culture? no thankfully the child is now in protective custody

as usual today, the BLAME and SHAME ,aren't where they should be...the parents should be 'ashamed' and the boys and their parents ,should be BLAMED.... yeah, its earth ,and man ,going as it was foretold, shameless and blameless and Godless...

Too many people still living in the Dark Ages afraid of the shadows just outside their cave.

Unfortunately we are living on the same planet. If I could, I would give that girl a loving home to grow up in, but I have a full house already.

We are all on the same planet. And more of this shunning happens in non-refugee families than anyone would like to admit. If it didn't there would be no need for the massive amounts of information dedicated to erasing the stigma of rape. IE: http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/vb.html Some cultures just make no secret of their shunning. *********************************************************************************************** Edited due to additional information on this link : http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/07/26/20090726father0727-ON.html Unfortunately, as is usually the case, only half the story was originally reported. The father is now getting his print time and has a very different story. The story of a father who has limited English skills, no understanding that the authorities are not a dictatorship over which he is powerless. He has been reported as recounting the story as follows: He was contacted by police that informed him that he "must" take his daughter to the hospital because a sexual assault had happened several days prior. The father did so. After 5 hours, He was assured by someone he assumed was the doctor that nothing had happened to his daughter. A belief he shared because his daughter's behavior had not changed in the days following the attack. She still played, ate, slept and was "normal". He expressed, in my opinion, perfectly understandable upset that his 8 year old daughter was questioned on her own. "The father also said he wished that the interview with his daughter was held in front of him. "They cannot be in front of us and ask her?" he said" He denies making the statement about not wanting his daughter. And has this to say about how his country and culture feel about rape. "In our country, if you make rape or force a woman . . . ," he said, "they put you in prison for seven years. "I think (it's the) same law in Arizona." He hasn't seen his daughter since they took her. He has petitioned and is petitioning again to get her back. He would like to talk to his daughter, he said, and hear her tell him what happened. Until then, he said, he's unsure what to think about what police are saying happened. Imagine, all this time later and he has never been able to talk to his daughter to find out if what they are saying happened even did. He also is not sure what to think of the four boys who have been charged in the case. "It's in the government's hands," he said. "I have no power to say." It is this last statement that makes everything else, including the officer's adamant statement that this man communicated with them "clearly in English" appear to have reasonable doubt as to what was really said. It also raises questions about the authorities questioning a child of 8 years old without her parent present. Guess now it's a case of wait and see.

No, i don't think we are. That is absolutely disgraceful, on both counts. If this little girl had been raped by one person, she would need all the support she could get, but instead she gets "shunned" and by her own family. Sod culture, these parents should be disgusted with themselves. They are nothing but selfish bastards, putting their own feelings before their own "deeply traumatised" little girl.

It's easy to look down on the family because we don't come from their culture or share their beliefs. I can't imagine what that poor child went through but there will be a great home waiting for her with a new family! Some cultures think it's a sin for a woman to enjoy sex so they cut off her clitoris. Is it right? No not to us but to them, yes. Some people abort their female babies-to-be because they are not as valuable. Thank God I live in Canada!!!!

I heard about this story since I live 1 hour away from where this happened. I am glad the girl is in protective care and doesn't have to deal with her ex-family saying she was the one who caused the rape. The only ones who should be ashamed are the boys and the family of the girl. It is sad that we live in a world that has to shame someone because they had no control over what happened.

Same world. Different Universe.

Yes, the same planet with a vast difference in cultures; and now that we've become so mobile there will be more "clashes" like this one. This was a very sad situation for all involved. I hope the parents realize at some point that their daughter is not the one to blame.

This is awful. The girl could not defend herself. It is the family that has brought shame upon her. I hope her new family will love her like a real daughter.

In some countries they would of killed her, we are living on the same planet but in different realities.

They're Africans...

Yes, sadly. It's too bad we can't ship those who won't let go of such archaic customs to a different one.

The same planet, yes, but different eras of cultural development, obviously. And with different ideas about right and wrong, obviously. Not to mention missing and broken moral compasses. I'm curious about the family, though. They were identified as being "refugees from ... Liberia", but what are they getting refuge from? What will become of them? Surely we won't be inviting such a family to become citizens at some point, one would hope! I'm all for "cultural diversity" and I realize that some cultural / religious practices that I find abhorrent are matter-of-fact in other cultures. But this is beyond a matter of taste and culture. Shunning a daughter because of a crime committed against her is, as you've said repeatedly in other threads, pure evil. Put these people back where they came from (the adults, at least). They are beyond our ability to help them as long as they cling to such repellent ideas and practices. And they don't deserve it in any case.

Sadly, yes. And we have got to find some way to make sure people know that this BS is not going to be tolerated in this country. Given the fact that all of the rapists (and the victim, and her family) are from the same cultural background, the girl’s humiliation and her ostracism by her family are, I would argue, inseparable parts of the crime that was committed. I know this sounds extreme, but I want to see her parents charged as accessories to the rape. The crime, in this case, consists not just of the sexual assault, but also of her estrangment from and abandonment by her family. The rapists cannot complete their crime without the active cooperation and assistance of her family. Which her family has willingly given them. Fine. Arrest them, charge them, try them, convict them, and then throw them in jail for child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, and as accessories to rape. I’m not kidding. The full scope of this assault literally cannot be accomplished without their active participation and cooperation. Fry 'em. (And you know how liberal I am, Hasn'tBeen. In this case, though, color me a very proud and adamant cultural imperialist. I don't care.)

The 4 boys should be prosicuted to the full extent the law allows and serve the maximum time! Be required to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. No one regardless of age should be forced to have sex. Rape is totally wrong I don't care what age they are! The parents should loose their residency status and be deported back to Africa. I truly hope a good loving family can adopt this child and give her a good home.

Well what do you expect, these bloody africans are born savages and they should all be deported. The so called 'boys' who committed this act should be locked up in maximum security and then they should be gang raped by the in mates to see how they like it. It's always the 3rd world people who do this vile acts, there scum and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near our country, they are below us and they will never evolve into people with morals.

If they're calling for volunteers to beat the crap outta the family, lemme know.

British General Charles James Napier had something to say about this type of thing. In his case it was the abominable Hindu rite of Sati. I think his sentiments apply to this case as well. "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours." This happened in Maricopa County. That's Sherrif Arpaio's turf. Jeezuz. This dude is like Napier, Torquemada and Himmler all wrapped in one. These boys will eventually land in one of his hell holes and if the parents hang around Maricopa, they will too. Guarranteed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio

Frakking idiots and barbarians. Best I never run into them. : (

This reminds us not only of the fact that only a small fraction of us on this planet are living under the freedoms of the enlightenment and rule of law, but also of the fact that with the flattening of this world, the disparity between human values is an urgent problem for all of us if we want to survive as a human race. It's easy to feel sorry for the girl and disdain for the father who says he wants to abandon her, but we should go beyond that. We should ask ourselves the very tough questions concerning how we should relate to immigrants from cultures that are clearly, to avoid mincing words, more backward than us - not in the technological sense although that too is quite relevant, but in the moral sense. We instinctively want to "respect" cultural beliefs. But we seem to be at a loss as to how to deal with cultural beliefs that entail gender inequality, child abuse, and violations against the rule of (modern, secular) law. Immigrants come to America for a life of liberty. Both they and us assume that freedom comes naturally after having arrived in the developed world. But the developed world hasn't learned that we still have to liberate them from their outdated, oppressive, and harmful philosophies on life. Until we figure that out, we will likely have to endure more heart-wrenching stories like this one. And just to be clear: This is not a Liberian or African story. It's an American story.

TOSE PARENTS ARE SICK.

Wait! Don't tell me. The parents are muslim, right?

And these people called themselves her "family" and her "parents"? Authorities should seize all her siblings as well if she has any. Their main responsibilities are not only to protect, raiser her and provide her with all the necessities of life but their most important responsibilities of all is to love her unconditionally. They are the ones who brought shame upon her, not the other way around!

FOR THE 2ND TIME, THE PARENTS ARE SICK TO DO THAT TO THEIR OWN DAUGHTER AFTER SHE WAS IN A NO-CHOICE RAPE.

I think it's an example of a combination of religious extremism and complete ignorance. The two most often go hand in hand. I think the little girl's father should be raped, then thrown to a pack of wolves!