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ROME -- It is increasingly difficult to report the details of the death of American Ashley Olsen without sliding into the dangerous territory of victim-blaming.
The 35-year-old Florida native was found dead on Jan. 8 in her studio apartment in Florence, Italy, purportedly at the hands of a man she met at a nightclub and brought to her home. The two had consensual sex, the prosecutor said Thursday, and they "weren't exactly lucid."
Her funeral was held in Florence on Friday afternoon at Santo Spirito church, where she was often seen sitting on the steps with her dog.
Yet as the gory details of Olsen's senseless death emerge, the local press in Italy have started slut-shaming her corpse, implying that she was as much to blame for her death. Headlines about "cocaine-fueled sex" and Olsen's "habits of the night" and "preference for Africans" have replaced those about what a nice, sweet person she was. And the photos of her sitting with her beloved beagle, Scout, have been replaced by those with her in lacy black dresses.
Let's be clear: She may...