Comments on: Rape Myths Lead to No Justice for Sexual Assault Victims on College Campuses

By: jennie

jennie — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 19:35:42 +0000

An i invited a guy to my home, i let him in TO TALK, next thing i’m overpowered. Must be my fault as its happened to me before…..I’m utterly sober….I don’t struggle….i pretend its good…..i talk incessently….after an hour and 12 minutes he’s gone. I feel utterly filthy but am “unharmed” and my flat is untouched. There is no point going to the Police because i let him in an he had no weapon, sort of like pigeon up against eagle, and i am a woman so of course its my fault.

By: geri

geri — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:41:33 +0000

rapes dont happen because of being drunk, i did not drink anything at all and i wanted to be with him, these rapists know how to get away with it because they plan it out ahead of time and set the victim up to frame herself. most rapes are aquaintance so that is how the victim gets raped. the rape counseler told me that iscalled being “TRICKED”

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:59:53 +0000

The “mutual intoxication defense” pisses me off. I’ve been really really drunk many times. But when drinking, I keep track of how far along I am–am I okay, am I too drunk to drive, drunk enough that I need to drink water NOW or I’ll end up puking, drunk enough that it’s time to pass out on the couch, et cetera. I think the same is true for most people–they know how drunk they are.

Now, there is a point when my own drunkenness becomes so severe that I cannot judge how intoxicated other people are. However, by this point I’m generally acting like an idiot and I’m way past the point where I could drive home safely that night. What I don’t get is why these rapist dudes don’t set themselves a limit where, after X number of drinks, they no longer pursue sexual interactions beyond maybe basic making out. So that they don’t “accidentally” rape anyone.

Why doesn’t this happen? Probably because the rapes aren’t accidental, the dudes know what’s going on, and they proceed anyway.

By: Celebrating International Women’s Day – Dreaming of Schools that Promote Equality | Change Happens: The SAFER Blog

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:16:29 +0000

[...] look to me? It would make the reports released by the Center for Public Integrity unnecessary. Rape myths wouldn’t lead to schools not caring about students who were raped and assaulted as much as protecting their reputation. Admitted [...]

By: It’s your own damned fault if you get murdered « Feminism « William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:16:24 +0000

[...] is why so few murderers get sentenced for their crimes. Defense lawyers will quickly pounce on the past history of the victim and come to one conclusion – the murdered didn’t do what’s necessary to not be murdered. Thus, many victims [...]

By: links for 2010-03-07 « Embololalia

links for 2010-03-07 « Embololalia — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:07:21 +0000

[...] Rape Myths Lead to No Justice for Sexual Assault Victims on College Campuses Saying that there are “middle” rape cases, that involve miscommunication and mutual intoxication, first of all, is patently false. Rape does not occur because of “miscommunication” — it just doesn’t. It occurs because of one party’s decision to ignore, disengage from, and/or reject communication. The idea that there are hoards of rapists out there “accidentally” raping is absurd on its face. But even if it was true, it results in a no less responsible rapist. If you don’t want to rape someone, you make sure that the other party is enthusiastically and meaningfully consenting. If you fail to do that and rape someone, there was no accident involved — just the likely and logical outcome of a conscious choice to disregard the bodily autonomy and safety of another person….Most likely to be classified as a rape in the “middle” are also those cases that involve the most marginalized victims, whether they be trans*, of color, disabled, poor, etc. (tags: sexualviolence rapeapology usa victim-blaming education) [...]

By: abyss2hope

abyss2hope — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:20:35 +0000

Excellent points, Cara. What makes all this worse is the very reasons a college or university will deny that a rapist is a rapist or will let a rapist stay are the reasons most frequently used to blame that rapist’s victim or to call her (or him) a false accuser.

When a rapist stays, many people who know about the report will assume this proves the allegation is false which can result in widespread harassment from fellow students and possibly from employees. So a rape survivor has to deal with an ineffective official response which may include overt victim blaming, the rapist still on campus and much more.

By: Talix

Talix — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:12:36 +0000

My rape occurred because I was too drunk to drive home. At some point I blacked out and came too with his penis in my mouth. I could barely breathe and couldn’t push him off of me, so I just held on until he was finished.

I know that, in previous blackouts, I had participated in what was going on around me. One night in particular, I went from a bar to a ballgame to another bar and drove most of the way home. Most of it happened in a black-out.

How can I possibly know that I didn’t indicate consent and just don’t remember it. (Putting aside, of course, the fact that my being too drunk to drive should have been his clue that I was too drunk to consent. What if the question of driving had never been part of the equation?)