Chances are, if you're a college-aged female, you're petrified for your safety because of the recent Brock Turner case. You know that the justice system can and will fail you. You know that you can be raped behind a dumpster while unconscious and your rapist can be unanimously convicted of three felony accounts, but the judge will only give him half of the minimum sentence of one felony. If you're anything like me, you've tried to convince yourself that you are safe because very few men would take advantage of a woman like that. You would be wrong.
In a recent Violence Against Women journal, a study was released that uncovered the severity of today's rape culture with shocking statistics. This article, written by Gabrielle Noone, exposed the horrifying data in detail, including bone-chilling quotes. We need to talk about it.
The article begins addressing Brock Turner's demographic: male, collegiate athletes. More than half of a popular southeastern Division I school's male intercollegiate athletes admitted to pressuring a partner into sex, some even admitting that they used threats to coerce their partner into sexual acts. I can only imagine that this lack of respect and sexual aggression will be augmented by Brock Turner's laughable sentence. What do they have to lose if it isn't threatened in the first place?
I cannot tell you how many times I have heard my school's administration refer to our athletes as "role models" for our student body. Well, their wish has come true. It seems as if the rest of male college students are following the ideology that is clearly present in athletes. The study reported that 38 percent of college-aged males who don't participate in intercollegiate or recreational athletics will knowingly coerce a female into sex. When presented with remarks such as, "If a woman doesn't fight back, it isn't rape," many of the men agreed. They also agreed with statements such as, "Women should worry less about their rights and more about becoming good wives and mothers," reinforcing antiquated and sexist gender roles and devaluing women's rights. I guess good wives will never say "no" to sex in the first place, so they don't have to worry about their sexual rights?
I am enraged by rape culture. So many adults have recently told me that college is the last time in my life to be free and that I should party and cut loose. It is heartbreaking to hear those same people blame the victims of sexual assault because they were drinking. What if it was me? What if it was your daughter? Your sister? You? I believe that the statistics presented here speak volumes. Sober men believe and will admit that it is okay to take advantage of a woman. You don't have to be a #free-the-titties feminist to realize that the way women's rights are valued in today's society needs to change, and fast.
