Chances are, you have at least heard about the court ruling in Oklahoma that stated oral sex is not considered rape if the victim is unconscious from alcohol. Also, it is likely that your first thoughts were similar to mine; along the lines of “this can’t be true, can it?” But it is.

I noticed that across the Internet there weren't very many people talking about this court ruling--at least, not nearly as many as I expected, which is why we need to talk about this.

Before I got too fired up about this court ruling, I decided to do my research--it’s always important to educate yourself on an issue before speaking about it.

Here is a little bit of a backstory:

In November of 2015, a sixteen-year-old girl attended a party, much like what many sixteen-year-olds do. At this party, she got very drunk and a seventeen-year-old boy offered to give her a ride home.

During the car ride, the girl drifted in and out of consciousness before they finally arrived at her grandmother’s house. Upon arrival, her grandmother took the girl to the hospital--completely unconscious--and discovered her blood alcohol content was above .34. (This is considered “severe alcohol poisoning”). At the hospital, staff performed a sexual assault examination where they discovered DNA from the seventeen-year-old boy around the girl’s mouth and on the back of her leg.

Prosecutors in Tulsa County, Oklahoma charged the boy with forcible sodomy, but the trial judge dismissed the case. Additionally, the appellate court affirmed that the forcible sodomy charge is essentially invalidated when the victim is intoxicated.

In Oklahoma, there is also a law that protects intoxicated sexual assault victims--but only of vaginal and anal sex. Oral sex, however, is not included in this law.

Now, this is my issue with this ruling:

Instead of modifying the law to include oral sex, judges ruled--unanimously--that non-consensual, forced oral sex is not considered rape if the victim is unconscious from alcohol. Regardless of gender or state of consciousness non-consensual sexual acts are rape.

Since judges are legally allowed to interpret laws however they deem “correct,” oral sex was not considered rape in this case because of a technicality. “Technically” the law only protects vaginal and anal sex victims, and “technically” the law doesn’t state that forcible sodomy can be charged if the victim is incapacitated from alcohol.

Morally, one would think that forced, non-consensual, oral sex is rape, so it is unfortunate that our judicial system tends to perpetuate the outdated idea that rape is the victim’s fault.

Rape is never the victim’s fault. Ever.

If a man or woman were to force someone to perform oral sex when they are too intoxicated to consent in Oklahoma, according to these laws--and this court ruling--they “technically” would not be acting illegally. And that is the real issue here.

Court rulings such as these perpetuate victim-blaming in our society and show men and women that they can “get away with” sexually assaulting others. No one should ever feel entitled to another person’s body. This is not just a woman’s issue--this is a moral issue that impacts us all.

Regardless of your gender, you do not perform sexual acts without consent. If your partner doesn't say “yes,” that means “no.” It’s that simple.

If someone is drunk, they are not asking for it.

If someone is wearing revealing clothes, they are not asking for it.

If someone is unconscious, they are not asking for it.

Now for the good news:

Fortunately, there is talk about Oklahoma closing this loophole in the near future. As American citizens, we need to keep our lawmakers, representatives, and politicians accountable. We simply cannot sit back and expect them to have our best interest; there are hundreds of louder voices with more money that influence decisions that directly impact us.* Antiquated laws such as those in Oklahoma should have been modified decades ago; it is our duty as American citizens to ensure that horrific court rulings such as these don’t happen again and that the laws put in place benefit our fellow Americans first.

*To learn more about how money is influencing the voting process, click here.