Rape isn't a crime. I know the title angered many of you scrolling by, but here me out. The statistic below is clearly proof that both on college campuses as well as within the general population only 6 rapists will serve a jail or prison sentence at all, meaning that the other 994 rapists walk free, delivering an overwhelming message to women that these horrible acts are not, in fact crimes. Clearly the court must not see it as one if they follow through with so few convictions in their courtrooms. This statistic was admittedly far worse than I had anticipated, but it stands as all the more reason to talk about rape now.
For a better understanding of rape and sexual assault here are definitions from the Bureau of Justice Statistics:
Rape - Forced sexual intercourse including both psychological coercion as well as physical force. Forced sexual intercourse means penetration by the offender(s). Includes attempted rapes, male as well as female victims, and both heterosexual and same sex rape. Attempted rape includes verbal threats of rape.
Sexual assault - A wide range of victimizations, separate from rape or attempted rape. These crimes include attacks or attempted attacks generally involving unwanted sexual contact between victim and offender. Sexual assaults may or may not involve force and include such things as grabbing or fondling. It also includes verbal threats.
Here are some overwhelming facts about rape and rape on college campuses:
-9 in 10 victims of rape and sexual assault knew their offender according to the Campus Sexual Violence Resource List.
-A recent study from the Justice Department found that 80% of campus rapes went unreported to the authorities (compared to a still-disheartening 67% in the general population).
-A study made by the U.S. Department of Justice of prison releases in 1992, involving about 80 percent of the prison population, found that the average sentence for convicted rapists was 9.8 years, while the actual time served was 5.4 years, although cases like Brock Turner's show how common it is to serve much, much less time.
-Only 20% of female student victims, age 18-24, report to law enforcement and only 32% of non-student females the same age do make a report. A tiny fraction of accused rapists will ever serve a day in prison,according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN).
Last month, 23 Columbia and Barnard students filed a federal Title IX complaint alleging that the university mishandled sexual assault cases. Emma Sulkowicz is one of the complainants. The junior says she and two other women reported the same attacker to the university. All three cases were dismissed. I feel so entirely grateful that MSUM's president Anne Blackhurst is working to help educate and ultimately put an end to sexual violence on our campus. Last Fall our campus had two cases of rape in the dorms, and one of assault in the science building. She immediately sent out a consolation email to the students and faculty with crisis center info and information about open office hours to discuss the recent attacks. She also instituted a Sexual Violence Prevention Task Force and has made a mandatory online course educating students about sexual violence, how to handle and attempt to prevent it, as well as what to do if it happens. President Blackhurst and the rest of the MSUM staff take this issue to heart, and encourage using campus security to escort students after dark. They are one of the only institutions I've heard take a definitive stance against sexual violence, compared to many other colleges that attempt to sweep campus sexual violence under the rug. If Ivy League colleges can't set an example as to how to handle rape and assault cases on their grounds, I'm eternally glad that I attend an institution that does.
According to well known lawyer and feminist, Gloria Allred, the real issue is that universities and colleges are failing to comply with their legal duties to prevent violence on campus and to afford rights and protections to victims after they report these sexual assaults against them. Unless there are appropriate economic sanctions against colleges and universities which violate Title IX and the Clery Act, there will be no significant change. This is disheartening, but too true to dismiss. We need to keep talking about rape on college campuses, how universities are or aren't handling these cases, as well as rape culture in our society.
I do not care if a person walks around butt-naked or has the words 'slut' and 'whore' tattooed on their forehead, nothing constitutes the act of rape or coercion into sexual advances. It should also be noted that our culture makes a stigma around rape that if the victim is not fighting with every inch of their being, is not totally incapacitated, or unconscious that it is not rape. Simply saying the word no, and the assailant continuing to make advances is not consent. It is rape. I know three young women who had been attacked. None of them asked for it. Two were completely sober, and conscious, saying the same word over and over again "NO" when their attackers raped them. The other was intoxicated, but that does not negate that fact that a stranger came up, overpowered her, and raped her without ever seeing her face. None of these women filed charges, two knew who their attackers were. One got pregnant and is now a single mother. All three battle with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and the paranoia of always being careful where ever they go, how they dress, the struggle of being in a room with other men. This act has undeniably altered the rest of their lives,and these men walk free, without consequence for their heinous crimes against basic human right and decency. These strong women are why I am speaking out now. Because they broke my heart with their stories, and no one deserves to go through such a traumatic, dehumanizing event such as rape.
Rape is not a crime. Until colleges, judicial officials, and society as a whole treats rape like the crime against humanity that it is we will continue to hear justifications in the rapists defense. We will continue to hear about how these women were 'asking for it' or how 'five minutes of action' shouldn't tarnish the assailants polished life. What about these women who have to deal with this 'action' much longer than the five minutes it took to commit. What about the crippling repercussions of this act that destroy so many young women and people as a whole. They pay for someone else's mistake long after the act itself is over. It follows them for the rest of their lives, and without any redemption. Talk about the Stanford rape case. Talk about the Harvard rape case. Talk about the Columbia and Barnard rape cases. Talk about local rape cases and convictions. Don't stop talking about rape. Until society can come to the conclusion that rape is a serious crime we cannot stop talking about it.
No more 'she was asking for it.' No more 'boys will be boys.' Talk about rape. Fight for better legislation. Fight for more convictions and longer jail sentences. Fight for its survivors.
