While looking for ideas on what to write I browsed through articles that my fellow Odyssey writers have published. One particular article, "We Do Not Live In A Rape Culture, Stop Saying We Do," caught my attention. Irked, yet curious, I opened the article and took a deep breath before reading.
As I read the article my initial annoyance with the title of the article decreased just a little. While the author has valid points – the justice system in the United States holds rapists accountable and prosecutes them whereas other countries like Saudi Arabia do not – the United States does have a rape culture.
The author refers to Wikipedia to define rape culture. According to Wikipedia, rape culture is a "sociological concept used to describe a setting in which rape is pervasive and normalized due to societal attitudes about gender and sexuality. Behaviors commonly associated with rape culture include victim blaming, 'slut shaming', sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge the harm caused by some forms of sexual violence, or some combination of these."
Stating that "our justice system is in place for a reason," does not mean that we do not have a rape culture.
Even though the #MeToo movement has gained attention, and many rape victims in the United States have the sympathy and support of thousands of people, it does not prove that we live in a place where rape culture does not exist.
Yes, the United States justice system acknowledges the harm of sexual violence and will do its best to bring justice. But that does not mean that we live in a country where rape culture is not present. The specific behaviors listed demonstrate that we do, in fact, live in a rape culture and it affects both men and women. Victim blaming like "She asked for it," and trivializing rape by saying that "boys will be boys," are examples of how rape culture is prevalent in the United States.
Take Brock Turner's case, for example. In his appeal, his lawyers dedicated, not one, but 60 pages of their claim to discuss how the victim had been drinking. Scrutinizing the victim's mental state because she was drinking is victim blaming. Turner and his lawyers are refusing to acknowledge the fact that Turner's actions have scarred the victim for life.
Another point discussed in the article states that statistics are misleading, even statistics about rape on college campuses. While I do agree that statistics can be misleading, the same statistic numbers that are used in various articles do not seem to be misleading. Time, HuffPost, and several other news outlets use the statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics Research and Development Series.
According to the Bureau, one in five women experience sexual assault on campus. Rape on college campuses does occur and is prevalent enough that there are events discussing rape and how we can prevent it.
Just because the United States justice system holds rapists accountable and persecutes them does not mean that we don't live in a rape culture. Saudi Arabia and India are models of rape culture, but so is the United States. From teaching girls how not to get raped to encouraging boys to "score" or "get it," rape culture is in fact present, and we are most certainly living in it.
