All week long, amongst my family and friends, the most prominent topic of discussion has been the Stanford rape case. It makes me incredibly sad and enraged, but also, I think it really has made a huge impact on a lot of people in a positive way. It is not that anything about this situation is positive, however, it has brought serious issues within our society to the forefront. I believe that this case has forced us all to think deeply about rape and rape culture within our society. The only problem, of course, is those that do not see these issues, or those that discount rape, especially if alcohol is involved.
I wasn't planning on writing my article about this, until I was scrolling through my Facebook feed and saw something about a "Brock Turner Family Support" page. At first, I honestly thought this was a joke. When I clicked on the page and read one of the most recent posts, I had too many thoughts going through my mind for me not to write about it. I don't want to turn this article into some kind of rant, so I am going to try to just touch upon a few crucial issues I've talked about with other people, most of which were "addressed" in the post I saw on the support page, and try to speak generally about the issues promoting rape culture, rather than specifically about this case.
1. Role of alcohol. Alcohol is most definitely not involved in all rape cases, but when it is, it becomes the cause of the rape. Everyone knows that it isn't safe to go out and become heavily intoxicated and irresponsible. However, being in this state is not an excuse for anyone to be a victim of rape. When alcohol is involved, the main issue becomes about the victim being irresponsible, rather than the fact that they were assaulted and a crime was committed. If a store gets robbed in the middle of the night, we don't talk about the irresponsibility of the store owners in not having heavier security, we talk about the crime that took place, because secure or not, robbing it is a crime.
2. Reputation of the perpetrator. If a person commits a crime in the United States, they are innocent until proven guilty. Whether they have a spotless record, or one full of crime, this cannot be the sole piece of evidence that puts someone away. Now, if there is substantial evidence that a person has committed a crime and it has been agreed upon unanimously, then irrespective of their record, they will face criminal consequences. Everyone has a first crime and before that first crime, they had a clean record. Anyone can commit a crime if they so choose to. Rape culture has somehow disregarded this fact, and made the focus of rape cases be on the rapist and whether or not they have the "character" of a rapist, rather than the victim.
3. Consent. This is the most important issue in any rape case and becomes especially important when alcohol is involved. When two or more parties are in a stable and coherent state, capable of making independent decisions and agree to have sex, that is consent. Consent must be mutual. If there is any objection at all from any party, there is not consent and it is rape. If any party is not coherent or capable of making a responsible, independent decision, it is rape. If "yes" is not said and consent is not given, it is rape. If someone is unconscious or incapacitated and not able to consent, it is rape.
Those are just some of the issues that this case has brought to the public. Things to be aware of and think about. The bottom line is that rape is a crime, it does occur, and it is not the victims fault, just like any other crime. No matter what, "no" means no and if someone is incapable of consent, then that means no too. Being drunk or high or wearing a certain outfit is not asking to be raped or excusing a rape, any more than a sports store that sells ski masks is asking to be robbed, or excusing a robbery.
