According to a study done by the National Institute of Justice, only 36 percent of rapes are reported. It does not make a lot of sense, does it? What happens to the other 64 percent? What happens to the perpetrators?
The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network released statistics stating that 46 in every 100 rapes are reported. Of the 46 reported rapes, 12 lead to an arrest, nine were prosecuted and five lead to felony convictions. Of every 100 reported rapes, only three of these perpetrators will ever see time in jail. The other 97 perpetrators walk free.
This might sound like a familiar story: a girl goes to a party, has a few too many drinks and gets raped. This might also be a familiar response: She should not have been drinking. She should not have been wearing that skirt, and she certainly should not have been alone. There is nothing there to report, is there?
Rape, as defined by the National Crime Victimization Survey, is forced sexual intercourse. So what if she were drinking? There is no consent. A woman’s skirt does not offer consent. The number of drinks she has had is not consent. Whether her friends are there or not when she is falling over drunk is not consent. If she is not saying yes? Then nothing legal can happen.
Unfortunately, this simple concept seems to escape some people. Huffington Post writer Jessica Elgot released an article just this month with a frightening title: “Rape Attacks Blamed on Drunk, Flirty Women by One in 12 People.”
In early 2013, the Steubenville High School rape case gained national attention. Two boys, 16 and 17, raped a heavily intoxicated classmate and documented it through the texts, the Twitter posts and cell phone recordings they shared with their friends and other classmates. But as the verdict came out labeling the two boys guilty, CNN’s Poppy Harlow stated from the courthouse that the case was difficult for her to watch. She said that it was terrible seeing these “gifted” young men’s lives fall apart. Paul Callan, a legal contributor for CNN, described the “lasting impact” the verdict would have on the boys. The victim seemed to be an afterthought.
The rapists in question were described in the same instance as “star athletes” and as having a “promising future” prior to the case. They were looked at with pity, as though all they had done was make a single mistake that should have been immediately forgiven. The victim was described as an intoxicated 16-year-old girl who, according to Harlow, “didn’t want to bring the charges,” a statement that seemed to imply the victim was wronging the two boys whom raped her by allowing the case to proceed.
Tennis star Serena Williams, during an interview with Rolling Stone, said the victim “shouldn’t have put herself in that situation” and did not agree that the boys should have been given the sentence they received. She stated that the victim should have known better and went as far as to say the girl was “lucky” because it could have been worse. Is the problem clear yet?
Since when is it a woman’s job to actively avoid being raped? Women are told if they drink too much, if they go out alone or if they wear a certain outfit, they are inviting sexual assault. Blame is placed on the rape victim rather than the perpetrators who choose to rape them. As in the Steubenville case, those boys were reported as having their lives ruined by the verdict.
This is completely untrue.
Their lives were ruined by the decision they made, and it will, deservingly, haunt them for the rest of their lives, but that is not what the public hears.
People get the side CNN shared. They hear similar stories and agree the victim was at fault. It is this kind of problematic thinking that enables rapists to walk free without a single mark on their record. The victim is left reeling with shame, believing him or herself to be at fault. Instead of getting justice, they suffer alone. After all, why report a mistake that they made themselves?
Laura Heiney
Sophmore, Spanish Major
