10 tips to end rape

[bettyellen]

67. I think a lot of people (even here at DU) need to be educated exactly what rape is

(because a lot of men seemed to be - or claim to be -mired in confusion) but also that campuses and local police need to take it more seriously.

A lot of the assholes look for loopholes, a lot of them get no punishment because people - the perps, cops, lawyers... all do tend to look for ways to blame the victims. Like MRA dudes claiming unsuccessful prosecutions mean that those women lied. Crazy misinformation abounds.

For example I saw a lawyer claim in this Stubenville case that at some points she was somewhat conscious and somehow this could imply consent. This is not true, as she was seriously inebriated, but some will believe that this is the law now. There are also claims she was dating the attacker (I guess because she agreed to meet him that night) and if she dated him, consent was implied. Now we know that legally, even if they were married no is supposed to mean no. But a lot of men do not agree with that law, and they see that very few husbands ever go to jail for rape. So they don't take it seriously. Then you see lawyers muddying the waters with this crap and people start to believe you can't possibly rape a girlfriend either. But the legal system reinforces this idea, because cops tell women all the time to drop charges when they have a relationship with the rapist. All the above are reasons why women get pissed off when you put it on them to protect themselves, and say NOTHING about this being a problem with men's behavior.

Education can change the culture. Other people would be more willing to step up if the boundaries were made clearer to everyone and law enforcement did a better job supporting the victims. As it is now, women are seen by some as fair game. India has the same situation, just to a much stronger degree, so the men's attacks are even more bolder.

But men in America know that so many are willing to turn their heads away too. In making this an issue of women preventing instead of society- and men in particular- dealing with the issue, it is turning our backs on these women. That is why the approach is offensive.