Tag Archive for "victim-blaming"

Posts Tagged victim-blaming

Steubenville teens are found guilty but rape culture remains alive and well

*Trigger warning*

Yesterday, the verdict was handed down in the Steubenville rape case. The defendants, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, were found guilty. Mays will serve at least two years in the state juvenile system; Richmond was sentenced to at least one year. And the attorney general may also bring charges against others who turned a blind eye to the assault.

I feel great relief that I’m not writing about a “not guilt” verdict today. Justice was served–as best it could be by an imperfect system–in this case. Since it so often isn’t, that is something–not only for Jane Doe, who I hope has the support she surely needs right now, but also for the rest of us, who live in ...

*Trigger warning*

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Steubenville text messages and the confusion over consent

I was on Democracy Now! this morning to talk about rape culture, Steubenville, and consent. Check out the segment below.

The first two days of testimony in the Steubenville rape trial are proof positive that we need to teach young people about consent. The testimony about the text messages the defendants sent and received that night, as well as the testimony of bystanders, illustrates that while many of the student witnesses knew what was happening was wrong, but perhaps didn’t have a full understanding that it was rape.

That in no way lets them off of the hook, but it does highlight the need for robust education about the issue of consent–and more importantly, “enthusiastic consent”–as ...

I was on Democracy Now! this morning to talk about rape culture, Steubenville, and consent. Check out the segment below.

The first two days of testimony in the Steubenville rape trial are proof positive ...

By Alexandra Brodsky • 11 years ago

The radical potential and great disappointment of school sexual misconduct boards

In a development that surprised exactly no one who has been following the recent stories of mishandled sexual violence reports at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has agreed to investigate the school’s policies and practices.

The investigation is prompted by a complaint filed in January by UNC students, alumni, and a former administrator. Although the complaint is not a law suit, and the DOE almost never finds schools “out of compliance”—preferring a collaborative reform process rather than fines—the OCR can refer cases to the Department of Justice if it finds evidence of criminal administrative behavior that a bureaucratic investigation cannot resolve.

The New York Times has a generally ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

This is what piling on Rihanna looks like

When Ann Friedman recently wrote a great piece about the risk in piling on Rihanna for reconciling with Chris Brown, I nodded along, despite my own personal feelings about the case. It’s really hard to simultaneously advocate for survivors of violence and encourage women to leave, when Rihanna and Chris Brown’s reconciliation is so high profile and honestly sends a very complicated message to a public wildly misinformed about gender based violence.

An op-ed in The New York Daily News, “Violence against women is tough to fight when stars like Rihanna get back with their abusers,” is the perfect example of good intentions and bad delivery. It’s the perfect example of what piling on Rihanna looks like:

Congress finally renewed ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Telling women to get a gun is not rape prevention

Trigger Warning

On Tuesday night, I appeared on Hannity in a segment framed around the idea that giving women guns is the solution to ending rape. I was on with Independent Women’s Forum’s Gayle Trotter who recently made the point that women need guns for self defense from rape and gun violence prevention is infringing on their second Amendment rights, as well as, putting them at greater risk for domestic violence and rape.

Obviously, I disagreed. Giving every woman a gun is not rape prevention. If a woman chooses to go out and buy a legal gun for self-defense, that’s fine. But that shouldn’t be confused with actual prevention, which is really about stopping rapes before they happen ...

Trigger Warning

On Tuesday night, I appeared on Hannity in a segment framed around the idea that giving women guns is the solution to ending rape. I was on with Independent Women’s Forum’s

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Rihanna going back to Chris Brown doesn’t make her a “bad girl”

I’ve noticed a theme emerging in the mainstream media of late. Namely, the idea that singer Rihanna is a “bad girl.” Yes, she has an album called, “A Good Girl Gone Bad,” and certainly is living the “rock star” lifestyle of late night partying and traveling all over the world, but all too often these are not the types of things that are being discussed in the context of her “bad girl” behavior. Instead, she is being labeled “bad” for returning to the man who abused her.

The most recent example of this trend, is a piece in BuzzFeed titled, “What Chris Brown Will Cost Rihanna.” The piece details the myriad reasons why Rihanna risks losing lucrative endorsement deals ...

By zerlina • 11 years ago

Project Unspoken Part 2: “There is nothing that you can do to ask for it.”

Recently I posted a terrific video project created by Caleb Peng called Project Unspoken – out of Emory University – which interviewed a number of young people about harassment and violence against women. Here’s Part 2 which interviews more folks asking them whether they know someone who has been the victim of sexual assault. It’s a powerful video because it shows that basically everyone knows someone impacted.

This is something that I’ve written about on this site before. Survivors are everywhere and you may even be one or know one. It’s important that we acknowledge that it’s a common problem first in order to fix it. All too often people think it’s something that happens to someone else and the key here ...