Image: www.acelebrationofwomen.org
On February 10, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled Drunkenness and Double Standards, in which the author tries to take a balanced stance on college sex offenses. In his article, James Taranto argues the role of alcohol in cases of sexual assaults on campus. According to his article, both the male and female are equally responsible for the sexual attack due to reckless alcohol consumption. Taranto even used a drunk-driving analogy to further his argument. “If two drunk drivers are in a collision, one doesn’t determine fault on the basis of demographic details such as each driver’s sex. But when two drunken college students “collide,” the male one is almost always presumed to be at fault. His diminished capacity owing to alcohol is not a mitigating factor, but her diminished capacity is an aggravating factor for him.” In Taranto’s eyes, sexual violence is like two drunk drivers getting into a car crash and both parties involved should be treated as equals and share the blame for causing the collision. Comparing sexual violence to a drunk driving incident is not only dismissive but reveals a severe lack of understanding in the issue at hand. He tried to remain objective but it’s evident that he’s spreading the societal illness of Victim Blaming.
In response to the drunk driving analogy, if both drivers were drunk then they both broke the law and are responsible for the collision. With sexual assault, the victim should never have to shoulder the blame because the perpetrator chose to take advantage of the situation and victim. The perpetrator, who is usually male, broke the law by committing rape. Their behaviour was the catalyst, the motive, the root of the crime, and not the alcohol. The mindset that the victims are just as guilty as the rapists is extremely problematic and prevalent in our society. This type of attitude prevents the victims from coming forward to the authorities to report the assault. Only 6% of all sexual assaults in Canada are reported to the police. 44% of the women who decided not report the attacks did so because they were concerned about the attitudes from the police and courts towards the assault. It’s terrifying enough for the victims to come forward.
According to the Women Against Violence Against Women organization, the false accusations of rape rarely happen with only 2 to 4% of these accusations being false. Given these facts, it would be a lot safer to believe the victim since they have no reason to falsely accuse someone of endangering their well-being. Despite the facts, society continues to fall into the dangerous trap of “slut shaming,” which can cause serious emotional, psychological, and mental trauma for the victim. Dismissing their testimonies as convoluted, false, a mean-spirited act of revenge, or a result of them asking for it due to their impaired judgments/provocative outfits/being alone at night is sick, twisted, and morally reprehensible. A recent study shows that 60% of Canadian college-aged males would commit sexual assault if they were certain that they would not get caught. Even more disturbing is that young women between the ages of 16-21 are at the highest risk of sexual assault. Would you want your future daughter to attend a university where she can’t even walk on campus in broad daylight without fearing for her own safety?
To tell the victims that the crime was their fault because of how much they drank or their behaviour while they were drunk won’t help in lowering the high number of college sexual assaults. To put the onus on the victim to change their behaviour will only serve to further absolve the guilty from their actions, giving them that power to commit the crime again. No one in this world asks to be hurt in this way. No victim of sexual assault should ever have to shoulder the blame for the attack. Reckless alcohol consumption is and will never be the problem as to why sexual assaults happen on college/university campuses or anywhere in the world.
The chances of James Taranto reading this post are very slim. However, if there is one thing that readers should take away from this post is this message: If someone is brave enough to share a painful experience of sexual assault with you, believe them. Don’t try to be “objective” by asking them what they were wearing/drinking that day or why they were walking alone at the time of the attack. Victims of sexual assault deserve compassion, love, respect, dignity, care, and safety. They need your support not your skepticism. Give them that!
This post is dedicated to the brave individuals who have survived an act of violence against them. Please know that it was never your fault, no matter what others say to you.
