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12 Ways TIME Got It Wrong

CCASA’s response to TIME’s “It’s Time to End ‘Rape Culture’ Hysteria”

1) Yes, individual offenders should be held accountable for their crimes, AND they remain largely undetected and invisible in our society (never held accountable by the criminal justice system) because of RAPE CULTURE.

2) Most victims DO NOT report their sexual assault because they fear they will not be believed, taken seriously or supported (and are often correct) and this is a product of a victim blaming RAPE CULTURE.

3) We all see and are part of RAPE CULTURE.  It is not about the poor “average guy” being vilified, it is about the fact that WE ALL have to be part of naming this crime, holding offenders accountable, and promoting healthy sexuality and behaviors.  We are part of the juries letting countless offenders off the hook.

4) We are currently in a RAPE CULTURE where offenders are safer and more comfortable than victims.  We laugh at sexist/racist/homophobic/transphobic jokes. We make rape jokes (how often have you heard a “don’t drop the soap” prison rape joke?). We vilify the woman who reports rape by a football star. We say “she shouldn’t have drank that much” instead of “he shouldn’t have raped her.”

5) We are in a RAPE CULTURE that would, by and large, agree that rape is terrible, BUT we are not all thinking of the same thing when we hear the word rape.  Society use adjectives like “legitimate,” “forced,” and “violent” to talk about rape. We parse it out and qualify it, as if all rape isn’t legitimate, forced and violent. We don’t agree on what rape is, and we hold victims responsible through the “risk reduction” messages of “do this/don’t do that.”

6) The song “Blurred Lines” doesn’t cause people to rape, but it creates a culture where sexual violence is normalized and trivialized (i.e. a top song that has lyrics similar to what rapists say to coerce victim and avoid responsibility).

7) And yes, we have really strong rape laws, but they don’t get used.¹

8) And false reporting is NOT a problem, actually only 2-8%, which is why the Austin Police Department has a whole campaign wanting survivors to know that they will be believed.

9) The claim that “rapists are despised” ignores the fact that it is the inaccurate and stereotypical image of rapists that is despised. Yes, in our cultural mind’s eye, rapists are monsters. The problem is that most offenders don’t look like monsters — instead, they often seem trustworthy, charming, caring, and respectable. These individuals are the opposite of “despised,” they are too often lauded as “nice guys” and community leaders who could never commit this horrific crime. That is RAPE CULTURE.

10) The claim that youth get 18 years of prevention messages seems to be wishful thinking.  In Colorado, for example, there is NO mandate for students to get sexual violence prevention education (or “messages”), and we know we are not alone.

11) While we take the “out of control lobby” reference as a compliment, if that were true then over 1/3 of rape crisis centers nationally wouldn’t have a waiting list for services.

12) And worst of all, we’ve never worked with a survivor who DIDN’T blame them self; that is RAPE CULTURE and that is the culture where offenders thrive and victims remain silenced.

¹Department of Justice, Felony Defendants in Large Urban Counties: average of 2002-2006.

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