{"id":2316,"date":"2006-05-03T10:10:23","date_gmt":"2006-05-03T17:10:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amptoons.com\/blog\/archives\/2006\/05\/03\/weak-responses-to-rape-allegations-embolden-rapists\/"},"modified":"2006-05-03T10:10:23","modified_gmt":"2006-05-03T17:10:23","slug":"weak-responses-to-rape-allegations-embolden-rapists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=2316","title":{"rendered":"Weak Responses to Rape Allegations Embolden Rapists"},"content":{"rendered":"

A story linked from Alas: Fourth Duke Rape Case Link Round-Up <\/a>caught my attention.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/10382613\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Dorm officials met with Jeremy and Jamie [after rape allegations] and determined that Jeremy was responsible for sexual misconduct he was put on disciplinary probation and was moved to another co-ed dorm right next door. That’s where Stacy says Jeremy [sexually] assaulted her just three weeks later.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This story exposes a deep flaw in the argument made by those who insist on blaming women who become victims of sexual assault for drinking or leading a man on or doing something tantalizing. This man, and others like him, only need opportunity before setting their sexual aggression free and committing sexual assault.<\/p>\n

In other words, the drive to commit sexual assault is an internal one, and is not dependent on the sexual signals of potential victims. “Can I get away with it?” is a more important question than, “Does she want to have sex with me?”<\/p>\n

In the first rape allegation brought against a particular man, the odds might be unknown on the so-called “She said, he said” arguments. But the odds shift toward she said as the number of she saids rise. I will go so far as to say that tepid responses to complaints of sexual assault embolden men who are rightly-accused to continue raping. They may have begun with a real fear of punishment, but the weak response reduces that fear until it’s an ineffective deterrent.<\/p>\n

A different approach by the university could have respected this man’s rights while protecting the female students from further attack. And it’s very simple.<\/p>\n

If two credible accusations of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault are made against you, then you will be expelled. No excuses and no crying, “It was consensual.”<\/p>\n

If this system were in place on all college campuses, I believe the number of sexual assaults would drop dramatically.<\/p>\n

Note: Also posted on my blog, http:\/\/abyss2hope.blogspot.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A story linked from Alas: Fourth Duke Rape Case Link Round-Up caught my attention. http:\/\/www.msnbc.msn.com\/id\/10382613\/ Dorm officials met with Jeremy and Jamie [after rape allegations] and determined that Jeremy was responsible for sexual misconduct he was put on disciplinary probation … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feminism-sexism-etc","category-rape-intimate-violence-related-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}