Steubenville: another step too far

It's becoming a little too familiar, happening too often. It's too much that sex is turned on its head and used as a brutal attack, but it is truly disconcerting when the media's attention and sympathy is turned to the attacker, not the victim. 

The distorted accounts of the Steubenville rape case are difficult to watch- CNN's report in particular seems confused when it talks of the shining futures Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond had in front of them, but were brutally dashed because of one drunken mistake: thinking that there was nothing wrong with systematically raping a vulnerable young woman, with onlookers recording their crime and cheering them on. It's more than unacceptable that such things happen at all, but it's much, much worse when we're told that we ought to feel sorry for the young, naive, testosterone fuelled attackers. 

As per the usual response to most news items, the world has taken to social media, with many slamming 'Jane Doe' on twitter, and other networks I'm sure. According to popular opinion, the two young men did what 'most guys would', and their victim was 'asking for it' because she was drunk. It's bad enough that insults such as 'whore' are commonplace, but when did it become acceptable to call a rape victim, a 'lil sl*t'?

I have two objections to such retorts. Firstly, 'most guys' would not attack a woman, and such statements do little more than sully the reputation of good, well thinking men who are as much a part of the fight against rape as any woman. Secondly, no one (man nor woman) should have to be put to blame because they were the victim, because they were attacked. To think that donning a short skirt, enjoying a couple of drinks, or being friendly to anyone with a Y chromosome can be seen as an open invitation is ludicrous because it hinges on the assumption that people acting on natural human impulses serves as a valid excuse for attackers to cross the line and take advantage. 

When we live in a world where it's common for people to say things such as 'it depends on your definition of rape', we can see that we're long overdue for a monumental overhaul in the way in which we view and deal with acts of sexual assault. Given that one in three women will be sexually assaulted at some point in their lives, one can't help but wonder how/why on earth such attitudes persist. Why is it that it's difficult for people to take this seriously, and clearly distinguish between the victim and their attacker? Behind the headlines which offer sympathy to her attackers, another young woman has been left scarred and humiliated, yet she remains anonymous, and with people attacking her 'loose' behaviour. No one, man nor woman, should have to face that.

Shall I tell you something? From the second I started drafting this piece, I kept thinking, 'Devi, you're beginning to sound like a broken record. All you do is hark on about feminism.' But, like those well-established writers who are far more eloquent than myself, I write about feminism because there's a myriad of issues we really need to sort out, and in most cases, I wonder why they are issues in the first place. After all, everything I've said here has been said before; we know all this already, surely?. Here's an easy question: we all know that no means no, right? 

Unfortunately, no, and this is why we should keep challenging the unpardonable behaviour of our fellow human beings, and at least try to create a culture in which even an 'innocent' grope will be seen as inappropriate and insulting, rather than a compliment, and no victim will be put to blame and branded with a scarlet letter. I know that I'm an idealist, but I refuse to believe that this is too much to ask for. 

Miss D