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Activists boycott India’s Republic Day celebrations following the gang rape and murder of a student in New Delhi on January 26, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
March 14, 2013<\/span><\/em> \u00a0| \u00a0<\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say she was completely passed out but she wasn\u2019t in any state to make a decision for herself.\u201d \u00a0That\u2019s what one of the witnesses in the Steubenville, Ohio, trial\u00a0told police of the 16-year-old girl at the center of the case, according<\/a>\u00a0to ABC News. Perhaps that witness was one of the three football players who have not been charged but are expected to testify for the prosecution in the trial, which began Wednesday.<\/p>\n Since it still needs to be said, not being \u201cin any state to make a decision for herself\u201d meets the legal definition for rape across the U.S. So here\u2019s a question for that guy: What did he do to try to stop it?<\/p>\n According to the prosecutor\u2019s opening statement Wednesday, these witnesses saw one of the defendants, Trent Mays, try to force oral sex on the girl, but her mouth wouldn\u2019t open. They saw the other defendant, Ma\u2019Lik Richmond, digitally penetrate the girl while she was passed out on a couch. Though the girls\u2019 friends apparently tried to prevent her from continuing on with the boys, so far there\u2019s been no indication the witnesses intervened with the boys who no one has disputed were capable of decision-making. And preliminary research shows that the intervention of such bystanders could make the difference in preventing rape.<\/p>\n Last week, an inexcusable torrent of abuse was hurled<\/a>\u00a0at commentator Zerlina Maxwell after she appeared on Sean Hannity\u2019s Fox News show and sensibly pointed out that arming women is not effective rape prevention tactics, for multiple reasons. (\u201cIf firearms are the answer, then the military would be the safest place for women,\u201d she said.) It was her message of \u201ctell men not to rape\u201d that seemed to most inflame the trolls. Hannity found it self-evidently ridiculous: \u201cYou think you can tell a rapist to stop doing what he\u2019s doing? He\u2019s going to listen to an ad campaign to stop?\u201d He also said, \u201cKnowing there are evil people, I want women protected, and they\u2019ve got to protect themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a clash of ideas of who commits crimes in the world. For Hannity and his ilk, rape is committed by \u201cevil people,\u201d an immutable fact that can\u2019t be educated away, that isn\u2019t about social norms. For feminists who are weary of victim-blaming \u2013 including blaming women for not just shooting their rapists in the moment \u2013 and who have for decades been pushing against the idea that rape is only committed by strangers lurking in the bushes, this is tantamount to giving up the fight. Or, as Jessica Valenti recently put it<\/a>, you\u2019re \u201csaying that rape is natural<\/em>\u00a0for men. That this is just something men do<\/em>. Well I\u2019m sorry, but I think more highly of men than that.\u201d<\/p>\n But the problem with saying \u201ctell men not to rape\u201d is that the majority of rapists probably won\u2019t\u00a0<\/em>listen. That\u2019s because the majority of them are repeat offenders who don\u2019t care about consent. Research consistently shows that while any kind of man can be a rapist, not every man is one.<\/p>\n David Lisak, a leading forensic researcher who has done research on sex offenders in Boston and specializes in \u201cundetected rapists,\u201d has written<\/a>\u00a0that such men, whose behavior falls into what\u2019s still commonly called \u201cdate rape,\u201d are \u201caccurately and appropriately labeled as predators. This picture conflicts sharply with the widely-held view that rapes committed on university campuses are typically the result of a basically \u2018decent\u2019 young man who, were it not for too much alcohol and too little communication, would never do such a thing. While some campus rapes do fit this more benign view, the evidence points to a far less benign reality,\u201d of serial offenders. He continued, \u201cPrevention efforts geared toward persuading men not to rape are very unlikely to be effective. Lessons can be drawn from many decades of experience in sex offender treatment, which have demonstrated that it is extremely difficult to change the behavior of a serial predator even when you incarcerate him and subject him to an intensive, multi-year program.\u201d He has argued that bystander programs tailored to specific contexts \u2013 say, a military base \u2013 hold more promise in stopping those predators in their track, by encouraging others to recognize the signs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n From the Steubenville teens to Sean Hannity to Adam in “Girls,” the conversation about consent is far from over<\/p>\n Activists boycott India’s Republic Day celebrations following the gang rape and murder of a student in New Delhi on January 26, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n March 14, 2013<\/span><\/em> | <\/p>\n Like this article?<\/p>\n Join our email list:<\/p>\n “I wouldn’t say she was completely passed out but she wasn’t in any state to make a decision for herself.” That’s what one of the witnesses in the Steubenville, Ohio, trial told police of the 16-year-old girl at the center of the case, according<\/a> to ABC News. Perhaps that witness was one of the three football players who have not been charged but are expected to testify for the prosecution in the trial, which began Wednesday.<\/p>\n Since it still needs to be said, not being “in any state to make a decision for herself” meets the legal definition for rape across the U.S. So here’s a question for that guy: What did he do to try to stop it?<\/p>\n According to the prosecutor’s opening statement Wednesday, these witnesses saw one of the defendants, Trent Mays, try to force oral sex on the girl, but her mouth wouldn’t open. They saw the other defendant, Ma’Lik Richmond, digitally penetrate the girl while she was passed out on a couch. Though the girls’ friends apparently tried to prevent her from continuing on with the boys, so far there’s been no indication the witnesses intervened with the boys who no one has disputed were capable of decision-making. And preliminary research shows that the intervention of such bystanders could make the difference in preventing rape.<\/p>\n Last week, an inexcusable torrent of abuse was hurled<\/a> at commentator Zerlina Maxwell after she appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show and sensibly pointed out that arming women is not effective rape prevention tactics, for multiple reasons. (“If firearms are the answer, then the military would be the safest place for women,” she said.) It was her message of “tell men not to rape” that seemed to most inflame the trolls. Hannity found it self-evidently ridiculous: “You think you can tell a rapist to stop doing what he’s doing? He’s going to listen to an ad campaign to stop?” He also said, “Knowing there are evil people, I want women protected, and they’ve got to protect themselves.”<\/p>\n It was a clash of ideas of who commits crimes in the world. For Hannity and his ilk, rape is committed by “evil people,” an immutable fact that can’t be educated away, that isn’t about social norms. For feminists who are weary of victim-blaming — including blaming women for not just shooting their rapists in the moment — and who have for decades been pushing against the idea that rape is only committed by strangers lurking in the bushes, this is tantamount to giving up the fight. Or, as Jessica Valenti recently put it<\/a>, you’re “saying that rape is natural<\/em> for men. That this is just something men do<\/em>. Well I’m sorry, but I think more highly of men than that.”<\/p>\n But the problem with saying “tell men not to rape” is that the majority of rapists probably won’t <\/em>listen. That’s because the majority of them are repeat offenders who don’t care about consent. Research consistently shows that while any kind of man can be a rapist, not every man is one.<\/p>\nStay up to date with the latest headlines via email.<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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