You ask me what I'd do about rape. I'd start by pointing out that there are two aspects to that question, what can be tried to punish rapes that have happened and, what I think is more readily worked on, how to prevent at least some rapes.
The first thing to do is to face reality, you can't do much to change the mindset of a man or woman who is intent on raping or sexually assaulting someone. The part of the population who intentionally does that is not going to be swayed by any political rhetoric or insistence that they even listen. They won't. If they would they probably wouldn't rape people. That is as much a given as the molecular make up of water. Any address of this issue will have to start from there. It doesn't help that in the free-press-free-speech-pornographied world we live in that boys are taught that rape is a normal thing and an entitlement. That doesn't help at all and it is an entirely predictable result of the free reign given to the porn industry, as is the denial of that reality. But the denial of reality is the most salient feature of this topic as most typically discussed.
I would hire more women and LGBT people as policemen, prosecutors and judges, but especially as policemen. If one of the problems is that the reporting of rape is difficult for victims due to the gender and gender preference differences between victims and the police who they report those to and who investigate them then that is a necessary step. That given, I've been told that part of the problem is that not enough women choose to go into law enforcement. I'd make the profession a lot more professional, protectors of society and not quasi-military warriors. And that includes making other changes including paying them more, requiring more training and relevant education - requiring a degree would only be effective if it were in the practical knowledge and skills instead of the mere granting of credentials for money our education system has devolved into. The culture of police departments would have to be changed as part of that.
I would also have a uniform, legal and social definition of what rape is and, as important, what it isn't. The recent attempts online to make "rape" mean whatever the person using the word wants it to mean against any person they happen to want to accuse in any scenario they want to call rape has only made that problem worse.
Verbal consent, unless removed verbally, has to be the defining question. No competent adult can later decide that their "yes" really meant "no" unless they changed it to "no" and said so, without ambiguity, at the time. Unless they want to make it illegal for anyone who has voluntarily drugged themselves with alcohol or drugs to engage in sex, "I was drunk" can't change the fact that the person they later want to accuse were told, by them, that they welcomed sex. No adult who voluntarily gets drunk or stoned can use that to magically turn their spoken "yes" into "no" anymore than another who voluntarily gets drunk or stoned can claim they heard a "no" as "yes".
So far that deals with the punishment of rape that happens, it doesn't get to the even more important issue of preventing rape from happening, which would, one would think, be an even more desired goal. And that gets us to the current use of rape as an issue to be pushed and not a crime to be prevented and punished. Rape must be considered a crime with a set definition and not an ideological weapon and a debating point. It is a sex crime and it is frequently a hate crime.
We live in the world we live in, those crimes don't merely depend on the choices of those who rape, they are made possible by the circumstances in which they happen. Pretending that isn't the case won't do a thing to prevent or punish rape. The current campaign to convince young women that their choices and behavior can't or shouldn't be part of that consideration serves no one but the scribbling class jerks who are lying to them.
As I pointed out last month, if you get very drunk you are voluntarily enhancing your chances of being chosen as a target to be attacked, just as you are also voluntarily enhancing your chances of being injured in an accident or being talked into something you'll regret or otherwise making a fool of yourself. And that is your choice, you are responsible for doing that. No matter how much you insist that having someone point that out is some kind of violation of some imagined right to get plastered, asserting that right isn't going to change the fact that rapists will be only too willing to take advantage of the results of your choice. And you are the one responsible for giving them that opportunity. Which is as true of men as it is women. Though it is certainly more of a chance that a woman will become a rape victim through making that choice. You can either whine that that isn't fair and refuse to make your choice based on the reality you live in or you can decrease your chances of being a victim of rape or any of those other results of getting drunk. It's your choice but none of us are obligated to pretend reality isn't real.
Considering how many of those pushing the current nonsense on these issues fall for the belief that there is some inherent bio-chemical determinism which makes us behave as we do, you would think they would understand that the effects of alcohol molecules on behavior are far more established science than the latest tripe that comes from some study of 8 right handed people subjected to fMRI. Which probably is explained by people who like to get sloshed choosing to deny reality. A trait that drunks share with most of humanity.
Similar things can be said about sending out signals that you would welcome someone having sex with you when that's not the case. People dress in sexy clothes to look sexy to other people for the reason of attracting sexual attention and flirt for the same reason. Anyone who denies that is lying, to themselves as well as others who don't believe it for a second. And they go to frat parties, pick up bars and the such for the same reason. And the chances of getting what you don't want out of that scenario are multiplied by people getting drunk or stoned, as so many men in those places will be. Drunk people who think they've scored and then are told they haven't, especially after they're alone with the person they believe wanted sex, have been known to get angry and violent, especially men. That's the reality of it. The only way for people to avoid being in that particular scenario that often leads to rape is to avoid getting into that scenario. Even the never-will-be-achieved, perfect justice system with the best possible record of prosecution of rape, after the fact, won't do much to protect you from a furious drunk who won't be especially open to rational consideration. Now I will wait for the denial of that reality.
Update: No, I'm not in the business of telling people what they want to hear, I'll leave that to other bloggers and scribblers. To answer your complaint, I'm also not in the business of telling myself what I want to hear.
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