I'm pissed off. If I hear the phrase "she was asking for it" one more time, I swear, I might lose it.
I'm talking about rape and sexual assault of women in this country. And let me clarify something: NO ONE is asking for it. I don't care how short her skirt was, how low cut her top was, how many shots she took, how seductively she seemed to be looking at you from across the room... if sex isn't consensual, it's rape. And it's got to stop.
Why am I choosing now to write this column? Because rape news has been all over the place in the past few weeks. For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, let's begin with the case at Duke. Several Duke lacrosse players were accused of raping a stripper that they hired to dance at a team party. Soon after the alleged rape, one of the players sent out an e-mail "to whom it may concern," planning an encore of the scandalous night's events, except this time there would be no nudity. "I plan on killing the bitches as soon as the(y) walk in and proceeding to cut their skin off," the e-mail read. No conclusion has been reached yet, although DNA samples from 46 of the team's 47 players have failed to match with evidence collected from the woman.
The New York Times recently reported the rape of a woman in South Africa by a leader of the nation's liberation movement. Jacob G. Zuma said that he was obligated to have sex because his accuser was aroused, and "in the Zulu culture, you cannot just leave a woman if she is ready." The sexual assault, Zuma said, was brought on by the 31-year old woman's knee-length skirt, and then sitting with her legs crossed, revealing her thigh. "To deny her sex, he said, would have been tantamount to rape," the article explains.
Just over a week ago, Tufts Feminist Alliance sponsored Take Back the Night, a conversation and vigil to protest sexual violence, focusing on the problem here at Tufts. Yes, at Tufts. It happens here, just like it happens on every college campus in the country and every country in the world.
According to the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), one sixth of American women have been the victims of an attempted or completed rape. That is a staggering statistic. Even more shocking are the results of a Department of Justice study, which say that women have an approximately 23 percent chance of being raped during their four years of college.
What is going on? Why is it that women have managed to make so much progress in politics, business, academia and even in the home, but are still being objectified as if they were no more vulnerable to the trauma - both physical and emotional - that accompanies rape and sexual assault than a blow-up doll? College kids sending e-mails about skinning an exotic dancer, a political pundit excusing his atrocious sexual behavior because he caught a glimpse of a woman's thigh... and these are only the recent examples. Rape and sexual assault are everyday problems. And as if the violence isn't enough to stomach, people have the gall to say that women bring these crimes upon themselves.
It's true that revealing dress and overly flirtatious behavior may not be the most cautious choices for a woman who is actively trying to protect herself against rape, but a flash of cleavage or a miniskirt certainly isn't an invitation. A woman who is comfortable with her sexuality and can talk and joke casually about sex doesn't necessarily want to sleep with the people surrounding her. People have got to stop seeing other people (men aren't exempt from rape and sexual assault, although the rate of incidence is lower for them) as objects that they can use for their own pleasure. No one's asking for it, no matter how provocative he or she may seem.
Sex that isn't consensual is, by definition, unwanted. Imagine if the news articles were about someone you knew and cared about; worse yet, imagine if they were about you. Our bodies are sacred. Stay off, and out, of them unless you're explicitly invited to do otherwise.
Sara Franklin is a sophomore majoring in history. She can be reached via e-mail at sara.franklin@tufts.edu
