The after-effects of the Steubenville case

By Kia Washington and Keandre Williams-Chambers

Rape culture is this: the social stigma that makes seeking justice for the crime of rape difficult. It places the burden of punishment and ostracization on the victim and often makes it difficult if not impossible for the victim to receive validation that what they did wasn’t their fault.

Rape culture is getting a lot of heat to be erased from the world, especially in light of the Steubenville, Ohio rape case where two teen football players were found guilty of rape on March 17. It’s certainly high-time to do away with the pressure on the victim and to place pressure on the suspect.

Of course, a suspect has (some) rights. Just as well as that is said, a victim has rights—rights that were taken away from them in the commitment of the crime upon them. It is no crime that those not only suspected but shown to have committed such a horrible violation of a person’s own expected privacy and personal safety should not have that right afforded to them, meaning that they shouldn’t have the right to their own when they take it from another.

For lack of a better term, it is messed up that the victim has to fall under such scrutiny under the very misguided idea that this is a misunderstanding. Sure, there is the possibility that this could—and that word is stressed strongly, could be a heat-of-the-moment misunderstanding. But odds are, it isn’t.

The victim shouldn’t have their actions and intent publically questioned when there is the reality of a rape that has taken place. The victim shouldn’t have their choice of clothing dissected, the people who they hang out with scrutinized, their history put on public display or their credibility ultimately in the hands of public opinion.

What makes the recent Steubenville case as despicable as the crime itself is the way many in the public eye are handling it or, in better words, portraying it. The sympathy card isn’t for the victim, where it rightfully belongs, but instead for the 16 and 17-year-old suspects in this case. Several news stations have been seen and heard talking about how the young suspects have thrown their lives away and had such promising careers. That doesn’t dismiss what has been done and that doesn’t change what has been done. Yes, they did throw away their lives. Yes, they probably had such promising careers but that doesn’t change anything. They committed rape and will have to face the consequences.

Furthermore, while victim blaming, just like rape, can be perpetrated by any gender and against any gender, statistics do state that most instances of rape are crimes against women.  This fact and the prevalence of rape culture and victim blaming are not a simple coincidence.  Women are objectified and victimized during their rape, then victimized all over again by society in the aftermath. The crime and following hatred is more than just violence – it is frank misogyny, and only by offering basic human decency can progress be made. There are many things that everyone should do if they are a part of the community surrounding any victim when the tragedy of rape occurs:

Don’t make the victim feel guilty. Don’t place the fate of the suspects’ futures in the hands of the victim. Don’t give the victim the supposed role in deciding the suspects’ future in the full view of a critical and unsympathetic public.

It may be hard to imagine if it hasn’t happened to you, but keep this in mind. The harsh nature of this case can be applied to a lot of mirror scenarios. Imagine you are just the normal you, going about your business. Imagine you were robbed on the street, your wallet or purse taken from you in broad daylight. Imagine the police caught this robber and they were arrested.

Now, imagine this. You are called into question. They ask you why you were in the position to be robbed from, why you let it happen. Couldn’t you have stopped it? You should have been more prepared for something like that to happen if you expecting to be out where robbers were, they may say. Maybe you shouldn’t have had a flashy purse or a wallet with money in it. Perhaps you wanted your stuff to be stolen. Perhaps you were asking for someone to come along and relieve you of your things.

Doesn’t feel that great, does it?

Although there are most likely students who walk around the CSUSM campus in fear that they might be raped, no student shouldn’t have to feel this way, especially on a campus that has been recognized multiple times as being so safe. There is hope that this doesn’t happen, and there is hope that none of us are in danger of the fear of not being believed when something so horrible could happen to us. That is not to say that it will or is going to. However, we must be careful. As much as it needs to be made clear that rape is not tolerated in any way, that still doesn’t keep it from happening.