tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post3670118951518758761..comments2024-03-09T03:20:20.004-05:00Comments on Tenured Radical: A Letter To My Students: Stop Rape Now By Doing These Ten ThingsTenured Radicalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-25448244633601098352011-03-24T06:06:20.470-05:002011-03-24T06:06:20.470-05:00do not URGE the victim to report. Support them in ...do not URGE the victim to report. Support them in whatever decision they make. They do not need the addded pressure. They need encouragement and support and the decision to report is ultimately THEIRS to make.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275945521205535436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-38791274849968457002010-11-21T22:52:32.166-05:002010-11-21T22:52:32.166-05:00this should be required for every zenith student. ...this should be required for every zenith student. maybe the argus should print it. Pressure needs to be put on the administration to address the issue, including filling the open position for a rape crisis counselor. Like you said rape needs to stop and the students need to affect the change.<br /><br />Also, as a parent I have spoken and continue to speak to my son about this and other issues. He knows no means no, and understands how alcohol clouds everyones judgement.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-82761428223589916732010-11-14T16:15:47.741-05:002010-11-14T16:15:47.741-05:00Joshua, how about 1)Be careful who you pick for fr...Joshua, how about 1)Be careful who you pick for friends, 2) Don't get fall-down drunk even among your friends, and 3)Always be alert to your surroundings, to name just 3 bits of good advice. No one should be blamed for being raped, but everyone should be taught steps to avoid being raped. I know (or at least I hope) you're not saying don't teach your kids how to minimize the likelihood of being raped. Yes, it can happen even if you take all possible steps but everyone should be taught how to minimize the risk. Again, an ounce of prevention. . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-90678561993554704142010-11-14T15:02:10.008-05:002010-11-14T15:02:10.008-05:00I think parents also need to be more aware of the ...I think parents also need to be more aware of the prevalence of sexual violence on college campuses, so that they can have open discussions with their children about the issue. All through middle/high school my parents talked to me about drinking, drugs, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, not getting enough sleep, mugging, and a host of other possible dangers (some more real than others) that one should be aware of on a college campus. They never said a word about sexual assault though, and that's ironic because that's the one I needed to know about. (Of course, in turn, I have never told my parents that I was assaulted. There's too much silence on this subject and I still don't know how I'd broach the subject, or to what end, at this point.) <br /><br />This is not just about mothers warning their daughters, either. Parents should be talking with their sons, too. No parent I know of raises their son to be a rapist but how many parents have actually talked about this with their sons?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-73121176205055110792010-11-14T12:32:17.227-05:002010-11-14T12:32:17.227-05:00@Anonymous: The problem with listing steps to avoi...@Anonymous: The problem with listing steps to avoid being raped is that it tends to amount to victim-blaming. Even if you were to look purely at statistics, most people who are raped are raped by someone they know, so what is the advice going to be: don't be around your friends?Joshuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04472382286954297353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-26405249318223900732010-11-14T11:39:51.089-05:002010-11-14T11:39:51.089-05:00In addition to talking about steps to take after b...In addition to talking about steps to take after being raped, shouldn't you list steps to take to avoid being raped? I can think of many, right off the top of my head. In an ideal world, one could do whatever one wished without fear, but this world ain't ideal -- even at Zenith, apparently. An ounce of prevention . . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-3526607634611748632010-11-13T14:13:15.333-05:002010-11-13T14:13:15.333-05:00The one thing that's missing from this list is...The one thing that's missing from this list is: be absolutely sure that you have consent before engaging in sexual activity. In other words, "Stop. Raping. People."<br /><br />As much as I like this article, it focuses almost entirely on what people can do to prevent others from raping, and what can be done after a rape has occurred. Those are, of course, important steps. But by skipping over, "have consent; don't rape," it implicitly treats rape as inevitable, which it isn't.Joshuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04472382286954297353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-20876663031819142592010-11-12T20:57:25.945-05:002010-11-12T20:57:25.945-05:00People who think that not reporting a rape will in...People who think that not reporting a rape will in some way empower the victim because she made her own decision, are probably fooling themselves in my opinion. In the short term this may be true, but it ignores long-term consequences when people just set aside what happened to them as if it never happened. <br /><br />I was attacked by someone I knew well when I was in college. I didn't report it for a whole bunch of reasons that seemed to make sense at the time, but in hindsight, really I just unknowingly accepted the same thought patterns that so many people do. And then I moved on with my life. It isn't something I typically think about or dwell on and it does not define me, but it comes back in strange ways that might not have been the case, had I dealt with it when it happened. Reporting would have required dealing with it. <br /><br />Today I have a family and teenage kids. The fashion among teen boys seems to be to use terms that relate to sexualized violence like rape, in an appallingly casual manner. The culture that encourages boys to do this is brutal and (hey - TR - pssst!) worthy of its own blog post. Each time I hear my son and his friends talk like this I object. My son can't understand. He thinks I'm just a prude. I probably won't ever tell him because it would totally change his image of me as his mom. He doesn't need to deal with this and of course I want to protect him from some of life's harsher realities before he is ready for them (and when is anybody ready to hear about their mom's experience with sexual violence). But I recognize that choosing not to report all those years ago had consequences that continue to reverberate through time, in ways big and small. I'd probably still be sensitive to the issue if I had reported it, of course, but I suspect it would have been less so. <br /><br />TR, thanks for bringing up this topic in such an open manner. It breaks my heart that every semester I can count on at least one student (usually several) telling me during office hours that something like this has recently happened to them and they don't know what to do. Faculty should not be on the front lines, but in the absence of others whom the students trust, we often are.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-28053602365165915292010-11-12T14:19:22.086-05:002010-11-12T14:19:22.086-05:00Does Zenith have an honor code, and does it obliga...Does Zenith have an honor code, and does it obligate students aware of a rape to report it to appropriate university authorities?Comrade PhysioProfhttp://physioprof.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-91542488157530021042010-11-12T08:39:30.489-05:002010-11-12T08:39:30.489-05:00Clover88: thanks for your input. I think one ques...Clover88: thanks for your input. I think one question in my mind is -- if the campus presents special dangers (particularly to women), does it also create special opportunities for education and training? In other words, might there be opportunities to talk to students about the steps to take following a rape that would build their confidence and capacity to make decisions that would identify and act affirmatively against perpetrators in the aftermath of a rape?<br /><br />Part of what concerns me about the advocacy that no position be taken on reporting is that it pre-supposes that the rape victim (who is feminized, if not actually a woman) is a blank slate who has little sense of agency to begin with. I don't think that is so -- but more importantly, it can be changed, and this strikes me as a critical feminist task, as does the creation of consciousness among students about how to take positive actions against rape and in favor of a friends health, safety and future judicial options *while* supporting a friend who has been harmed.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-78816000888661617972010-11-12T00:21:41.084-05:002010-11-12T00:21:41.084-05:00Thanks for this post.
I have one critique and pr...Thanks for this post. <br /><br />I have one critique and preface by saying I was a front-line rape crisis worker for 15 years. I know your post was a polemic, but I want to say that in order to regain control (which was taken by the rape) survivors need to determine for themselves whether or not to report and should be allowed to receive (necessary) medical care without reporting. In my state, this is not possible: treating a possible rape triggers a doctor's report to law enforcement. <br /><br />But I like your focus on prevention and on speaking to those on campus around the rapist and survivor. I recommend Lisak's work; he advises that good men (and women) step in to assist/support vulnerable women from (serial) predatory men to help stop rape/rapists. See more at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124272157 <br /><br />Thanks again for a great post.Clover88noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-66598813011787737022010-11-11T19:04:15.599-05:002010-11-11T19:04:15.599-05:00TR, I think this is a great post. If we want to li...TR, I think this is a great post. If we want to live in a better world, we all have to step up to the plate, and stop waiting for other people to make it better.Diggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14851524413793098615noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-50374943872642954522010-11-11T14:24:23.922-05:002010-11-11T14:24:23.922-05:00Well, but that is why the highest focus of this po...Well, but that is why the highest focus of this post is on rape prevention, and on what it might mean for women to care for themselves by going to the hospital and reporting the rape.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-14840603263527896892010-11-11T13:23:02.309-05:002010-11-11T13:23:02.309-05:00I think you're characterizing Rape too much as...I think you're characterizing Rape too much as a product of lack of enforcement, either by authorities or victims unwilling to take steps to punish the rapist. I think this vastly oversimplifies that goes into the rapist's state of mind and the solution necessary or even possible to reduce sexual assault.<br /><br />At the end of the day, 'crimes of passion' related to severe expressions of someone's out of control emotional state will not be reduced by legal enforcement. They simply won't. No enraged husband thinks about prison when he shoots his wife. Few rapists are thinking about consequences when they force themselves on another.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-25257844427544895392010-11-11T11:48:40.495-05:002010-11-11T11:48:40.495-05:00Thanks for this post. Folks at Zenith need to tal...Thanks for this post. Folks at Zenith need to talk more about rape.<br /><br />Here's my addition, as a Zenith alum:<br /><br />Trust your instincts. If you see something that doesn't look right to you, step in. If someone looks too intoxicated to get home safe, offer water, a safe place to sit, and call them a ride. If someone seems uncomfortable with another person's sexual advances, intervene. Zenith is a small community - and it's the least anyone can do to step in when they see something wrong.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-5715036512791410502010-11-11T11:29:20.516-05:002010-11-11T11:29:20.516-05:00TR-- "I also think that the assumption that t...TR-- "I also think that the assumption that the hospital and police will be cruel is one that is made without any knowledge that it will be so." <br />--In my experience with talking with people who have been assaulted, this is very much the case-- but I'm glad that you and others have had good experiences. So there is not a lack of knowledge, or none, as you are implying, in this regard.<br /><br />Aishlin-- "sneakier suggestion that victims should stay away from the police conveyed through things like putting the word 'justice' in scare quotes." <br />-- I wasn't trying to be sneaky. I put Justice in quotes b/c the system is not set up for "justice"-- I didn't have an ulterior motive with that-- just a quick way to critique the system and it's pretty standard.<br /><br />Also, you write: "By the way, that caveat at the end of your comment is not useful. By talking about going to the hospital and the police as if these were odd choices some errant victims might make, you are effectively discouraging people from making those choices." <br />--I tried to make it clear that I wasn't arguing for folks to go (or to not go) to the hospital or police, but that I think we should understand why folks may not want to go, especially considering the original post was, imho, pressuring folks *to* go. Also, I tried to make it clear that we should support whatever decision folks make, reporting the incident or not, going to the hospital or not-- I wasn't trying to make it sound like "odd" choices to go to the hospital/police-- that is something you inferred but I did not state in any way.Abbey Volcanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-38537783408796773642010-11-11T10:44:45.951-05:002010-11-11T10:44:45.951-05:00True Sita. But she is the only person who can do ...True Sita. But she is the only person who can do the things that need to be done to report, file charges and prosecute a rape.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-11008906505201919322010-11-11T10:37:59.533-05:002010-11-11T10:37:59.533-05:00Men talking to other men should be number 1,2, and...Men talking to other men should be number 1,2, and 3. The victim is *not* the one with the most responsibility and should not be asked to act first.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-42327862013272284802010-11-11T10:36:15.768-05:002010-11-11T10:36:15.768-05:00Anonymous 10:14 -- I think advising a student to r...Anonymous 10:14 -- I think advising a student to report a rape and pressuring them to do so are very different. I also think that there is no office on campus arguing this position, which is why I decided to do it. OBHS also does not point either faculty or students to the consequences of not reporting a rape: trauma that increases rather than decreases; a fear that one could be raped again by this same person; the strong possibility that other people will be raped by this person. Without disclosing those things, how can a victim of a crime make an informed and ethical decision, even on her own behalf? It is my personal belief that to honor all of a woman's unmediated feelings as if they were free choices is <i>faux</i> feminism <br /><br /> But you point to one of the problems with the situation at Zenith right now which is that too often students who have been assaulted end up being "counseled" by people who are entirely untrained. Faculty, and students, ought not to be front-line resources for dealing with crimes on campus, but they are. Training faculty, and acknowledging this invisible work (which, by the way, has shredded the last two weeks of my life) would be a step, but having ample resources and ongoing training for students by a professional would be a far better step to take.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-77763887632130259912010-11-11T10:14:00.138-05:002010-11-11T10:14:00.138-05:00As a student, I really appreciate a professor taki...As a student, I really appreciate a professor taking the time to write about these issues in a public forum.<br /><br />That said, I think it is unwise to pressure a survivor of sexual assault to go to the hospital, file a police report, etc. Someone in distress needs more than anything to feel like they are in control of their own life and can choose from the options available to them.<br /><br />If you have read the Office of Behavioral Health's guide for faculty on "recognizing and aiding persons in distress" you will see that from a mental health standpoint, OBHS advises faculty to firstly listen without judgment, and to avoid pressuring the student to report. I agree that it is important for a survivor to know that an immediate hospital visit is necessary for a police report, but I wanted to make sure this point was heard as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-19449560296730782822010-11-11T07:44:47.784-05:002010-11-11T07:44:47.784-05:00Anonymous 11:20 -- very qualified agree. One of th...Anonymous 11:20 -- very qualified agree. One of the things to notice about this post is that, except for the sentence you point out, it avoids gendering either the position of the rapist or the object of the rape, which was deliberate on my part. That said, although it happens that women commit sex crimes against men, DOJ statistics show that the chances that a woman will be raped by a man skyrocket when she sets foot on a college campus (I don't know whether that is true of men assaulted by men because I'm not sure anyone has done the research.) They drop dramatically when she leaves. That's not true for men, and a violent intrusion into the body of a weaker man by a stronger woman is an exceptional crime.<br /><br />Abbey: Disagree. What I wrote is a polemic. Polemics make strong arguments by their very nature. But, that said, not going to the hospital leaves a woman in danger of untreated venereal disease, HIV and possible pregnancy, not to mention injuries to the genitalia that, untreated, could affect her ability to experience intercourse without pain.<br /><br />I am also arguing in this piece for community responsibility, and part of that is not privileging the victim's desire over the community's right not to have a predator in its midst. I also think that the assumption that the hospital and police will be cruel is one that is made without any knowledge that it will be so. It certainly was not my experience, and many women make that decision on the say-so of others, or out of their own fear. I don't call that agency.Tenured Radicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05703980598547163290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-62079602801966672912010-11-11T04:11:39.603-05:002010-11-11T04:11:39.603-05:00Abbey, I think there are good reasons behind wordi...Abbey, I think there are good reasons behind wording the first point that way. Advice meant to be gentler can end up just being confusing. TR made it clear that victims can always decide whether to press charges later, but going to the hospital is something that must be done right away. That's important for the victim's health as well as for preserving evidence. That the post is direct and authoritative could help people remember it when they're in need. <br /><br />The seemingly pushy tone also gets across the message that victims absolutely have the right to go to the police and that they should, if only for their own sakes, go to the hospital. That needs to be perfectly clear in order to combat both the blatant victim-blaming in our culture and the softer, sneakier suggestion that victims should stay away from the police conveyed through things like putting the word 'justice' in scare quotes. <br /><br /> By the way, that caveat at the end of your comment is not useful. By talking about going to the hospital and the police as if these were odd choices some errant victims might make, you are effectively discouraging people from making those choices. <br /><br />TR, thank you for writing this.<br /><br />-AishlinAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-20687474026098682372010-11-10T23:33:11.917-05:002010-11-10T23:33:11.917-05:00I think this is a meaningful post, but I need to t...I think this is a meaningful post, but I need to take issue with your telling people that have just been raped that they *must* and *need* to go directly to the hospital and to not wash themselves to preserve evidence and the such...<br /><br />Firstly, I really don't think anyone should be telling people that have been raped what to do. Perhaps we should listen to their desires and be respectful of that.<br /><br />Often, folks will *not* want to go to the hospital or police dept-- often they are wary of being re-victimized in (what are often) these isolating, medicalized and authoritarian environments. <br /><br />Police response and other avenues through criminal "justice" is not always what folks need or want, and I think we need to be sensitive to that. <br /><br />I don't mean to tear apart your well-intentioned post, but the way you are telling, almost ordering, folks what to do is really... not well thought out, to put it one way. Especially to have the 1st thing on the list be what one should do... according to... you, I guess.<br /><br />At the same time, if folks desire to go to the hospital and to call the cops, then by all means, we should support them. <br /><br />I think you get my drift.<br /><br />-AbbeyAbbey Volcanohttp://ideasandaction.infonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-41703867467949359872010-11-10T23:20:11.553-05:002010-11-10T23:20:11.553-05:00Important post. I would only add, per the "me...Important post. I would only add, per the "men need to talk to other men..." bullet point, that men get raped, too. And women are perpetrators of sexual assault. I don't imagine you meant to imply otherwise but I wanted to add my encouragement to male victims of sexual assault to get the help and medical & legal support they need, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36212542.post-54757378873682971832010-11-10T21:03:56.237-05:002010-11-10T21:03:56.237-05:00Very important, yes, thank you.
Somewhere, there&...Very important, yes, thank you.<br /><br />Somewhere, there's a thing on the internet about stopping rape that runs along the lines of here's how to stop rape: Don't rape someone. If someone's drunk at a party, don't rape them. If someone says no, don't rape them. <br /><br />And so on.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.com