Michelle McKernan

WRA 291

10/01/18

Background:

My advocacy project will be on ramifications of rape culture on college campuses. I am

looking to help spread the message that carrying on the stigmas of victim blaming and protecting

the perpetrator will only continue to divide our people and hurt those affected by it. Rape culture

is, by definition, an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence is

normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. In our day and age, where women are

marching for fair treatment in the work place and fighting tooth and nail for the rights of their

own body in regard to abortion and birth control, some would like to think that rape culture is no

longer an issue. It very much is though as we still see cases every day that perpetuate this archaic

belief that women falsify their stories of abuse and trauma for some personal gain. Yet less than

two percent of victims falsely accuse people of rape. One in six women will experience sexual

assault or harassment in their lifetime (“Victims of Sexual Violence”). There is a sexual assault

in the United States less than every two minutes (“Victims of Sexual Violence”). And yet, we

still have a stigma for what we consider rape cultural, harassment and even assault. Even today

as I open my choice of social media, I’m bombarded with posts talking about Christina Ford and

Brett Kavanaugh. Instead of people wanting to know the truth of what happened years ago, they

question Ford on why she waited over thirty years to report this heinous crime. The same

circumstances surrounded the Bill Cosby cases when over sixty women came forward and

accused him of drugging and raping women as far back as the mid-1960s. Not to mention the Me
Too movement originally started by Tarana Burke, which became viral after Alyssa Milano

tweeted about it in 2017 in reference to the Harvey Weinstein allegations. Cases and movements

like these are good and bad for shinning the light on rape cultural, but it also gives a voice to

those who want to speak against it. The right wing and conservative folks are coming out of the

wood work with memes and jokes targeted at these women and women who believe their stories.

It also doesn’t help when these people use social media to defend these men and instead

of using evidence on why they shouldn’t be tried and punished accordingly, they use comments

like, “he’s just a boy”, “20 ,minutes of action shouldn’t dictate the rest of his life”, and my

favorite, “if she can’t remember anything, why should we believe her? She probably just had too

much to drink.” It’s comments like these that perpetuate this culture and by doing so, decreases

that likelihood of someone coming forward in the future to report this heinous crime.

Audience:

My audience is my fellow classmates and I want them to help me make a stand in this

fight. My audience are the parents who have to hold their child after they were attacked, not just

physically, but mentally when they chose to speak out. My audience is those who get to decide

who to believe and who not to believe. My audience is the men and women who get to decide on

the laws and practices that are taken place when someone is attacked. We need to show those

who create these laws that we are the voice and that we have rights too. In my walk against this

preposterous course I will be conducting interviews with expert people in different departments

and get the inside knowledge on what is done and the best action to take, I have already made

contact with a few of these departments and will not give up until they answer the questions that

I have. I will fight for easier reporting and trying of those accused of assault with respect to the

victim and their identity if they choose to remain anonymous. I want to fight for their voice
because no one wanted to fight for all those affected by this in the past, including myself. I know

what it feels like to check over my shoulder every two minutes in the dark. I know what it feels

like to not feel clean for months after a man has claimed my body for himself. I know what if

feels like to be silenced and forced to speak at the same time. I’m tired of excuses. Its our turn to

have our voices heard and be treated as any other victim in a crime instead of someone who was

asking for it. Instead of someone who changed their mind. Instead of someone who had too much

to drink. It’s our turn to be heard.

Context:

One case in particular where not only did a college campus fail to protect and hear its

student, but the justice system as well was the Brock Turner case. In 2015 Brock Turner was

attempting to rape an unconscious girl and was caught in the act by two other students. When

caught, Turner ran and had to be physically restrained until police showed up. Now this girl had

been to a party and had drank quite a bit, but that shouldn’t have been used against her, as Turner

knew he had done wrong. But still, the law sided with him and instead of serving the fourteen

year max of the three sexual assault charges he was convicted of (after two rape charges were

dropped by the prosecution), he only served three months in a county jail. This is what rape

cultural is. This is the injustice that we face every day when we go outside. He ruined someone’s

life, but a judge didn’t want to ruin his.

Our campuses like to pretend that we have a voice and that there is a safe place within

these walls, but they’ve proven to us time and time again they are more worried about saving

face rather than making sure we are protected. Right here in my own back yard we had

perpetrator amongst us for decades but was just now finally brought forth to justice after

headlines across the country- and world- cried for it. Larry Nassar was a physician and physical
therapist where, under the disguise of treating, molested and raped hundreds of women and girls

between the years of 1997 to 2016. It wasn’t as if no one ever said anything about the abuse

either. Our school failed to protect their children for decades against a monster of a man, all

because of who he was.

Now, only to save face, we must deal with the ramifications of this. Instead of being able

to talk to someone (i.e. a RA or a teacher) about something that happened to us, we are forced to

go into depth and have the police contacted on our behalf. We no longer have a choice in

whether or not we want to report. We no longer have any choice other than to stay silent or go all

the way in facing our demons. This is not the way to deal with these problems. This is not the

way to try and make up for what they have failed us in. They are just creating more borders and

walls we must surround ourselves in to stay safe. They have even gone as far as to keep two

members on the committee board that knew of the accusations surrounding Nassar but failed to

bring him to justice. If they’re not willing to own up to their own faults, how are we supposed to

feel protected by them? I propose instead of this witch hunt they want us all to compete in, we

make this campus, and in turn other campuses, safer for the victims.

Action:

The action I plan to take against the oppressors is to first survey the general population,

electronically and physically, with a poll that I have created that will not only figure out how

people see the ‘grey area’ in terms of what others see as assault and harassment. Then with that

information, I hope to educate others on the true definition of consent and how to avoid breaking

that trust with others. With this information I have gathered I would like to present my findings

to the college and help update the required training that we all must partake in and actually
educate the masses. I would also like to bring awareness to the fact that many don’t know the

difference between the grey area and what is actually considered assault.
 Works Cited Page

Rape Culture, Victim Blaming, and The Facts, www.southernct.edu/sexual-

misconduct/facts.html.

“Bill Cosby: A 50-Year Chronicle of Accusations and Accomplishments.” Los Angeles Times,

Los Angeles Times, 25 Sept. 2018, www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-bill-cosby-timeline-

htmlstory.html#.

“Rape Culture & Statistics.” The Order of the White Feather, 7 June 2014,

wearawhitefeather.wordpress.com/survivors/rape-culture-statistics/.

Sanchez, Ray. “Stanford Rape Case: Inside the Court Documents.” CNN, Cable News Network,

11 June 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/06/10/us/stanford-rape-case-court-documents/index.html.

“Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics | RAINN.” RAINN | The Nation's Largest Anti-Sexual

Violence Organization, www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence.