Here is the Real Reason Why Rape Culture is so Rampant
1in 4 women report having suffered sexual violence at least once in their lifetime, 1 in 5–7 men report the same. If you include sexual harassment, it’s a fair bet you will struggle to find a single person who hasn’t suffered from it at least once
The crazy thing is, it’s getting worse, not better.
Yes, some argue things like #meto have been steps in the right direction, but there have been many events like that. The outcome is always the same, much outrage, many promises of change, but in the end, the trend continues in the same direction.
The trend is continuing in the same direction. The question is, why, why can’t we break free of it?
Why it’s so difficult to break free of the trend of rising sexual violence
Imagine the ultra-clichéd image of two teenagers going on a first date to the cinema. They get to the cinema, the film starts, things are seemingly going well, then the guy yawns and before you know it, his arm is around his date’s shoulder.
At this moment, one of three things will happen, either his date will embrace his move and snuggle up to him, she will remove his hand and reject the advance, or she will want to remove his hand, but for whatever reason won’t.
Let’s imagine number two has happened, and as a result, she makes an accusation against him of unwanted touching for having put his arm around her shoulder. Do you think she has grounds for such a claim based on their situation?The answer is irrelevant to criminality. What matters is whether you think the guy in the situation had grounds to believe he could put his arm around his date’s shoulder at that moment. If you think he did, he is innocent.
Fundamentally, this is what is not widely understood about consent. When it comes to the court of law and the court of public opinion, for better or worse, it is not about whether in your head you gave consent or not, it’s about whether you in some way, from an external viewpoint, signalled that you did or not.
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