Rape is Rape
By: Yeeun Yoon
Tags: Rape, Rape Culture, Consent, Victim Blaming, Law

If a person is unable to say yes to sex then it is rape.

It was not till 2016 when they considered having sex with someone, who is unconscious as rape. They did not consider raping an unconscious girl as rape before as rape because it did not use force. Rape was previously defined as non-consensual sex using the threat of physical force, so when someone is unable to give consent they can receive a lesser sentence based on a judge’s discretion. This is the reason why when Brock Turner, a Stanford athlete, raped an unconscious girl back in 2015, he only received six months of jail time and three years of probation. It took California five months before it expanded its definition of rape and added a new mandatory minimum sentence after the Turner case caused national outrage.

Turner’s father claimed his son should not be punished for getting a “couple minutes of action”. He completely disregarded the fact that his son was getting some “action” with an unconscious girl and ran away when he got caught. The judge of the case seemed to think that jail is too harsh of a sentence for him and ruin his future career. Why is the judge more concern over Turner’s career than the victim? The judge was more concern about how this would affect Brock and was less concerned about what he did. People are outraged that the judge gave him such a short sentence. The judge should not be a judge if he gives special treatment to certain people because they are a good athlete. Where is the justice for the victim? She gets treated like it’s her fault that she drank too much and that she asked to be raped. When will everyone be treated equally for their crimes?

It should have been obvious that having sex with someone who is unconscious is rape. If they are unconscious then they are unable to give consent. Sex is rape without consent yet, there are so little consequences for having sex with an unconscious woman. There are harsher consequences for drug abuse then there are for rape. It is ridiculous that rape would not have a harsher punishment. Rape will always be with the victim they will have to live with fear, anxiety and trust issues with men for the rest of their lives. They carry the burden and will be changed by this act. Men do not rape because they want sex they rape because they want to feel powerful. Rapist use rape as a way to dominate another human being. Even if a person is passed out or too intoxicated to function properly they are not asking to be raped.

It is crazy that rape is not just rape no matter the case. Rape is rape even if no force was used. If a person did not consent and is unable to give consent then it should have been considered rape. Not only does our society try to prevent labeling things as rape we also tend to victim blame. In our society, we tend to make women feel guilty about being raped especially if they were raped at a party or party type scene. They will ask the victim what they were wearing, what they were doing, were they drinking and tries to put the blame on the victim. In Sharon Marcus’ Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of Rape Prevention, she talks about how she proposes to treat rape like a language. In rape laws, it always all about language. If force was used or questioning the victim. Clothes do not cause rape. Alcohol does not cause rape. Flirting does not cause rape. No one asks to be raped. It is frustrating when people say “she was asked to be raped” due to what she was wearing or doing. A rapist should be the one to blame for rape, not the victim.

Marcus would agree that in order to change how rape is viewed in our society we need to change the way we view rape. Rape is not only a horrible act but it is a language. Just like how we are quick to doubt the victim and defend the rapist. People will try to justify the rapist’s action as he would do what any other guy would do or say that the women were asking for it. Then they will try to blame the fact that the girl led them on or that they consented at first. If a women consents at firsts then changes her mind that does not give somebody permission to continue. We need harsher sentences for rapist and we need to stop victim blaming. Girls should not have to be in the constant fear of being raped and feel like they are never safe.