Word: sexualism
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...Caldwell’s suspicious analogies to the false accusations at Duke and will be confronted with her doubts given her belief that not “all of these [incidents] actually constituted rape.” We suggest that Caldwell’s “victims of sexual violence politics” organize their own week and have their own candlelight vigil to raise awareness about the prevalence of false accusations. Otherwise, Caldwell, you can organize...
Lucy M. Caldwell’s column “Rushing to Rape” (Apr. 18) rushed to its own uninformed conclusion: women should prevent sexual assault by “taking control of [their] sexual behavior.” Rather than ascribing responsibility for sexual violence to the attackers, she suggests that women should stop giving men the opportunity and the cause, from excessive alcohol consumption to unclear relationship expectations, to rape them. She also writes that “morning-after guilt and regrets can give way to overblown cries of violation or abuse...
Caldwell’s statements reveal a much broader mindset about sexual violence. By focusing only on victims, many people tacitly excuse the attackers from responsibility. Rape cases often become interrogations of victims, their social lives, and the relational circumstances surrounding the rapes. Victims are forced to defend their own innocence because of the widespread attitudes Caldwell’s column advocates. Whether a victim is a stripper, wears short skirts, or attends Harvard University is irrelevant; all accusations need to be treated seriously. To do otherwise suggests that certain classes of women deserve or invite the attacks that take...
Caldwell’s argument is an absurd non sequitur. She argues that because there are false accusations of rape, we should focus on women’s responsibility for their sexual behavior rather than attackers’ guilt. She fails to mention that deliberately false accusations of rape are exceedingly rare; the Duke Lacrosse case is just one sensationalized example. All accounts show that tens of thousands of rape cases each year are unreported or grossly mishandled by medical and legal response centers. She also neglects to explain how changing women’s “sexual behavior?...
...consent. However, Caldwell’s argument—which imputes partial blame and suspicion to the victims—reinforces the perspective that women invite rape by tempting others to attack them. This strategy of victim-blaming and intimidation is simply abhorrent, and only furthers attitudes permissive to sexual violence...