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Dakota Theuner

UWRT 1104

April 6, 2017

The Blurred Line: Rape or a Mistake?

Sarah and Jason are two friends who both have known each other for a while and

have feelings for each other. They both want to be in a relationship, but havent talked about

it. Sarah heard about a party Friday night and asked Jason to come out with her. After a few

hours, both Sarah and Jason are drunk and they have sex, without ever communicating their

feelings, consent, or intentions. The outcome of this event is unknown and could have

multiple endings. Either party could claim rape immediately afterwards or later on, potential

problems could arise in the future, they both could be completely fine with the incident, or

they might never talk to each other again. This story is told too frequently by too many

people. It seems to be that rape, among other sexual assaults, is an increasingly popular topic

in society today. More people are coming forward about their experiences, yet so many

remain quiet. Many stay silent because they feel hopeless about their case since only six out

of every 1,000 rapists end up in prisons. This being said, often times there are different

accounts of what actually happened.

When people are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, events can get muddled

oftentimes, decisions can be made that we didnt want, that we dont remember, or that we

wanted while sober but dont remember doing while not. Because of this muddled line, the
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idea of consent becomes blurred. If two people decide to have sex while drunk, can one

claim rape the day after? If two people decide to have sex while sober but get drunk, can they

still claim rape?

This paper will touch on factors associated with sexual assault, reasons behind these

acts, outcomes, statistics, definitions, and solutions. Not having a mutual understanding of

terms used when talking about sexual assault is usually where a big problem arises. Sexual

assault and sexual violence are synonymous, collective terms that describes all unwanted or

forceful physical acts. Laws and definitions vary state to state, but are gender neutral laws.

North Carolina doesnt have a legal definition of what consent is. A broad definition of

consent is voluntary, positive agreement between participants to engage in specific sexual

activity (Women's Center. Northwestern University). As well as states having different

definitions, the United States government can have official ones as well. The United States

Department of Justice provided an inclusive, gender neutral explanation when they defined

rape as the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or

object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the

victim (An Updated Definition of Rape. The United States Department of Justice).

There has been documented evidence of different cases and statistics of sexual

assault. In America, another person will become a victim of sexual assault every ninety-eight

seconds. In her lifetime, one out of six women will be a victim of rape, both attempted and

completed rape. College women, ages 18-24, have the highest chance of being a victim of

sexual assault. Sexual violence is experienced in some form by 11.2 percent of college

students.
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Many sexual assault and rape cases are centered around college campuses and

students. Most of the biggest cases have happened at universities. Recently, in October 2015,

an incident regarding Nikki Yovino and two football players was released to the public.

Nikki claimed that the two football players raped her in the basement at a party while drunk.

The case was investigated and after revoking the boys scholarships, they withdrew from

Sacred Heart University. A few months later, in February, Yovino released another statement

saying the acts were consensual and she lied about it to avoid losing a friend and potential

boyfriend. As a consequence, Yovino was charged with tampering with physical evidence

and second degree false reporting, and will have to serve time in jail. A more well-known

case that is very important, is the Stanford Rape Case or the People vs Turner case. An

intoxicated Stanford University student and athlete raped an even more intoxicated,

unconscious girl behind a dumpster outside a fraternity house. Once said girl regained her

consciousness in the hospital she had to go through a series of tests and was confused about

the previous nights events because she had blacked out. She heard about her own story on

the news and decided to press charges on Brock Turner for assault with intent to commit

rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, sexual penetration of an intoxicated person and

sexual penetration of an unconscious person (stanforddaily.com). During the trial, Turners

attorney turned all of the blame to the victim, using her memory loss and an excuse for her

not remembering giving consent. Turners consequences for his actions were six months in

county jail, registered lifetime sex offender, and three years of probation, which sparked

outrage among the public. More attention was brought to the case when the victim published

a response letter to Brock Turner. Her letter described the night and overall incident with

significant detail and brought awareness to Americas rape culture and justice system. Joe
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Biden was impacted by the letter and wrote his own response to her letter admiring her for

her courage.

Both of the aforementioned cases help fuel existing stereotypes. When talking about

college sexual assault, there are a few things that people tend to think of first. They might

think about what happens at fraternity parties with rude frat boys and drunk sorority girls.

They think about strong, cocky athletes who dont suffer consequences. Athletes and

members of Greek life have always been considered high-risk to commit sexual assault. This

is typically thought because people associate recklessness, drunkenness, aggressiveness, and

privilege with the two parties. These stereotypes have the same effect as stigmas surround

sexual violence and rape: they both make people act and think with closed minds. Stigmas

tied to sexual assault are all negative. It is common to hear people victim blaming, which

strongly reflects our rape culture. Victim blaming is finding reasons to blame the victim for

being assaulted, such as saying they shouldnt have worn that, or been there, or done that..

Another similar stigma is associating weakness or promiscuity with the victim if they report

their case. Having such stereotypes and stigmas so strongly connected to sexual assault make

it difficult for some people talk about the topic. It also adds stress to victims. Feeling like

youre not able to talk about an incident can increase the risk for depression, post-traumatic

stress disorder, and even suicide.

When considering those targeted by sexual assault, people generally go straight for

the female demographic. While this is true, especially on college campuses, minorities as

whole seem to be targeted. Groups like the LGBTQ community, races, and women, can

experience sexual violence as a hate crime. Men can also be victims of sexual assault and
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that is commonly not thought of. Its been reported that ten percent of men are victims of

rape (RAINN.org). When these acts are committed as a form of hate, the negative side

effects caused by stigmas and stereotypes can be increased even more. Men especially are

told by society that they cant come out with their stories because it emits signs of weakness

and strips away their masculinity.

Due to the fact that sexual assault has become more of a discussed topic, resources are

now available to help individuals. On most college campuses resources are present like Title

IX offices, Campus SaVE, counseling centers. Other resources are also websites, hotlines,

and campaigns. Title IX and Campus SaVE are programs dedicated to eliminating sexual

violence, and promoting sexual equality on college campuses. For people that have

experienced sexual assault, they can use the other resources mentioned. They can confide in

certified counselors in the counseling center, or if they prefer to remain anonymous, they can

turn to the other mentioned resources. There are websites like RAINN.org, cardv.org, and

victimsofcreime.org to learn basic information about sexual assault. Hotlines exist for those

who feel the need to communicate with someone anonymously in a time of emergency.

Its interesting to see how the general public reacts to situations and incidents

regarding sexual violence or rape. Depending on the audience, the variety of responses

received is thought provoking. Overall, you would find that a pretty unanimous consensus

that its bad and shouldnt happen, but all of these opinions tend to be followed by a but.

When discussing the same event of sexual violence with a nineteen year male and a nineteen

year old female you will most likely have two different conversations. To prove this, I

interviewed three nineteen year old males and females. When asked their definition of rape
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and consent, all six people had the same answers. Rape was defined as any physical,

forceful activity that was not asked for. They defined consent as verbal permission while

completely sober. When proposed the scenario A guy and girl always flirt with each other

but have never done anything sexually. They both go out to a party and are drunk by the end of

the night. They have sex and in the morning the girl says that she did not give consent and

accuses him of raping her, the guys and girls had slightly different answers. The girls all said

yes, that is rape. However, the boys all hesitated and said the situation was a grey area. They said

that it isnt fair for the girl to claim rape, if the boy was just as drunk as she was. They were

given other situations and scenarios and their answers began to show a pattern. I found it

interesting that the boys were more likely to point out the grey areas in situations. They saw how

consent may be defined as one thing, but how it becomes muddled when put into real life

situations. Overall, the females were either on one side of the other. Once they were told a

scenario, they usually made up their mind and wouldnt change.

The part that causes the most confusion when discussing sexual assault and rape,

comes from the fluidity of the definition of terms like rape and consent. Its conflicting to see

how posted legal definitions dont necessarily uphold realistically. The line between rape and

an irresponsible decision can easily be blurred. Often times rehashing incidents can turn into

a he-said-she-said interaction which can cause more problems. Referring back to the

Stanford Rape Case, the female victim wrote then he asked if he could finger me and I said

yes. Most guys dont ask Can I finger you? Usually theres a natural progression of thing,

unfolding consensually, not a Q and A. This stands out because it questions consent. She is

making a point about how he says he asked her for permission in his second story, but how
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the story is false. She is making a point that either way consent wasnt given. In this instance,

asking for direct permission is unnatural.

In order to better our society, work needs to be done to decrease the occurrence of any

type of sexual violence. People need to be better educated and informed about it. Alerting

younger people about the how, when, where, and why associated with sexual assault could help

them become more aware. With more information, they could be able to intervene or help

another person in this type of situation. Most people have lost the concept of respect and finding

that is an important key in making our society better.

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Works Cited

An Updated Definition of Rape. The United States Department of Justice, 6 Jan. 2012,
www.justice.gov/opa/blog/updated-definition-rape. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017

Campo-Engelstein, Lisa. "Rape as a Hate Crime: An Analysis of New York Law." Hypatia,
vol. 31, no. 1, Feb. 2016, pp. 91-106. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/hypa.12219.

Murray, Christine, et al. "How Can We End the Stigma Surrounding Domestic and Sexual
Violence? A Modified Delphi Study with National Advocacy Leaders." Journal of Family
Violence, vol. 31, no. 3, Apr. 2016, pp. 271-287. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10896-015-
9768-9.
Russell, Tiffany D., et al. "Sexually Violent Women: The PID-5, Everyday Sadism, and
Adversarial Sexual Attitudes Predict Female Sexual Aggression and Coercion against Male
Victims." Personality & Individual Differences, vol. 111, June 2017, pp. 242-249. EBSCOhost

Schulze, Corina and Wendy Perkins. "Awareness of Sexual Violence Services among LGBQ-
Identified College Students." Journal of School Violence, vol. 16, no. 2, Apr-Jun2017, pp.
148-159. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/15388220.2017.1284481.

Siegel, Robert, Smith Tovia, Brooks Tess, and Snyder Maddie. "Harvard Survey Highlights
Attitudes About Campus Sexual Assault." NPR. NPR, 19 Dec. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.