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Dakota Theuner

Professor Campbell

UWRT 1104

April 6, 2017

The Blurred Line: Rape or a Mistake?

It has been two years since Sarah and Jaylen became friends freshman year. During

this time, they have gotten closer and both have developed deeper feelings for each other.

Neither one of them have expressed these feelings, nor their mutual wish to move forward into a

relationship. Like most Friday nights in a college town, a party was being thrown and Sarah

invited Jaylen, a common thing for them. A few hours in to the party, Sarah and Jaylen are

extremely intoxicated and they end up having sex without ever communicating feelings, consent,

or intentions. The outcome of this night is unknown, but there are multiple possibilities. 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. 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
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wanted while sober but dont remember doing while not. Because of this blurred line, the idea of

consent becomes uncertain. 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. The absence of a mutual understanding of terms

associated with sexual assault is usually where a big problem arises. Sexual assault and sexual

violence are synonymous, collective terms that describe all unwanted or forceful, physical acts.

Laws and definitions vary state to state, but are gender neutral. 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, including attempted and completed

rape. College students, especially women, are among those most affected by sexual assault.

Sexual violence is experienced, in some form, by 11.2 percent of college students. Women ages

18-24, have the highest chance of being a victim. Those two facts together show how serious this

matter is in a collegiate setting. Considering these are published statistics, its amazing that many
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rapists wont experience serious consequences, like imprisonment. Only six out of every 1,000

rapists will end up in prison for their crimes. This statistic alone makes a big statement.

Approximately only 40 percent of rapes end up being reported to the authorities. Many victims

dont even consider reporting their case because they feel so hopeless about a positive outcome.

A victim of sexual assault is a victim all the same, however there is another type that some may

be completely oblivious to. This type consists of individuals who have been falsely accused of

committing a sexually violent crime. While only two percent of all sex related charges end up

being false, these victims are men more times than not. Such fake claims may be made out of

regret, fear of promiscuity labels, for attention or revenge. Whatever the reason, these actions

further add to societal rape culture. The question remains: why are these criminals not being

properly reprimanded?

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. Avery important, more well-known case 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
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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 as

an excuse for her not remembering giving consent. Turners consequences for his actions were

six months in county jail, registering as a 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

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 the stigmas that surround sexual violence and

rape: they both make people act and think with closed minds. Our American culture places too

heavy a stigma on sex in general. Whereas men seem to be praised for promiscuous behavior,

females are viewed in a negative way for the slightest thing deemed unacceptable. Wearing

provocative clothing, having a majority of male friends, or having more than one partner, can
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instantly cause some to decrease a womans worth. Stigmas on sexual assault add to the already

negative attitude. It is common to hear people victim blaming, which strongly reflects our

culture. Victim blaming is placing all responsibility on the assaulted victim for the actions, such

as saying they shouldnt have worn that, or been there, or done that.. Another similarity is

associating weakness with the victim if they report their case. Having such stereotypes and

stigmas so strongly tied to sexual assault make it difficult for some people open up about the

topic. As mentioned before, many women wont speak up about their experience due to their

apprehensive outlook on the case. There are other reasons, of course, like potential memory loss

during, fear of family and public reaction, and the added stress. 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, certain races, and women, can

experience sexual violence as a hate crime. Men can also be victims of sexual assault and 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. Acknowledging the stigmas while

thinking about how they were singled out based on an uncontrollable factor can significantly

increase the feelings of depression in a person. Men especially are told that they cant come out

with their stories because it emits signs of weakness and strips away their masculinity. As far as

how gender roles are ultimately valued in our society, losing masculinity would heavily impact

most men.
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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 a pretty unanimous consensus that its bad and shouldnt

happen, however 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 that live on UNC Charlottes campus. When asked their definition of rape and

consent, all six people had the same answers. Rape was defined as any physical, forceful

activity that was not asked for. One of the students interviewed, Andrew, provided a very

specific definition of rape. He said rape is expressed, assertive physical activity where

penetration of the mouth, vagina, or anus occurs in an unwanted, forceful manner. This response

lead to discussion amongst the students, where the inclusion of anus in the definition was

acknowledged. This prompted Julia to add guys can get raped too, by men and women, which
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is important for a gender neutral definition. Everyone defined consent as verbal permission

while completely sober. Although the definitions all matched up, boys thought about their

definitions longer. When asked about potential situations that questioned rape and consent, the

conversation really began. The proposed scenario was 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. Is this rape? The guys and girls had slightly different answers. Emily

answered immediately, only saying yes, and was supported by Julia and a more hesitant Jala.

After listening to the girls all answer, Jared shook his head while saying it depends. Andrew

spoke up again mentioning how it was a grey area and could be perceived differently, if this

wasnt discussed at all beforehand, and they were both intoxicated, how is it fair of her to claim

rape and not him?. 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. Also interesting was how the girls contradicted themselves by saying the first scenario

was rape. The definition of rape given by them specified unwanted, forceful physical activity.

The scenario never mentioned forceful activity between the two. This lead them to see how

easily meanings and concepts become muddled in 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 boys explained their reasoning more and took slightly longer to

respond.

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
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irresponsible decision can easily be blurred. Often times rehashing incidents can turn into a he-

said-she-said interaction, causing more problems. This can be seen when you refer back to the

Stanford Rape Case. In a follow up trial, the defendant recited a new story in which his actions

seem proper. According to the second story, a request for permission was directly verbalized

for every action, which is considered proper, however, her being unconscious and behind the

dumpster wasnt included because that would ultimately prove his actions improper. In a written

response to the new story, the female victim mocked him by writing the following, 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 things, unfolding consensually, not a Q and A. This stands out

because it questions consent. She is actively trying to prove that his new story is false, by saying

directly asking permission is unnatural. But, isnt that the whole meaning of consent?

Most people have lost the concept of respect; finding it is an important key in making our

society better. Another way to better our society would be to work to decrease the occurrence of

any type of sexual violence. Education is key. The public needs to be more informed and better

educated. In this specific case, consent was not given or even requested, but it helps prove how

unstable the definitions can be in an instance where they should be the strongest. Ensuring a

basic understanding of the meanings behind consent, rape, and sexual violence should become a

priority in order to make a more informed society. Also, alerting younger people about the how,

when, where, and why associated with sexual assault would increase general awareness.

Continuing to conceal cases regarding aspects of sexual assault from the public eye, will be

detrimental to sexual assault awareness. With more information, individuals would be able to

intervene or help another person in this type of situation.

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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.

"Myths about false accusation." MAAN RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.
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.