Sexual assault isn’t a joke
Rape should never be comical.
During the Title IX course for incoming first-year students, a video was shown equating consent to making someone a cup of tea. The video showed someone forcing another person to drink tea, which was quite obviously a metaphor for sexual assault.
Some students found this part to be funny, as we were told that it was supposed to be slightly comical and assured that it was okay to laugh. There is nothing funny about sexual assault or consent.
We, as students of a great university, don’t need a serious topic sugarcoated.
As a female student, I’m appalled and ashamed that a school I’ve been excited to attend for months decided to use a metaphor for one of the most serious things on a college campus. Sexual assault is rape. It’s not making someone tea and getting angry when they decide not to drink it.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, 23.1 percent of female and 5.4 percent of male undergraduate students experience rape or sexual assault. Too many of these cases are never reported.
While having a metaphor for this problem can be helpful, it has the potential to degrade the severity of these crimes. Survivors may be less likely to report sexual assault if they think it’s silly or insignificant.
While the online Title IX training is more helpful, I would prefer to have this information right away rather than fill time with a YouTube video. When I see “Title IX Training” scheduled for my weekend, I expect to receive training, and I didn’t.
Rape shouldn’t happen to anyone. If both people are intoxicated, or one is intoxicated, they should make sure they’re both getting home safely.
If a person is intoxicated, they aren’t capable of giving any form of consent. If a person says “No,” they mean it. No one should force themselves on anybody.
It’s not a very difficult thing to figure out — in fact, it’s common sense. Not responding to advances and saying “No” are all indications that the person is not interested in advancing the situation.
See, there wasn’t any mention of making someone tea in any of that. It wasn’t as comical, but being straightforward with the facts is much more applicable to students in real-life, dangerous situations.
Consent is consent. Tea or no tea, if you don’t have consent, it’s rape.
