In the past, when I have done educational presentations with students, they tend to underrate or disbelieve the actual number of women who are victims/survivors of sexual assault. When questioned further, they state that if that many sexual assaults were occurring, you’d hear about it more often. You’d think.
But then you have a case like this:
And you can start to see where it might be a little harder than people think to report an assault. While I know there will be some people out there that argue this case is far from clear cut, especially with her committing illegal acts herself, I think you could easily stretch these same issues to victims/survivors who have used drugs, been drinking underage, been someplace they’re not supposed to be, consented to some sexual acts but not all, etc. The truth is, it is much harder to file a report for sexual assault and then move past this harmful act than most people ever consider. Who can blame someone who just wants to get on with her/his life instead of having their name dragged through the mud while trying to prove that they indeed said “no”?
What are your thoughts on this?