Tuesday, January 27, 2015

No means no VS. Yes means yes.

"No means no" and "yes means yes" seem to be the same argument at first glance, but they're actually quite opposite. No means no is the common argument made these days in a rape trial, but there are so many ways for the "rapist" to claim not-guilty with this mind set. If a women didn't explicitly say the word "no" then arguably it was not rape. There are so many factors in a victims ability (or inability) to say the word no. If the victim is drunk, drugged, etc. he/she may not be able to say the word no and the rape may very well be overlooked.

On the other hand, in a yes means yet culture the "girl who cried rape" aspect would likely increase. As sad as it is, women who willingly made a mistake with someone on a "one night stand" could report rape because she didn't explicitly say the word "yes."

Maybe the argument shouldn't be "yes means yes" or "no means no" but rather did the victim resist or struggle at all? If the victim did not resist at all, and gave in to having sex with no argument then it shouldn't be considered rape. People argue that the victim may have been too drunk, but unless the person doing the act of rape purposely got them overly-drunk then it is the victim's choice.

This is a hard argument that may not have a right answer, but it is my hope that soon there will be a way to drastically reduce the amount of incidents that get overlooked. Rape is a huge part of our culture and it has not gotten the attention it deserves.

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