“Women need to stop spreading their legs like peanut butter or rape is going to keep on happening ’til the cows come home.”
Those were the actual words spoken by a cop when University of Connecticut student Kylie Angell reported her rape in July 2010. Though her male classmate was initially expelled, he made an appeal that allowed him back on campus a mere two weeks later. The administration comforted Angell with the logic “it’s fine–you won’t be in the same building at the same time.”
Consequentially, Slate Magazine recently published a real gem titled “College Women: Stop Getting Drunk.” The brilliant writers behind this article cited “sober living” as the “Best Rape Prevention.” Once again, the twelve-ton elephant in the room (THE RAPIST) is completely ignored. Despite all of the recent high-profile cases, the mentality at large is still “she was asking for it.”
Consent isn’t abandoned when a woman wears a short skirt or has a few shots. Somehow, we’ve made it to 2013 and these facts aren’t yet common knowledge. It’s appalling that this mentality is so pervasive that law enforcement wouldn’t take a case like Kylie Angell’s seriously.
Whether or not an officer subscribes to caveman rationale is one thing, but enforcing the law and protecting victims of a violent crime is another…aka the job of a policeman. Can’t these people put their testosterone away for like two seconds?!
Thanks to Bossip
Image via the Huffington Post
