An alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by two 17-year-old boys
recently has sparked concerns in the community that because alcohol
was involved, and because there were conflicting reports during the
investigation, that the victim in this case is being
”
blamed.
”
Morgan Hill – An alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by two 17-year-old boys recently has sparked concerns in the community that because alcohol was involved, and because there were conflicting reports during the investigation, that the victim in this case is being “blamed.”
Victims’ advocates say that there is an unfortunate perception that in some cases, the victim “asks for it.”
Perla Flores with Community Solutions said she could not emphasize strongly enough that the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape do not mitigate the alleged actions of the boys.
“Instead of saying they got them drunk and had sex, it would be correct to say they got them drunk and raped her,” she said. “There are two things that have to be present for sex to be consensual, you must be of legal age and you must have a clear mind. They were impaired by alcohol, so both consent factors were not there, and it was definitely rape. It is always against the law to have sex with somebody who is not able to give consent.”
Morgan Hill police Sgt. Dave Myers said the crime the 17-year-olds were arrested for is “premeditated.”
“To me, these people who do this type of activity are no different than the person that hides in an alley or behind a bush and pulls their victim into the darkness,” he said. “It is premeditated because they know what they are trying to accomplish, and they perpetrate the crime regardless of the victim’s wishes. The other half is rarely or ever as intoxicated as victim, or even intoxicated at all.”
Myers said people sometimes blame the victim in rape cases, particularly when the suspect is known by the victim or it is a so-called “date rape.”
“The victim is not to blame here, it is the suspect who decides to take advantage of the victim’s trust,” he said. “The victim has a level of trust with the suspect that is taken advantage of. They make themselves seem like a friend, but they really have one intention in mind, it’s all a big act until they get what they want.”
Flores, who directs sexual assault programming at the nonprofit group Community Solutions, said everyone makes decisions at times that are not in their best interest, but that doesn’t give someone the right to take advantage of someone else. Rape, she said, is one of the few crimes where society blames the victim.
“We’ve been socialized to put blame on the victim, what was she wearing, was she drinking, should she have been out that late,” she said. “Whenever the victim adopts entitlements belonging to men, then it is her fault … We as a society need to change, there has to be a paradigm shift away from this. No one is ever right to sexually assault another person, and until we see that paradigm shift, our society will continue to be an unsafe place for women and children, the elderly and disabled, who are the ones most vulnerable to sexual assault.”
It is because of the tendency to blame the victim, Flores and Myers said, that rape and sexual assault are extremely underreported.
“Because of this attitude, the victim may feel guilt or fear, and it drives some of these people away from reporting,” Myers said. “Everything you have to go through when you do report it makes some victims reluctant to report. It takes a lot out of a person and a family, it’s a very trying situation.”
