Of Rape and Responsibility

Of Rape and Responsibility
by Adam Schorsch

On the evening of January 22nd, two young girls (14 and 15 years old respectively) were hanging out in Everett, Washington when a 22-year-old male acquaintance offered them a ride home. They accepted, but instead of taking them home he brought them to a house in Snohomish shared by 9 other men. The girls were given alcohol, shortly after which they each felt ill and went to rest in separate rooms, where they passed out. Most likely the alcohol they were given was laced with a variety of date rape drug. The two girls report having regained consciousness several times while being sexually assaulted by one or more men. As of now one man is in jail and 4 more suspects are in custody.

How often have we heard this story? A woman goes home with a guy, has a drink, passes out, and wakes up feeling violated but with no memories of the events that transpired. Unless she acts fast to gather the evidence needed to present a case it's her word against his, and it's all too likely that the monster who assaulted her will never face justice for his crime.

But how many ways could this have been prevented? Of course the girls could've refused the ride. They could've called their parents from the house rather than stay there. Or, they could've refused the drinks in the first place. Of these, the latter stands out as the most significant; if the girls hadn't accepted the alcohol it is very likely that this atrocity wouldn't have happened.

Make no mistake; the perpetrators of this crime should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Their offence was deliberate, pre-meditated, and utterly heinous. They committed one of the greatest injustices that can be brought against another human being and no punishment would be severe enough for them; in this matter alone I fantasize about Arabian justice and its wonderfully barbaric way of dealing with predators such as these. But the likelihood remains that had those girls not drunken anything, they'd be going to school today like everybody else rather than pressing assault charges.

To be frank, those teenagers were stupid. Most of the responsibility rests upon the 10 men who drugged and raped two minors, but the two minors must assume at least some of the responsibility for what they were forced to endure. I'm not saying teenage girls should not be wary of every 22-year-old they meet, nor am I cautioning them against going to places with 9 other guys. I do, however, decry the foolishness of drinking alcohol in a strange environment with total strangers of the opposite sex.

We all make bad decisions, but most of us are lucky enough not to have to pay the kind of price that these girls did. Did they deserve to be raped? Absolutely not. But did they have some part in bringing this misery upon themselves? Yes, however small. Of course there was the possibility that those girls could've been assaulted without having passed out, but nonetheless they presented an opportunity for others to commit a crime. By the acceptance of that alcohol they left themselves open to victimization of the worst kind, and their lives will be forever altered because of it.