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This post was written by Erin Fischer, a senior in high school, youth advocate and activist. You can read more of her writing on the Scenarios USA Youth Voices blog and on her personal blog – http://fearlessfeminism.tumblr.com/.
The Steubenville rape case that was ruled on by Judge Lipps this past Sunday has sparked national attention. It all started on August 11th at a party taking place in the town. A girl was sexually assaulted by two football players and was also videotaped and photographed during the attack. The video was posted online and soon after, the online activist group Anonymous took on the case. They identified the football players that were responsible and even took to gathering information from their Facebook and Twitter pages. Gregg Housh, an Anonymous activist says “Anonymous got as much information as they could posted all over the Internet and questioned why these guys weren’t being prosecuted for obvious rape,” “Everyone got mad. They developed a furious consensus, that’s how hacktivism happens. Anonymous helped make news to the point where the prosecutor had to pay attention.”
During the trial, the defense tried to make the assault appear “insignificant” According to the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, “The defense played it off that these are just silly things kids do when they’re drunk.” We know that this is promoting rape culture and victim blaming, as they tried to make the incident seem trivial and something born out of teenage recklessness. It seems to come from this “boys will be boys” attitude that our culture seems to cling to very tightly, especially when it is challenged in such a severe way.
It was also made aware through cell phones that were confiscated that this incident was known to have been happening by many people at this party and still everyone failed to act. (Party-goer’s were even tweeting about it as it was happening). No one intervened. Unfortunately, researched released by GfK Public Affairs and Corporate Communication found that 53% of people would “find it difficult to intervene” if they were witness to sexual assault.
The football coach of the two players was actually aware of the events that occurred that night and failed to take action. According to the New York Daily News, evidence during the trial suggested that he “tried to shield his athletes from prosecution.” And the case isn’t closed; the Ohio Attorney General is planning on conducting a grand jury to determine if other parents, coaches and adults who were aware of this incident and did nothing should also be prosecuted. Two teenage girls who are residents of Steubenville were arrested yesterday, after they reportedly made threats against the victim on social media sites.
Just when we thought that justice was served, we were reminded that our culture doesn’t support survivors. CNN sympathized with the perpetrators, saying the case ruined “promising young lives”. ABC made excuses for their behavior and spoke highly of the perpetrators by emphasizing their loss of promising careers USA today couldn’t get past the fact that the survivor was intoxicated and Yahoo News “says the victim has forced the town into an emotional situation.” Fox News even revealed the survivor’s name. The backlash is real and we should be outraged.
This case is so significant, because it tells a cultural story that is so relevant to our times. We see hyper masculinity being glorified through this story. We see criminals being made into heroes. We are witnessing our culture’s attitudes about rape, violence and gender happening right before our eyes. I think that is what is so compelling about the Steubenville case; it combines elements of rape culture, masculinity, and social media and youth into a conglomerate that speaks volumes about our values.
Of course, what happened Steubenville is not in any way unique. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 5 boys will be sexually assaulted before they turn 18. This testament is happening in every state, every county, and every town. It’s time that we open our eyes and recognizes it. It’s time that we stop making spectacles of sexual violence and realize that it’s everywhere. And it’s time we start educating ourselves and doing better for ourselves, our children and our world. We cannot let Steubenville fade from view, rather we must use it to shine a light onto this issue and use it to start preventing sexual violence from happening everywhere.
A great way to start is through activism. I Will End Sexual Violence is a social media campaign that is tackling the issue of sexual violence through personal commitments to create social change. It’s run by young people from Scenarios USA and is run through tumblr (iwillesv.tumblr.com). This campaign is creating an alternative to the narrative of Steubenville and will be an asset in ending sexual violence everywhere.
Sources:
- http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/03/18/steubenville-rape-social-media-football/1997687/
- http://www.cleveland.com/steubenville-rape-case/index.ssf/2013/03/steubenville_rape_case_to_be_mon.html
- http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/steubenville-coach-shield-prosecution-article-1.1292299
- http://www.wtov9.com/news/news/breaking-news-2-arrested-connection-threats-jane-d/nWwmd/
- http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201303182147-0022619
- https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151471088844350&set=a.397947944349.177822.48994809349&type=1&theater
- http://www.oaesv.org/steubenville-oaesv-responds/
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