<p>^^saintfan is referencing Jameis Winston, who recently had to do 20 hours of community services for “forgetting” to pay for $32 worth of crab legs, while not being punished in a potintial rape case (based on lack of evidence). </p>
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<p>Yes, but do you call the cops when a neighborhood kid cuts through your yard? Would you include yourself in a group of people who were the victims of crime because some hikers got lost and cut through your property to get to the road?</p>
<p>I doubt it. </p>
<p>Look, I am not denying that sexual assault as a big category exists. I <em>am</em> denying that on that occasion I was a victim of sexual assault. At that time at that place it simply did not rise to the level of anything I personally would label “assault.” So don’t include me in your statistics. If you insist upon doing so, then I will view your statistics with a jaundiced eye.</p>
<p>If I understand correctly, ucbalumnus points out that at least in CA sexual battery is a legal term? So whether the recipients of the pinching or groping perceived themselves to be a “victims” of sexually battery, they were in the eyes of the law. Is that correct?</p>
<p>Yes, the touching/pinching/groping of intimate parts of another unwilling person is defined as sexual battery in California.</p>
<p><a href=“Boko Haram 'to sell' Nigeria girls abducted from Chibok - BBC News”>http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27283383</a></p>
<p>And the Nigerian girls continue at risk.</p>
<p>At any rate, whatever happened to the young woman in the Jameis Winston case might not now be included in the numbers as he was not found guilty of anything. As I recall there were issues with collection and processing of evidence on the part of the police. So when the highly publicized cases end up like this or some at Notre Dame involving athletics where is the upside in sticking your neck out if you are a young woman and this has happened to you? Yes, there may be false accusations, but the price for any kind of accusation is so steep on the part of the alleged victim that the unreported cases must far outnumber them (I am trying to be generous here).</p>
<p><a href=“Errors in Inquiry on Rape Allegations Against FSU’s Jameis Winston - The New York Times”>Errors in Inquiry on Rape Allegations Against FSU’s Jameis Winston - The New York Times;
<p>I don’t think there is an upside unless you have a very good case. But, many crimes go unreported. Or the police will flat out tell you there is nothing they can do. Pinching likely falls into this category.</p>
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<p>It doesn’t bother me when kids cut through my yard. It wouldn’t bother me if some hikers picked a few raspberries off my bushes. It DOES bothers me if someone gropes me or my daughter. In fact, I recently found out that someone did exactly that to her on a trip with her stepfamily. Should I just tell her that it’s no big deal, even though she feels violated and I am sick about it? What about the time someone followed me home when I was first living on my own and tried to attack me in the vestibule of my apartment? The police seemed to think that was a problem, even though the guy never got past the “groping” stage. We have laws and we have rights. It shouldn’t be left to the court of public opinion to determine what we should and shouldn’t put up with.</p>
<p>Sally, no-one said it should be left to the court of public opinion. But, maybe It should be left to the victim to decide is he or she is a victim of something that rises to the level of a crime. We have all likely had a variety of these experiences, btw.</p>
<p>I got pinched by an old-fashioned male relative. I didn’t realize who it was and whacked him with my umbrella. I bet he thought twice before every doing that again! (And while I totally think he was out of line, like Consolation, I was in no way damaged by the experience.) Now finding myself alone in a train carriage with a guy who thought it would be fun to expose himself to me, that was considerably more unpleasant.</p>
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<p>no. good try though.</p>
<p>If the big category is “sexual assault,” then why is the term " rape culture" being used in this conversation?</p>
<p>Because both exist–the crime and the culture. Why is that so hard to understand?</p>
<p>Women should be in control of all sexual activity that takes place between them and another. When they no longer have control of that activity then a crime has been committed, either sexual assault or worse rape. Minor incursions in my mind such as butt grabbing etc. fall under the catagory of sexual harassment. The person involved might be boorish but at no time did the victim lose control over her decision to engage in a sexual activity. A slap in the face and an admonition to keep their hands to themselves and all is under control. In the work place this is a legal issue on a college campus I think it should remain a under the jurisdiction of the university. I do think that a complaint process for sexual harassment is a good idea. Too many complaints could result in expulsion. All sexual assault and rape should remain a legal issue and therefore law enforcement should be involved because of due process issues.</p>
<p>I agree with most points but not this in its entirety:
<a href=“Male rape in America: A new study reveals that men are sexually assaulted almost as often as women.”>http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/04/male_rape_in_america_a_new_study_reveals_that_men_are_sexually_assaulted.html</a></p>
<p>Well, there goes the whole rape culture argument. Also, doesn’t sexual harassment in the workplace require a power imbalance? That does not exist between two drunk college students.</p>
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<p>Absolutely not. SHE FEELS VIOLATED. A very different situation.</p>
<p>From the article above:</p>
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<p>@actingmt: I was looking for a term that seemed to best describe the infraction. I don’t think think it rises to the level of a crime as it might if the work place environment allowed the behavior. </p>
<p>@Erin’s Dad: I guess I meant should women should be in control of what happens to THEM. The same should be said for men. In our society it is usually expected that men make the advance and women then have the decision. It seems to be changing.</p>
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<p>In California, the unwanted “butt grabbing” is legally defined as “sexual battery”, which is a misdemeanor, not an infraction. “Sexual harassment” is a larger category, including such things as unwanted sexual advances that may fall outside the definition of “sexual battery” or similar crimes under penal or criminal codes.</p>
<p>The concept of rape culture doesn’t exclude the concept of men being raped; though in some rape cultural manifestations, it is the worst thing that can happen to a man because it puts him in the feminine or subservient position. The ideal of dominance and degradation are characteristics of rape culture, whether achieved through rape or sexual harassment. Rape culture authorizes rapists and sexual assaulters, regardless of the gender of their target. Rape culture makes it “normal” or naughty–not an outrage–to be sexually accosted by an uncle or a stepfather.</p>
<p>Like all concepts, it has its limits, but if you pretend that there is a cultural of rape and you watch TV, listen to the news, and look at fashion–with that idea for a week–then you will see the concept has interest and application. When I teach students, I tell them to use theories and concepts as eyeglasses or speculative instruments to make visible things they might miss. </p>
<p><a href=“Eight more Nigeria girls abducted - BBC News”>http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27294630</a>
Seeking to stop the education of girls, Boko Haram has kidnapped more Nigerian girls. </p>