If a person is incapable of saying no to sex, does that mean the answer is yes?
In real life, rape rarely resembles the stereotype of the lurking stranger in an alleyway. The overwhelming majority of rapes are committed by someone the victim knows, frequently someone they trust. Very often, people involved report being unclear as to how consensual the sexual contact was. More often than not the blame falls on the victim, especially if they were using drugs or alcohol. As Buzzfeed reported recently:
The [Edmonton police] department reports that alcohol was involved in over half of their sexual assault investigations in 2011.
Even more disturbing was a recent U.K. study involving 18- to 25-year-old males that revealed that 48% of men didn’t consider it rape if a woman is too drunk to know what was going on.
In an ideal world consent would be black and white. Yes means yes, no means no, and if a person is incapable of giving consent then the default answer is no. But the world we live in is far from ideal. So, to help combat this confusion and make it as clear as possible to both potential rapists and victims, the Edmonton police department has found an effective and straightforward way to drive home the importance of consent. The ad campaign, which was launched two years ago and continues today, consists of posters depicting men and women in all-too-common situations where consent is often ignored.
Read more about rape and consent:
The “Yes, No, Maybe” Chart – A Tool For Talking About Consent
Why It’s Dangerous to Say “Only Bad Guys Commit Rape”
Picture: Kevin Krejci/Flickr
Why must every anti-rape campaign address all aspects of the problem? Why must is address every possible scenario? Lars – I do find it comical. I actually pointed to the campaign actually breaking some new ground in that it goes outside of the Hetro normative … and yet you drag it all the way back to the men rape women centrist position! This particular campaign target guys who think it’s a free-for-all if the chick is drunk out of her skull. Did you just glance past the second poster and miss the Two Guys and the slogan “It’s not consent… Read more »
Exactly. Why is having a female rapist diluting the message when having a gay rapist is not?
It has nothing to do with diluting the message – only making sure it is served hot stewed and made form the same old tea bag and coffee grounds….. again. The message is “Only Men Do It”!
Hooray, more gendered ads which fail to show a female perpetrator! Because that really stops a lot of rape.
As for the question, if she is all over you then not saying no may mean yes but if she’s passed out then she can’t consent either way.
Question: Where the fuck is the Women can stop rape campaign when about 1 in 5 rapes are female perpetrator, male victim?!
The steps away from the Hetronormative and the fact that the Big Triggering R word is not used are improvements.
But sorry – The CDC showed last year that there is a massive unrecognised issue with sexual assault by women against men and other women. So where are the posters addressing that issue?
Making it all gender oriented around don’t be that guy is just the Only Men Can Stop Rape trope by a different add company – and it’s bad marketing of the anti rape product!
Why must every anti-rape campaign address all aspects of the problem? Why must is address every possible scenario? This particular campaign target guys who think it’s a free-for-all if the chick is drunk out of her skull. These guys exist, and so it’s a problem that needs addressing.That doesn’t mean this is the only rape related problem or that those guys are the only rapists. There’s also don’t-drink-and-drive campaigns that target young people specifically. Not because they are the only people who do it, but because that’s *one* problem we need to do something about. Targeting one particular issue, with… Read more »
The second ad kind of negates the idea that it is only aimed at men ring drunk women.
As well, what wrong with having SOME awareness that women can rape too? When Jenny McCarthy can grope Justin Bieber on live TV, it’s not unreasonable to raise some awareness.
I found it upsetting mostly because of the meta-presentation surrounding it. When I originally saw those ads posted to Buzzfeed the title was “Finally, Date Rape Ads That Put The Blame Firmly On The Perpetrators”. When I clicked through, I found a series of pictures that showed men raping people and then cautioned us men not to be “That Guy”. In my mind that title and that tagline firmly gendered the crime. I see this gendering as a problem, not just because it’s toxic to the male psyche, but because it obfuscates any thinking about other kinds of sexual assault.… Read more »
First of all, the campaign is “Men Can Stop Rape,” not “ONLY Men Can Stop Rape.” Implying that there are situations in which men can stop rape–by NOT RAPING. The makers of the campaign are aware that they are only talking about one particular form of sexual assault (by men against whomever)–but even preventing JUST ONE FORM of sexual assault is better than not preventing any sexual assault at all. There is still a toxic meme in our society of Real Men Take Sex Whenever The Opportunity Presents Itself–and drunk women, or women who have said “yes” to you in… Read more »
There is still a toxic meme in our society….
I think that is the point that any campaign has to hand itself upon.
I’m sorry, but that really seems like rationalizing. What’s wrong with doing just one more ad?
But sorry – The CDC showed last year that there is a massive unrecognised issue with sexual assault by women against men and other women. So where are the posters addressing that issue? I agree with this and the rest of your post MediaH. if I remember correctly, a couple of years ago people posted a study that said for uni age students, the percentage of men raped by women was similar to the percentage of women raped by men Who could forget this notorious case of men being raped by a woman. And commentary filled with laughter, skepticism –… Read more »
I find it rather odious that another poster suggested that now is not the time for a major campaign highlighting that women can rape women, that women can rape men – if not now, then when. I didn’t find it so much Odious as Grossly Unimaginative as well as indicative of how money is not targeted to the issues. I can think of at least 5 ways of producing and creating imaginative and engaging advertising campaigns which would get the messages out and engage the audience … one would even use a classic cut out man. Don’t Be That Guy… Read more »
on reflection, i should have said ‘rather strange’ and not ‘rather odious'(which is alot harsher than i intended). apologies