Do you all know what is worse than Batchelor in Paradise indefinitely being cancelled? Sexual assault and slut-shaming. Let’s instead talk about how important consent is. Let’s also talk about how important it is to not tear one another down.
For those of you not up to speed on the situation, Warner Brothers suspended production of Bachelor in Paradise because of sexual misconduct allegations. Allegedly, Corinne Olympios was too intoxicated to consent to sexual contact.
So, let’s talk about what consent is. University of Michigan’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center defines consent as, “when someone agrees, gives permission, or says ‘yes’ to sexual activity with other persons. Consent is always freely given and all people in a sexual situation must feel that they are able to say “yes” or “no” or stop the sexual activity at any point”.
We can also talk about people that do not believe Corinne. Shaming her is an example of a reason that girls don’t report rape. According to Sexual Trauma Services, every two minutes someone in the United States is sexually assaulted, and 60% of sexual assaults are unreported to the police. They also report that only 2% of rape reports are given falsely. This is the same report rate for other felonies.
Sexual Trauma Services also reports that when intoxicated, an individual cannot legally consent to sexual activity. Forcing sex on someone who is too drunk to give consent is still Criminal Sexual Conduct in the Third Degree. Rape is a serious offense, and people who commit crimes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not considered free from guilt.
So, what is slut-shaming? Huffington Post defines slut-shaming as, “the experience of being labeled as a sexually out-of-control woman (a “slut”) and then being punished socially for possessing this identity.” Later in the article they preach, “as we’ve seen, slut-shaming is not really about women’s sexuality. It is grounded in the belief that men get to assert themselves, and women do not.”
Slut-shaming isn’t a new thing, and it’s not something that is going away anytime soon. However, we have to remember that we’re all people. Regardless of what rumors are being spread about us or how many people we’ve slept with, we’re all human.
If you want to speak to someone about a sexual assault, there are resources available to you. You can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at (800)656-4673 or chat online with someone trained to help at online.rainn.org. Remember that it is never the victims fault.