Steubenville is Every Town

The Grand Jury Indictments in Steubenville, Ohio today are reminders of the terrible crime committed during August 2012, the rape of a 16 year old girl during a party. In March, Steubenville High School football players Ma’lik Richmond and Trenton Mays were convicted of the rape, which authorities said took place at a party in August 2012. Photos and videos of the incident made their way onto social media and attracted national attention.  Not only were students involved, but today 4 more indictments were handed down to adults:  “Steubenville City Schools Superintendent Michael McVey faces three felony counts: one charge of tampering with evidence and two counts of obstructing justice. He also is charged with making a false statement and obstructing official business, both misdemeanors, DeWine said.  Also indicted was elementary school principal Lynnett Gorman and wrestling coach Seth Fluharty, both of whom are charged with misdemeanor failure to report child abuse. Volunteer assistant Steubenville football coach Matt Bellardine was charged with four misdemeanors: allowing underage drinking, obstructing official business, making a false statement and contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child.  This brings to six the number of people the grand jury has indicted after two students were convicted of rape, DeWine said. A school technology director and his daughter were indicted in October.” (CNN)  The Grand Jury has taken the moral high road here:  holding the adults accountable in the case as well as the students involved.  The charges of obstruction of justice and withholding evidence are particularly pertinent, and sends the message loud and clear that there should be zero tolerance for these crimes, and the crime of covering up.  I blogged about this last August when it happened, on my blog College Adventures. I am re-publishing it here, on Travels with Tam, because this is an important issue, during midlife, or any other time of life.  It happens everywhere….Steubenville IS every town. The advice in this blog should be shared with every woman, young, midlife, or golden years.

August, 2012:  One of the major news stories of the last couple of weeks has been the rape of a 16 year old girl in Steubenville, Oh. Steubenville is a town that lost thousands of jobs when the steel industry up ended in the 1980s, but even prior to that “Steubenville” meant football. I grew up in Dayton, Ohio and football was a way of life, every fall meant high school football, college football and pro football. As a sociologist who investigated and taught gender and violence issues, I can speak to the propensity of fraternal cultures and rape. I’m not going to go through theory at the moment, but instead focus on the unspeakable crime committed by high school football players in Steubenville. The important thing to realize is that Steubenville is every town in America.
In case you’ve been living under a rock somewhere, during August of 2012, an unsupervised party was on in Steubenville, filled with football players, girls, and lots of alcohol. In this age of cell phones, there were photos taken and movies which showed the girl in a drunken or unconscious state. I’m sure some of the videos are still on youtube. One of the defendants, Trent Mays, talked on and on about how she looked dead, acted dead, and he didn’t care if she was dead or not. Asked if it would make a difference to him if she was his daughter, he said, no it wouldn’t matter, I’d want her to be dead. Several individuals at the party took photos with hash tags “rape”, and knew what was happening. NOT ONE PERSON TRIED TO INTERVENE. 3 of the young football players who participated in the event by taking photos and watching, were granted immunity and testified against Malik Richmond and Trent Mays. Sixteen people from the party refused to speak to investigators. In Steubenville, the football team is the town’s pride, and many blame the victim. Death threats on social media toward the rape survivor. Today, two teenage girls were arrested for sending death threats over social media, and there may be more charges to follow against those who stood by, cheered on, or ignored the rape. The Sheriff of Steubenville said today that they are monitoring twitter, facebook, and others and if anyone else goes over the line, he will arrest them.

A few years ago, in Richmond, CA, a 15 year old high school student at a Homecoming Dance was gang raped for 2 and a half hours. At least 10 men/boys joined in, and another 10 or more watched, filmed, or encouraged it. No one called 911. No one reported anything at all. The question everyone is asking is why? Why would men watch this crime, participate in it or film it, but do nothing to stop it? There is no short answer to this question, but there are explanations. They are found in the theories of “groupthink” and in the socialization of males in our society. Let me try to explain two theories, quickly. In the 1970s a young woman was stabbed to death in a New York neighborhood. While she was being murdered, many people watched. They watched from their windows, and from safe distances. No one tried to stop it. After studying this situation, researchers theorized that when many people are watching a crime, they each think someone else will report it or do something about it. When only one or a very few witness a crime a person usually does come forward to help or to report it. As the number of people watching grows, the likelihood of intervention goes down. The other explanation is more plausible in this case, and has to do with male socialization combined with “groupthink” and “fraternal cultures”. There is much research and documentation on the dangers of boys or men in groups. Boys and men, when in groups, will do things they would never conceive of alone. Add alcohol to the mix and you have a tragedy just waiting to happen. I could go into the theory and the research, but it would take far too long. For my purpose here, I want to define rape, and give a few facts.

What is the definition of rape? ANY SEXUAL ACT CHARACTERIZED BY LACK OF CONSENT, BE IT BY FORCE, THREAT OF FORCE, TRICKERY, COERCION, BRIBERY, OR PERPETRATED ON SOMEONE DRUNK OR UNCONSCIOUS. (Yes, that is correct: a person who is drunk or unconscious cannot give legal consent. Period.) Women age 24 and under suffer from the highest rates of rape. The Justice Department estimates that one in four women will experience rape or attempted rape during their college years, and that less than five percent of these rapes will be reported. After watching the disgusting behavior of these boys in Steubenville and the threats against the victim, it is easy to understand why so many go unreported. Many of these rapes will take place within a fraternity house, or on a date.

Girls have a right to live their lives without constantly fearing that guys will rape them. Sadly, the message that rape is wrong is not getting through to our boys. We, as parents, teachers, counselors and advisers, need to make sure that boys, and girls, understand that boys do not have a right to sex. NO means NO. If the individual is too drunk, or unconscious, to say NO, it is rape. If she says yes, it is rape: a drunk or unconscious person cannot give consent. ANY SEXUAL ACT CHARACTERIZED BY LACK OF CONSENT, BE IT BY FORCE, THREAT OF FORCE, TRICKERY, COERCION, BRIBERY, OR PERPETRATED ON SOMEONE DRUNK OR UNCONSCIOUS. A person drunk, drugged or unconscious CANNOT GIVE CONSENT. Sadly, girls need to be vigilant, they need to be alert. Don’t go to parties alone, make sure you are on the buddy system, even when you go to use the restroom there should be two of you. Never go alone. Don’t walk on campus alone. Decide that you will leave together, and watch your alcohol intake. In addition, never take a drink from someone unless you have watched it from bottle or can to glass. Rohypnol, or “ruffies”, can be slipped into a drink easily. I was a volunteer rape counselor at Parkland Hospital, and one night I was called in because a 16 year old girl had been gang raped by 9 boys after being given the drug. She felt safe with them, a few of the boys were in her math class at school. She trusted them. Girls, always be careful, always know who is around you and what they are doing. Always be alert. And if the worst happens and you are sexually assaulted, REPORT IT. These young men must learn that their actions have consequences. Parents, I urge you to have this discussion with your children, boys and girls. NO means NO. Read the definition again: ANY SEXUAL ACT CHARACTERIZED BY LACK OF CONSENT, BE IT BY FORCE, THREAT OF FORCE, TRICKERY, COERCION, BRIBERY, OR PERPETRATED ON SOMEONE DRUNK OR UNCONSCIOUS.

So why am I, a college consultant, a sociologist, a parent, writing about this subject? Because I care.  It is the 21st century, when will rape stop? We aren’t living in caves anymore, and you cannot claim “I didn’t know it was wrong”.  As adults, we need to do a better job reminding our children, grandchildren, and students the values of character, integrity, honesty, and doing the right thing.

Cheers for the Grand Jury in Steubenville!