By the Time I Get to Arizona ....
Open-ended prevention theory—an idea that places the burden of rape on the victims—has a new advocate, and that advocate is a woman.
Honestly, I didn't see this coming.
You can tell me that Judge Jacqueline Hatch was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer, but there comes a point when the wingnut coefficient just doesn't explain things.
Sevil Omer offers a lede for this one:
And the detail:
Let us just stop and think about this for a moment.
And, yes, we'll set aside the usual rhetoric about human dignity and personal responsibility that rape advocates generally ignore when reaching deep enough to argue that men are simply machines and thus not responsible for their actions.
I mean, really. We've been through it all before, and four years later, no rape advocate has managed to establish an outer boundary to this prevention theory.
So let us look at the practical. That is, let us inject some politics to make the point.
Imagine you're a business owner. You know, because there is so much talk about government being hostile to small businesses.
Now imagine that the official word coming down from your state government is, "Women, do not go to bars."
You know, if you're a tavern owner ....
But that's the problem. Prevention? Judge Hatch has essentially sent a message to all women that they should stay out of bars. And that might be fine for, say, the Madison, just as telling men to stay out of bars works well enough for the Wildrose. But, you know, I can't imagine popping down for a pint at Elliott and encountering a total sausage fest. Sure, sometimes the only woman in there is a waitress, but in the evening there are plenty of female ... er ... patrons? (Really?)
The night I saw Lavelle White at Taylor's? I ended up having a great week-long fling with a woman because I was depressed about my car being stolen and just wanted to go get a drink. The night the Ecstasy-dosed woman in the leather pants climbed all over me at Showbox? The night we got loaded at the Elysian with a couple of women whose names I might actually have known once, and then wandered around getting high on the streets?
Apparently, they should never have come out. After all, if you're not there, nobody drinking at that bar will be able to rape you. And now that Judge Hatch mentions it, I cannot tell you why I didn't rape those women. I have no excuse.
And perhaps my sarcasm seems a little insensitive toward the needs of rapists and their advocates, but, in truth, it's probably a better expression than being straightforward.
So how about it, rape advocates? Does your open-ended prevention theory go this far? Should women just stay out of bars, as Judge Hatch suggests?
____________________
Notes:
Omer, Sevil. "Sex assault victim groped by off-duty cop wants apology from Arizona judge". NBC News. September 7, 2012. USnews.NBCNews.com. September 11, 2012. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...off-duty-cop-wants-apology-from-arizona-judge
Open-ended prevention theory—an idea that places the burden of rape on the victims—has a new advocate, and that advocate is a woman.
Honestly, I didn't see this coming.
You can tell me that Judge Jacqueline Hatch was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer, but there comes a point when the wingnut coefficient just doesn't explain things.
Sevil Omer offers a lede for this one:
A sexual assault victim who was groped by an off-duty police officer is demanding an apology from an Arizona judge who during a sentencing hearing for the defendant told her: "If you wouldn’t have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you."
And the detail:
According to the Arizona Daily Sun, a jury convicted 43-year-old Robb Gary Evans of a felony charge of sexual abuse on July 2. Prosecutors said Evans walked up behind the victim in a Flagstaff bar, put his hand up her skirt and groped her last summer. The former Arizona Department of Public Safety officer had been facing a maximum sentence of up to 2 ½ years in prison, but received two years of probation, community service and treatment. He was fired after his conviction.
The Daily Sun's account of the court hearing:
The Daily Sun's account of the court hearing:
Bad things can happen in bars, Hatch told the victim, adding that other people might be more intoxicated than she was.
"If you wouldn't have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you," Hatch said.
Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.
"I hope you look at what you've been through and try to take something positive out of it," Hatch said to the victim in court. "You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability."
Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change," Hatch said that her mother used to say.
"If you wouldn't have been there that night, none of this would have happened to you," Hatch said.
Hatch told the victim and the defendant that no one would be happy with the sentence she gave, but that finding an appropriate sentence was her duty.
"I hope you look at what you've been through and try to take something positive out of it," Hatch said to the victim in court. "You learned a lesson about friendship and you learned a lesson about vulnerability."
Hatch said that the victim was not to blame in the case, but that all women must be vigilant against becoming victims.
"When you blame others, you give up your power to change," Hatch said that her mother used to say.
Let us just stop and think about this for a moment.
And, yes, we'll set aside the usual rhetoric about human dignity and personal responsibility that rape advocates generally ignore when reaching deep enough to argue that men are simply machines and thus not responsible for their actions.
I mean, really. We've been through it all before, and four years later, no rape advocate has managed to establish an outer boundary to this prevention theory.
So let us look at the practical. That is, let us inject some politics to make the point.
Imagine you're a business owner. You know, because there is so much talk about government being hostile to small businesses.
Now imagine that the official word coming down from your state government is, "Women, do not go to bars."
You know, if you're a tavern owner ....
But that's the problem. Prevention? Judge Hatch has essentially sent a message to all women that they should stay out of bars. And that might be fine for, say, the Madison, just as telling men to stay out of bars works well enough for the Wildrose. But, you know, I can't imagine popping down for a pint at Elliott and encountering a total sausage fest. Sure, sometimes the only woman in there is a waitress, but in the evening there are plenty of female ... er ... patrons? (Really?)
The night I saw Lavelle White at Taylor's? I ended up having a great week-long fling with a woman because I was depressed about my car being stolen and just wanted to go get a drink. The night the Ecstasy-dosed woman in the leather pants climbed all over me at Showbox? The night we got loaded at the Elysian with a couple of women whose names I might actually have known once, and then wandered around getting high on the streets?
Apparently, they should never have come out. After all, if you're not there, nobody drinking at that bar will be able to rape you. And now that Judge Hatch mentions it, I cannot tell you why I didn't rape those women. I have no excuse.
And perhaps my sarcasm seems a little insensitive toward the needs of rapists and their advocates, but, in truth, it's probably a better expression than being straightforward.
So how about it, rape advocates? Does your open-ended prevention theory go this far? Should women just stay out of bars, as Judge Hatch suggests?
____________________
Notes:
Omer, Sevil. "Sex assault victim groped by off-duty cop wants apology from Arizona judge". NBC News. September 7, 2012. USnews.NBCNews.com. September 11, 2012. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...off-duty-cop-wants-apology-from-arizona-judge