I couldn't agree more. And I don't think I'm being hateful here, I just honestly believe that monsters like that should get locked up for good. If they prove that they're a danger to other people (in this case, young, innocent women) and society by doing something so heinous, they should get jail for life, not writing essays...
Can we all agree on this?

I like to characterize this as a direct consequence of their own bad decisions, and not something other people are doing to them. They chose to be shit and it only works out for them as long as other shits are there to protect them. Take away that privilege and they whine that they're being victimized when the consequences are no longer deferred.

Yes. Or at least I hope so. Presumably there are no criminal judges here as they seem to be the most inclined to the opposing viewpoint.

It is insane to me that this gets hauled out as a reason for light sentencing over and over again. Having an impact on a person's life is literally the point, and here they are openly sidestepping it.

Yeah I was gonna say, they ruined their own futures

it's the social contract solution to the paradox of tolerance all over again: you break the contract, you're no longer part of it.

Hear hear!

Reporting to the police does not guarantee justice.

FBI crime data shows that law enforcement clears 26% of reported rape cases. In this data, “cleared” may mean someone was arrested or even that the suspect was deceased; it does not necessarily mean the perpetrator was charged, convicted, incarcerated, or otherwise held accountable.

The clearance rate directs our attention to the 74% of survivors of rape whose cases remain unresolved every year. That’s at least 125,274 people who reached out for justice they may never receive.

4 in 5 reported perpetrators are never charged with a crime.

For many survivors, reporting sexual violence means entering a system where the outcome is uncertain. A report may be investigated, cleared, closed, declined, or moved forward—but only a fraction of reported cases lead to criminal charges.

A 20-year review of sexual assault case outcomes found that just under 20% of reported rape and sexual assault cases are criminally charged.

This number points to one reality: many survivors report sexual violence without seeing the person who harmed them formally charged with a crime.

Being believed by police does not ensure accountability.

A 20-year review of reported rape and sexual assault cases found that 89% were “founded” by law enforcement, meaning police determined that the crime more than likely occurred.

But only 8% of reported rape and sexual assault cases ended in conviction.

In other words, police believed most reports, but very few cases led to the perpetrator’s conviction. Survivors can be believed and still not get the legal outcome they seek.

Justice requires more than recognizing harm. It requires systems prepared to move cases forward and support survivors through what comes next.

Holy shit...
Thanks for the data girlie, but also that is depressing...and scary. I honestly don't know what I'd do if that happened to me. This country's judicial system is known for giving people who rape CHILDREN, MULTIPLE TIMES just simply...probation. And it makes my fucking blood boil, cause I know I wouldn't get justice. Never mind me, the real victims don't. And that disgusts me...
Thanks Velma 💜

Yes. Or at least I hope so. Presumably there are no criminal judges here

Idk, I'm getting slightly suspicious of the two people that downvoted this...

It is depressing, I know and I'm sorry :/

I do strongly believe that more knowledge, more discussion, more visibility will help bring these numbers down. More outrage. More calling out rape culture. More of us saying "What the Actual Fuck" each time a rapist is protected by those in power.

We have strength together.

Don't apologize at all, you're right: talking and discussing these issues is a good thing. I believe outrage is justified, needed and good here honestly. Rape culture is just the worst.
Thanks girlie <3

Surprising no woman: Men are more likely to say they trust how officials handle sexual assault

The survey, which was first shared exclusively with The 19th, found that women are 14 percentage points more likely than men to say they think elected officials have done too little to prevent sexual assault. Women are also 13 percentage points more likely than men to say they think college sororities and fraternities hurt campus culture, and 10 percentage points more likely to say they don’t trust sororities or frats to respond appropriately to claims of sexual assault.

Happened to stumble on this and it's incredibly on topic with the comments I've been fielding today on this topic.

these people have no problems ruining the futures of countless women and girls. the very least they deserve is the legal and social consequences of their actions.

Couldn't agree with you more ❤️
At least social and legal consequences.

This...doesn't give me hope at all...
Still, it's important to talk about. Thanks Velma 💜

Buried at the end of the article is a badass woman who is refusing to be silent to put a little pep back in your step:

Hunt said she is also frustrated by the silence from men.

“It should not be women’s job to tell you that you have to be pissed,” Hunt said. “You need to hold each other accountable. You need to call out your friends. And when a story like this comes out, you should be some of the first to speak up and say, ‘This is not alright.’ It’s not on your mother, your wife, your girlfriend or your daughter to bring it to your attention.”

“I challenge every man to do that.”

Hunt was involved in the ousting of former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who was accused of sexual assault, and former Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who resigned from Congress after he was accused of rape and sexual misconduct. Both men are Democrats.

Women are not likely to go silent on this issue soon. Social media and in-person protests on campuses and near seats of power continue to be peppered with women proclaiming that they, too, were assaulted. They, too, are Jane Doe.

“Women are done accepting predators in power, and we are fighting back with every lever available to us,” Hunt said. “We are making sure that violence against women is not just a liability but a dealbreaker for those looking to hold elected office, and this will be a motivating issue in the November midterms.”

Amen to her. We need more people like her, not just women, but men too. All the responsibility should not be on the women...
Amen 🩷

There are some "mistakes" that simply disqualify a person from living a normal life.
When it permanently traumatizes someone, that mistake should follow the person who made it for the rest of their life.

Hard agree

I agree on everything except the not being hateful part. Not about you, but about how I feel about it and what I would personally do to them if I was allowed to. I'm not afraid of committing evil.

If these were 25 year old black dudes at a house party the president would be lining up the televised firing squad.

Based

Based? I would hope that this is the default for most people 😭

But I know better, of course, coming from a country that used to treat weed possession (now legal) much more harshly than people literally raping multiple CHILDREN for YEARS (they usually get probation for that for fuck's sake...), so much so that it literally became a dark, fucked up meme among Czechs
I hate this place 😔

Specially now that those on the power are the fucking rapists. It's vomitive.

I still dislike committing (violent) evil against evil people. Call me naive, but it just doesn't sit right with me...
What I would do tho is prescribe every single one of these fucking rapists high-dose cyproterone acetate, which is a strong blocker that annihilates testosterone.

Speaking from personal experience (feminizing HRT), it destroys your libido and without estradiol to replace that T-driven libido, they'd be practically asexual. It's called chemical castration and it's extremely effective.
And btw, I really mean that CPA destroys your libido, in those first few months before the E libido kicks in, you don't even want to think about sex. And of course, they wouldn't have the E to get their libidos back.

I mean, they had their chances with libido. They had their sexual urges and they proved that they used those to commit heinous acts, so imo they shouldn't have those urges anymore.

I know this is particularly cruel, because the human body needs a dominant sex hormone. And I'm not suggesting to forcefully transition them and make the grow boobs against their will, I'm just saying to rid them of the ability to do this to other people.

This honestly came out much more fucked up than I expected, but I'll post the comment anyway, because chemical castration is an effective way of dealing with sex offenders.

Personally, I think that chemical castration isn't enough. I support full castration of repeat offenders. When you harm someone like that, you should not have the right to do it again, consensual or not. It should no longer be an option. You've forfeited your right to sex by violating the sacred model of consent. You should not be allowed to raise children to do the things you did to women.

But of course, that's merely a fantasy. Society (men, for the most part) will likely never be convinced that sexual assault is heinous enough to deserve that punishment in my lifetime. I can only hope that changes in the future.

Hot take, this should not even have to be a question posed. This should be the default and there's nothing you can say to convince me that a person doesn't deserve the full brunt of the law being thrown down on them for these heinous acts. I don't care who it is, how much money they have, or what position in government they hold.

chemical castration is interesting because I know some people who are punished with it for some sexual offenses and they haven't become asexual. I would support castration as a punishment if it actually helped, but in my experience of their bodies it just changes the gender expression (including some of the body sexual characteristics) without having that much effect on libido.

Maybe the effects of the drug as a punishment are poorly studied if the subject is inclined to misrepresent changes in libido to authorities.

They ruined their own lives. They had a choice.

We aren't ruining their future; they are.

Well on the one hand if you have an official judgement it should not be reduced just because this will negatively impact the perpetrators life.
On the other hand we always need a way to resocialise perpetrators or they will just don't care when they get out of jail.
Further we life in a world where judgements are used against minorities or as a political weapon.

The judical system in the US is fucked.

I hate this timeline :((((

Back in the 90's our country (BE) dealt with a case of someone who kidnapped young girls and ...I'll spare you from having to read the rest.

He was jailed, to this day still is. And he probably will be for life. Good. (He'd probably be lynched if he did get out)

It has ALWAYS been the case that this man was regarded as a deep shame upon our country. That he is beyond redemption has ALWAYS been set in stone.

Seeing how discourse has changed globally I'm not so sure that a similar case would get the same propper justice today. I hope/trust the justice system would do it's thing. But the morality of public discourse is slowly eroding.

Diff case more recently: some celeb gets caught harassing women through txt. Half the country just shrugged. Now they even celebrate his return. Wtf.

But it was just one time (that they've been caught)! /s

Exactly. One (actually two) times it has been found out. That's the important and depressing part cause I'm pretty sure this is a common occurrence 😔

Why don't you just shorten their futures?

The woman's life is already ruined, so why not ruin theirs too?

(I know their life isn't ruined forever, but it might as well be for the foreseeable future)

Oh no, if it isn't the consequences of my own actions

They made the choice to ruin their life. Anything else is them evading the consequences of their own actions.

I think calling it ruining their futures is an unfair framing. It's applying justice blindly, rather than giving even more to those who've already been given everything.

I had a lot of sex and a fair bit of drugs and alcohol in college, but I never did anything remotely similar to these men because I'm not a rapist. These men made their choices, and if a preponderance of evidence can be obtained they'll financially pay for what they probably did, and if the jury can be convinced they will face the penalties for what they did beyond a reasonable doubt. When all is said and done they're free to rebuild their lives however they can and we should treat them as having paid their debts to society (barring any Brock Turner level punishment)

It's not like they left the victim with an easy future.

Much like their victim it'll take a lot of work to unruin their futures

As someone who didn't get justice I appreciate so much how hard you keep talking about this. I try to be somewhat open about my experiences (both on here and IRL) to break the collective illusion that the police bother investigating sex crimes that aren't easy to prosecute, but the numbers are so important.

Also, I was going to say something about the rape kit backlog, but apparently it's being resolved and multiple states have cleared theirs.

Castration may be in some cases more effective and cheaper for the community?

I really appreciate you as well, your comments are always thoughtful and kind. I'm so sorry that you didn't get justice.

Also, I was going to say something about the rape kit backlog, but apparently it’s being resolved and multiple states have cleared theirs.

Thanks for spreading the good news! I hadn't heard of this yet :)

Some decisions will follow you for your entire life. You don't get a pass when you are drugged, fair or not it's all on you. Life is not fair, what you did wasn't fair, what will happen to you isn't fair, and that's the way of the world.

The woman’s life is already ruined

I think we should leave this to the survivor to decide. I don't want to label her as having a ruined life because this horrible thing happened to her. She's young and they can still have a good fulfilling life, right?

No it would not. Harvey Weinstein doesn't have a working dick and still assaulted several women. Castration will do nothing.

I can't say I've known a sexual assault survivor whose life wasn't wrecked for the immediate future as they came to terms with the assault and having to see their abuser walk around free.

Call it what you will, but I've helped more than one friend through it, so I'll keep it as is.

Maybe it would help if I understood what you meant by ruined? Are you talking overall or only focusing on the immediate future?

She's young and they can still have a good fulfilling life, right?

You know that middle aged and older women are also sexually assaulted. Just because there have been lots of news stories about SA on campuses recently, doesn't mean that only young women are being assaulted.

Testosterone isn't what makes men rape people.

I don't like social contract theory.