The editorial board of Ohio University’s The Post is chastising the mayor of its town (Athens, Ohio) Paul Wiehl, for having the gall to suggest that people not act in a careless manner and to be aware of their surroundings … in order to help thwart sexual assault.
“[H]e seemed to place the blame on survivors of such crimes,” the Post writes.
He did?
“We can only put so many officers on the street,” Wiehl told the Post reporter. “It’s not a case of lighting; it’s not a case of behavior; it’s usually a case of a lot of people running around and not paying attention (to their surroundings) for the most part.”
To which the board responds,
We vehemently disagree with that logic.
It’s the classic “don’t walk late at night alone; it’s your fault for being dumb,” argument. We’re especially discouraged to hear that our city’s top government official harbors that opinion about a topic that is so important to many of his constituents.
No survivor of sexual assault is to blame for what happened to him or her.
Well, technically no victim of any crime is to blame for what happened to him or her. But why should people get irritated because someone offers some common sense advice like “Don’t be stupid” when you’re on your way to, say, a party?
As College Fix Editor Jennifer Kabbany wrote back in September,
As a mother of a young girl and as a former college student who attended more parties than she should have, and drank more than she should have, I can say advice I’d give my daughter when she heads off to college is: Don’t get wasted!
Now, I’d say that for any number of reasons, including health and safety. But the main reason I’d give it to her is because women are apt to make stupid decisions when they’re inebriated. Does that excuse rape or sexual assault? No. Is it advice that blames the victim? No. Is it good, honest guidance? Yes!
Jennifer notes how, just like Mayor Wiehl, the president of George Washington University and a (male) University of Arizona student newspaper writer were excoriated by feminists and ideologically rigid college students alike for daring to offer the same advice she did.
Maybe if/when one of the Post editors gets something stolen, say, from his (or her) car — because he failed to lock the doors — someone can inform him that it was rather dumb to leave the doors unlocked.
I wonder if his response will be “No victim of theft is to blame for what happened to him or her.”
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