Update on the state of reproductive rights and legislation in Ohio

[moominmuppet]

Among other info, "the state ranks 48th in the nation for access to contraception" *headdesk* And this is a lot of why I stay in Ohio. Maude knows there's plenty of work to do around here!

Also, a post from feministing: Not Oprah's Book Club: Reproductive Edition

Holy hell, is this some victim-blaming bullshit: The Worst Sexual Assault Prevention Tips Ever -- if you're reading the original article, explanations of victim-blaming are laid out in crystal-clear detail in several of the comments (I know, comments sections are generally trainwrecks, but there's some seriously good stuff here). Well damn. Site's down; I suspect they've gotten slammed with traffic or something. Ah, it's back again.

A comment from someone named Alara really nails this all down so well and clearly I think it's worth specifically resharing:

This stuff would not be nearly so bad if women weren’t *literally* treated as if we were responsible for being raped.

I mean, if I leave my car door open, and I come back to find my car stolen, the police will likely say “Well, it was really stupid of you to leave the car door open.” But if they find some guy joyriding in my car, they won’t say, “Oh, she left the car door open, so it’s okay that this guy stole her car! We’re just going to tsk tsk at him and let him go. With her car.” They will *arrest* him, and give me back my car. If my car never turns up, insurance *will* pay for it. People will express their opinion that I was dumb for leaving my car door open, but no one will act as if my foolishness makes the theft of my car NOT A CRIME.

The entire reason “advice to women on how to avoid rape” should die in a fire is that the failure of women to follow such advice is treated, by the police, juries, and judges, as a mitigating factor that made what happened to them not a *crime*. Sure, going out and getting drunk and passing out in a bar is a dumb idea. And if a man did it, and woke up to find his clothes and wallet stolen, and eyewitnesses said Joe Schmoe was seen alone with the victim and is now sporting the victim’s watch and shoes, Joe Schmoe would be arrested for theft and possibly assault even though the victim was drunk off his ass in a public place, always a dumb idea. Friends of the victim, and the police, may tell him he was dumb to get so drunk… but he will be treated as a crime victim, and if Joe Schmoe can be found, Joe Schmoe will be arrested. But when a woman does it, and discovers when she wakes up that she was raped, the fact that she was drunk in public is used as an excuse to declare that what happened to her wasn’t even criminal. Because the things we own belong to us whether we are around to prevent them from being taken or not, but apparently, women’s own *selves*, our bodies, are free game for sex any time we’re not able to fend off men who want to use them.

I don’t object to being given advice on how to avoid being raped, but I do object to three huge things that hide behind such advice:
- 80% of all murder victims, and the vast majority of all mugging and physical assault victims, are men. No one gives men this kind of advice. In fact, given that stranger rape is rare, and mugging and assault aren’t, men are in *more* danger from walking down a dark alley than women are. My husband has been jumped and beaten up four times in his life, after dark each time. No one tells men “don’t go out at night! You could get beaten up!” even though it’s true and the risk’s actually higher than the risk of being raped by a stranger.
- 80% of all rapes are committed by a man the woman knows. This advice is useless against the majority of rapes. The real advice to women to prevent rape should be “Never be alone with a man; always gather in groups of women. When you spend time with men, always have another woman around who you trust.” Except that everyone recognizes that that advice would be psychotic and disruptive to everyone’s lives.
- As I said, women are treated as if, should they not follow this kind of advice, they are to *blame* for being raped and the act wasn’t even criminal. This is not true of any other crime. Well, except domestic violence. Which, surprise surprise, is also largely a male-on-female crime (it exists the other way around, in larger numbers than most of us guess, but no one even bothers to give men advice on not getting abused by their female partners.)

Comments

[compostwormbin.livejournal.com]

Well, except domestic violence. Which, surprise surprise, is also largely a male-on-female crime (it exists the other way around, in larger numbers than most of us guess, but no one even bothers to give men advice on not getting abused by their female partners.)

I'm glad you pointed out that this happens and also that there are very few resources that men have when it does. I think it will take a social paradigm shift for that to change, sadly.

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

When I was making my decisions about my donations this year, I was really pleased to discover that our local domestic violence shelter does indeed provide services to men as needed. It's still not addressed in public enough, nor is there anywhere near the social support men need to get out of these situations, but it's slowly improving.