by Heather L. Lawton
It’s a special club you don’t want to belong to. If you’re chosen, you’ll remember the day you were selected for the rest of your life. It doesn’t protect you afterward. When it’s done ravaging your body, mind, and spirit, it steps back into the shadows and witnesses the public scrutiny, smirking while you’re vilified and called a liar. It doesn’t care that you feel betrayed, forced to listen while everyone takes his side. You stand there sickened by the assumptions of his innocence. And if a glimmer of belief from the naysayers rears its reluctant head, it will accompany a lecture on what you did wrong.
The rape culture is so deeply woven into America that we brace ourselves for the next headline. We see it in our TV programs and films; it’s in our shot glasses, music, homes, schools, churches, and even our three branches of government. And the latest has changed how a particular college handles future cases.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has announced that after an alleged gang rape at Cornell University, the New York State police will now handle sex complaints instead of the previous protocol of campus police being the first line of communication, unless the victim requests otherwise. This agreement comes after a Jane Doe filed a complaint that she was gang raped at a fraternity, and Cornell University authorities “fell short” in their handling of the case.
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