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Hofstra Gang Rape Wasn't Rape—but It Wasn't OK

Drunken sexual encounters trivialize the problem of real rape

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 22, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
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(Newser) – It’s clear now that the alleged Hofstra gang rape in a campus bathroom—in which a young woman said 5 guys tied her to a stall and attacked her—was not rape, by any legal definition. Confronted with a cell phone video, the woman recanted within 72 hours, admitting that the sex was consensual. So what was it, Emily Bazelon asks on Double X. Feminists have tried to make sense of alcohol-fueled college sex gone bad with the discredited "date rape," and now “gray rape”—encounters in which no one is quite sure the next day who agreed to what.

The hook-up culture has blurred the line "between consenting and being sexually assaulted," she notes, and date rape, even when the accusation is legitimate, is almost impossible to prove. “It often comes down to two competing accounts,” Bazelon writes. “Add drugs or alcohol to the mix, and you can pretty much forget it.” The young Hofstra student surely did women a disservice, trivializing real rape by going to the police. But the real issue is "how these late-night moments in a random bathroom that everyone regrets can stop before they start."

Kevin Tavares, second from left, Stalin Felipe, center, and Rondell Bedward, right, talk to a reporter, left, after they were released from the Nassau County Jail
Kevin Tavares, second from left, Stalin Felipe, center, and Rondell Bedward, right, talk to a reporter, left, after they were released from the Nassau County Jail   (AP Photo)
Nassau County Police officers question Hofstra University student Rondell Bedward, seated, in a dormitory hallway.
Nassau County Police officers question Hofstra University student Rondell Bedward, seated, in a dormitory hallway.   (AP Photo)
Stalin Felipe.
Stalin Felipe.   (AP Photo)
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Nonconsensual sex between two people who know each other, whatever you call it, is a terribly awkward fit for our adversarial criminal justice system. - Emily Bazelon

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 14 comments
oldgoat
Sep 23, 2009 9:47 AM CDT
Let's see she admits that it was consensual and that she made a false claim and the guys are still at fault? don't see this as much of a gray rape at all. Did they ever consider that fact that some women have no problem with taking on multiplle guys? Now if they had sex with her when she was passed out then she would have a case, but evidently that isn't the case. What do the feminists want? A BAC test result, a sworn affacdavit by the woman and a video where she admits that she just wants to get laid?
Snarfeh
Sep 23, 2009 6:10 AM CDT
@unrealist - Having group sex does not lessen her character anymore than it lessens the character of the men who took advantage of the opportunity she presented or it lessens the character of all involved. Falsely reporting rape is the only thing of which she needs to be ashamed.
Snarfeh
Sep 23, 2009 6:08 AM CDT
Oldfart, the article above said the feminists were trying to make sense of these encounters since not all of them are some form of rape. It did not state that feminists are out to imprison all men. In this case, feminists are pissed at the woman for falsely crying rape, not at the men who had the benefit of a consensual, pleasurable group encounter. However, this false report does not erase the fact that many women are taken advantage of when intoxicated. Men get drunk without a fear of someone taking advantage of them sexually and women should be able to get drunk without that fear. Unfortunately, in this world, that will never happen especially with old farts like you acting like it's wrong to be concerned about *real* rape.

 
feminism • alcohol • college student • false accusations • legal action • Hofstra University • date rape

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