More Than A Magazine, A Movement
Rape culture refers to a society in which sexual violence and abuse against women are normalized through all pillars of culture: gender roles, media, education, etc. The misogynistic attitude that prevails in countries like the U.S. continues to normalize rape, excuse it and blame its victims.
Up to 14 percent of married women experience marital rape. Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill mostly eliminating an antiquated distinction in California law between “spousal rape” and rape, which has for years resulted in more lenient penalties for perpetrators who rape their spouses.
“The first question a rape victim is asked should not be whether or not they are married.”
Stealthing, the act of removing a condom during sex without consent, has been prohibited in California.
“I have been working on the issue of ‘stealthing’ since 2017 and I am elated that there is now some accountability for those who perpetrate the act,” said Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, who authored the law. “This law is the first of its kind in the nation, but I urge other states to follow in California’s direction and make it clear that stealthing is not just immoral but illegal.”
Texas has one of the nation’s highest rape rates. Shockingly, its newest near-total abortion ban contains no exceptions for rape or incest. When asked about this, Gov. Greg Abbott said, “Texas will work tirelessly to make sure that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas.”
Abbott’s disturbing pledge fits in line with a tried-and-true political strategy: claim to address a public health issue by pivoting to crime control. But as history has taught us, public health crises will not be solved in the prosecutor’s office or by claiming to be tough on crime.
More than half of sexual assaults on campus occur between orientation and Thanksgiving—a period known as the “Red Zone.” And with the amount of new students on campus doubling as a result of COVID-19, these numbers risk being doubled as well.
With campus awareness and mental health support, we as students, faculty, family and community can reclaim Red Zones.
Andrew Cuomo went out swinging on his last day in office—insisting he’s being railroaded even as the moving vans rolled out.
I honestly don’t care about his claims. What I do care about is whether the outgoing New York governor’s sexual harassment scandal will prompt more states to finally enact laws against coercive control—a form of domestic bullying that can cause psychological trauma.
In recent years, two dozen state legislatures have reformed or repealed ‘predator-friendly’ statutes, opening one- or two-year windows of time during which any victim can sue any person who molested them in childhood and any institution that ignored or hid the abuse—regardless of when the abuse took place.
Mandy Meloon—widely recognized as one of the best taekwondo athletes in the U.S.—was told she could compete in the Beijing Olympics only if she took back her allegation that her coach and his brother were sexually and financially abusing her.
On August 8, the last day of the Tokyo Olympics, Meloon and the other taekwondo survivors will fly to Colorado where a class-action lawsuit alleging “intentional, reckless and negligent acts” committed by
the United States Olympic Committee, including USA Taekwondo, “toward their own athletes” might get resolved.
New revelations confirm suspicions that the Trump administration limited an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Every Voice Coalition, founded in December 2016, is a college student-run organization with goals to implement preventative and legislative measures to eliminate sexual violence on college campuses. In order to empower students to tackle policy-related issues, they stress that the legislation is student-written to center the needs of those most directly affected.
In the aftermath of Bill Cosby’s release from prison, many survivors and feminists are left questioning their faith in the justice system.