Editor’s note: This story includes descriptions of sexual assault.

The existence of rape culture, specifically in Western society, is still a highly debated topic that many people don’t seem to believe in. 

Rape culture, as defined by experts, is the perpetuation of the idea that the survivors of sexual crimes are to blame for what happened to them, as well as the trivializing of sexual crimes. This effectively shifts the blame away from the actual perpetrators of the crime and places it fully onto the victims. 

While it isn’t as blatant as it might seem to be, rape culture is prevalent in many aspects of life. Through inappropriate jokes using rape victims as the punchline, the inactivity of bystanders and the harmful beliefs that are promoted and distributed on social media, rape culture is more common than people might think. 

One of the biggest perpetrators of rape culture, especially among college-aged individuals, is social media. While it has been known for years that most forms of social media are bad for our mental health and other aspects of our lives, the persistent normalization of rape culture is hardly talked about. 

No one would want to believe that, as a society, we trivialize and normalize the occurrence of sexual crimes, but this is the case. We unfortunately are living in a time when students can record and publish a video of a fellow student lying naked and unconscious while repeatedly being violated. The victim was only 16.

Another one of the biggest contributors to this culture are the bystanders who do nothing to help. Without the help of those who witness a sexual assault event or have knowledge of one occurring or having occurred, we can’t even begin to dismantle rape culture on college campuses around the world. 

In this same case, following the publication of said video, other students retweeted it with captions such as, “Song of the night is Rape Me by Nirvana,” and “We’re not going to let dumb s*** like this mess up our championship goal.” 

Unfortunately, this isn’t the sole event where victims were recorded and shared for others to see. Four students at Vanderbilt University were charged with sexually assaulting an unconscious female student in a dorm in 2013, and one filmed the assault and sent it to their friends, Sports Illustrated reported. Three of the students — Cory Batey, Brandon Vandenburg and Brandon Banks — were convicted, and one, Jaborian McKenzie, got probation.

One of the most disturbing facts about this case, apart from the actual sexual assault itself, is the fact that Vandenberg’s roommate was in the room when the assault occurred — and did nothing to help the victim. 

There is surveillance footage of the two perpetrators carrying the unconscious student up to their dorm room. Following this, Vandenberg passed out condoms to his friends and encouraged them to rape the student. Though three of the perpetrators are serving time in prison, the damage and trauma has already been done and will remain with the victim forever. 

While social media has its benefits, there have been too many occurrences where it has been used for something harmful and disturbing. However, we can’t fully blame social media for the prevalence of rape culture on college campuses, and here’s why: in a large amount of these cases, the perpetrators fully blame being intoxicated on their horrific behavior. This, also, is never a valid excuse.

When it comes to rape culture, we have a lot more work to do, and a lot of it includes discussing the attitudes that so many in our country have toward sexual assault. We use social media as a scapegoat for these attitudes and beliefs when we should be addressing them directly instead.

For example, when Miley Cyrus performed at the VMAs in September of 2013, the internet went wild. People claimed that her performance was over-sexualized and inappropriate, and blamed her for contributing to the culture that promotes rape. But this is actually just another way to say that it is the victim’s fault, which is victim blaming. 

It is never the victim’s fault. When it comes to sexual assault, we need to start holding the rapist accountable for their actions instead of blaming the survivors who went through such a traumatic event. 

Until we start seeing sexual assault for what it is – the assailant’s decision to sexually violate another human being – nothing will change. And until bystanders start taking action to help and support survivors instead of blaming them, nothing will change. 

Samantha Kolb is an environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at sakolb@syr.edu.

Published on April 12, 2021 at 10:17 pm