Anyone

The other night, my husband told me about a sexual assault story he'd seen on CNN. It involved three university football players who were held, robbed, and sexually assaulted by some people they'd met in a bar and invited back to their home.

My husband was amazed that three big guys could be taken advantage of so easily. I reminded him that a case like this one should serve as reminder that ANYONE is vulnerable to sexual violence. I suspect that big guys may operate under a false sense of security . . . believing that "only" women, or "weak" men could be vulnerable. The fact is, if someone wants to commit a crime, they will find a way to do it.

But, this crime ought to also serve as an opportunity for people to examine their attitudes and beliefs about sexual violence. The media is treating this case as if there were no question these three men were victims. I wonder if it would have even been deemed news worthy if the victims had been all women. The three victims were somewhat intoxicated . . . which made them easier targets for criminals. However, if this case involved intoxicated women as victims . . . how differently would we think of the case? Would we secretly think that the women were at least "partially" to blame for being drunk and not showing the best judgement?

I saw that at least one of the defendants is out on bail. I'm wondering how it is that she even got bail. It would seem to me that acting in concert with others to commit what our justice system deems one of the most serious crimes ought to have merited staying in jail while awaiting trial.