Recently, the article “Consent a campus issue,” which ran in The Crimson White, has been receiving quite a bit of attention, mainly from people calling for the job of Jessica Vickery, the assistant director of health education and promotion at the Student Health Center.
Vickery’s “crime,” according to many comments online, was found in a quote stating that, “Some people think there are false accusations. There’s really no false accusations. If someone feels they didn’t give consent, then they didn’t give consent.”
Readers have attacked Vickery for her conservative take on consent and sex since this article ran, with users such as ZimbaZumba posting that, “Jessica Vickery should be removed from her position, her comments are appalling.”
Some, like user drunicusrex, even see males being victimized here, posting that, “This is truly frightening. I doubt I will ever send my son, or for that matter my daughter, to a school where such fantastic, outrageous, and blatantly anti-male beliefs are espoused.”
To these assertions, I say: Guys, get over yourselves.
Vickery may have been hasty in stating so absolutely that there are no false accusations. However, the general public has been just as hasty in their call for her head.
If readers would just take a look at the rest of her quote, where Vickery clearly states that, “Whether it’s coerced or manipulated, that’s still not consent. I think right now that’s really a big issue on our campus and students are really confused about it,” they might understand that Vickery was making a reference to instances where alcohol or other manipulative options may have been employed – when a party feels forced.
In the end, Vickery’s comments were a conservative take on consent and sex, sure, but they were the exact take that our society needs to be taking.
We live in a world where sexual assault is a reoccurring theme, where 1 in 4 women will experience a sexual assault during their college careers, and where 99 percent of rapists are male.
The statistics don’t lie.
Women are being attacked at an extreme rate, and more often than not, the attacks are happening here and now: during college. So why in the world would we – the men that are in the midst of it, the men that can change these statistics – not follow Vickery’s lead and take a firm stance on rape, sexual assault and consent?
The fact remains, laws in these situations are not always clear-cut, nor has any sort of definitive or consistent line been drawn in the sand of our judicial system. This, of course, leads to judicial interpretation and inconsistency.
Sadly, this further leads to the imprisonment of only about 3 percent of rapists, an unacceptable failure.
If we wish to get anywhere in the prosecution of these offenders, the law must start to follow Vickery’s example. It must be strict so as to protect not only women, but children as well.
If this means that men must follow a strict set of guidelines, use self-control and be safe about acquiring consent, so be it. If alcohol needs to be removed from the situation, let it be that way.
After all, we should be following this code to begin with. Isn’t that what being a gentleman is all about?
In the end, Alabama and Georgia have some of the harshest laws in the country when it comes to prosecuting men with these charges, putting them on the sex offender list for life. These practices are just as much for your safety and well being as they are for the woman’s.
Guys, if you feel victimized by Vickery’s idea of consent, think about this: Statistically, only between 2 and 8 percent of rapes are considered to be false accusations, depending on the source. These percentages are also incredibly skewed, as the definition of a “false accusation” is often misrepresented.
These unfounded rape cases identify such a small subset of men, while women are still being attacked daily – yet, the guy’s are the ones playing the victim card here.
Gentlemen, some of you missed the point of this article. It’s time to grow up and live up to your name.
Maxton Thoman is a freshman majoring in biology. His column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
[Opinion] Students should not forgo handwriting for typed notes
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