What The Cornell 7 Situation Says About Our Justice System
TW: This blog post mentions sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Recently, seven students from Cornell University (more specifically, The Chi Phi Fraternity house), now labeled the “Cornell 7”, were accused of a frat house gang rape.
Here is what that case says about the patriarchy’s involvement in the criminal justice system.
We have screenshots of their group chat announcing the rape and inviting other frat boys to join. Yet, every single article I’ve seen about this case starts with the word allegedly. Why? Well, first of all, the majority of these men are white. In fact, the majority of people in general who join frat houses are white men. If that wasn’t the case, very few news outlets would be using the word allegedly in every sentence when writing about this lawsuit. The way media outlets report on crimes predominantly committed by white people is drastically different from the way they report on crimes predominantly committed by Black people.
This isn’t new. We all remember when Brock Turner (who now goes by his middle name, Allen Turner) raped an unconscious women, who has now identified herself as author Chanel Miller. Brock Allen Turner only served three of his six month sentence. His sentence was as short as it was because the judge assigned to his case decided he didn’t deserve to have his life ruined because of what his father referred to as “20 minutes of action”.
Our criminal justice system has historically under-prosecuted crimes against women and minorities. We especially under prosecute crimes committed by white men. This is just one of the many ways that the criminal justice system disproportionately affects minorities.
Whenever a case like this comes up, the phrase “what if she’s lying” gets thrown around a lot. Here’s the thing, though- we can clearly see how horribly the world treats survivors of rape compared to the people who commit rape. Rape allegations do not ruin anyones life. Rape does. Brock Allen Turner was able to change his name and move on with his life. Louis CK is still selling out shows. Donald Trump is the president of The United States of America.
Our criminal justice system was meant to uphold and protect the safety of people who are already in power. Primarily men. What does it say about our criminal justice system when we pretend we have our citizens’ best interest at heart but very clearly don’t? There is a very little chance these frat boys will face any real jail time or punishment.
When women say that we would rather choose the bear, we mean it. That’s because if we teach ourselves the proper safety measures before going into the forest, the bear usually leaves us alone. If it doesn’t, we don’t get asked a hundred questions about what we were wearing, if we were drinking, or if “we were known for sleeping around” (a common question I see. As if someone saying yes to someone else gives you the right). When it comes to men, we can teach our daughters all the necessary precautions, but until we teach our sons to respect consent, all we’re really saying is “make sure he rapes someone else”.
The men involved in the Cornel 7 gang rape bragged about it in a group chat on Snapchat. Not a single other person in that group chat came to help that girl or did anything to stop it.
Daniel Sloss made a really great argument for why and how men should hold each other accountable. You can view that video here.
We have the power and the ability to actually stop rape from happening. It starts with educating men and properly holding them accountable when assault happens.
I recently wrote a blog post about a sexual assault scandal that happened at my former high school. The primary instigator (among many) was my film teacher. His case was ultimately thrown out of court, and the only punishment he faced was that he lost his teaching license. That was the punishment he faced for traumatizing hundreds of teenage girls. That is not justice.
I know I’ve written a lot on this blog about how I don’t believe prison is useful for our society, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think rapists deserve accountability. Especially since, historically, rapists make up the one of the largest groups of people who aren’t usually held accountable for assault.
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual assault, resources are available.
This article written by Planned Parenthood includes a detailed definition of consent, and how to respect it. It also includes a detailed list of resources for people who have been affected by sexual assault.
