More abstinence-only insanity: You can't rape a slut

by Amplify Your Voice

Fri Feb 13, 2009 at 10:42:42 AM PST

(crossposted at Amplify)

I recently attended a book reading by some of the contributors of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape. The book (which is wonderful and you should go buy) deals with many subjects around "rape culture", particularly the common practice of blaming the victim of rape if she has a "loose" or "slutty" reputation. Our society far too often holds up a pure and virginal ideal for women, and once this "seal" is broken or they display "unnaceptable" behaviors, they become "dirty" and "get what is coming to them".

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A few days after the reading, I came across an abstinence-only until marriage program in Ohio (yes, the same Ohio with Derek the Abstinence Clown) that pretty much reinforced every crazy aspect of a rape culture that blames the victims of rape if they do not pass the "purity" test. It’s bad enough that abstinence-only programs like these withhold and distort vital information that young people need to protect their own sexual health, but adding this acceptance of rape culture is the icing on the Shit Cake.

The Ohio program is Abstinence ‘Till Marriage, which started receiving annual CBAE grants of $600,000 in 2006 (set to run until 2011). On their "Miss the Mess" website, you can enter the "Party Room", where you learn the story of Rochelle, Jason, Monica and Tanner. Each person tells their perspective about what happens during and after a party one night.

Rochelle tells how she drove her drunken friend Jason home after the party, and then is raped by him. Jason denies that the rape happened, saying their sex was consensual. Monica and Tanner observe that Jason was being a drunken idiot the entire night, with Monica (Jason’s ex) adding her opinion that Rochelle has a reputation for "putting out" and being a "slut".

The site then asks the question: "Based on all accounts, whose story sounds the least credible?"

Guess who is the "correct" answer? Rochelle.

Why, you ask? Because she "made several questionable decisions", "she had a motive to lie" and, lest we forget, "she’s been pinned reputation (sic) for being ‘loose’"

It’s hard not to overemphasize the sickness in this "correct" answer. Rochelle is not be believed. After all, she drove in a car with a boy. And she’s actually had sex before, or at least people say that she has, which is apparently the same thing and equally worthy of disbelief after you’ve been raped.

The site then asks if we know that a rape occurred. The "correct" answer says that we don’t know, emphasizing again that Rochelle has a "motive to lie", and that:

"Unfortunately, we are left judging (Rochelle’s) honesty by her character and her actions"... "Monica implied Rochelle had a promiscuous reputation and the whole school seemed to know it."

Ah, yes. Her "character". They once again remind us that "sluts" aren’t to be trusted. Why should we listen or care about them, right?

The site then goes a step further, adding a degree of sympathy for the actions of the rapist:

"Also, alcohol makes people less inhibitive. Jason was extremely vulnerable to his circumstances".

Vulnerable? Less inhibitive? What exactly are they saying here, that rape is a "less inhibitive" behavior? That alcohol made poor Jason "vulnerable" to being a sick rapist asshole? Seriously, I’d like to know what the hell their point is on this one.

Perhaps the sickest aspect of this organization and their website is the fact that our tax dollars are funding it. To date, they have received $1.8 million dollars, and are set to receive another $1.8 million in the next three years. Yes, we are subsidizing rape culture. And this is just one example of the many ridiculous abstinence-only until marriage sex education programs that we have wasted $1.5 billion in federal money on in the last decade.

But we now have a great chance to end funding for abstinence-only until marriage initiatives. President Obama is currently drafting his budget for the 2010 fiscal year, and it is vital that he ZERO OUT ab-only funding in this budget. If he doesn’t’ zero it out, it will be extremely difficult to get Congress to pull the money out. Likewise, if Obama does zero out the funding, it will be a more difficult process for Congress to sneak the funding back in through appropriations.

So please, with all due haste, send Obama this message today: ZERO OUT ABSTINENCE-ONLY SEX EDUCATION FUNDING.

Send out the abstinence clowns, and strike one small blow against rape culture.

Fighting Violence Against Women, One Coffee Bean at a Time

February 2009 | Women Thrive Worldwide | Photo Credits: Sara Heinrichs, Steve Evans, Sara Heinrichs

Fighting Violence Against Women, One Coffee Bean at a Time

In honor of Valentine's Day we are devoting this month's newsletter to the fight to end violence against women and girls worldwide, an issue so many of you have take action on over the past few years. To honor your efforts, and those of women around the world, we couldn't think of a better story than that of COMUCAP, our partner in Honduras that has overcome all odds to improve the lives of the women they serve:

Photo Credit: COMUCAP	When Dulce Marlene Contreras started her organization with seven of her friends, there was one thing on her mind: how to help the women of Honduras protect themselves from domestic violence. A daughter of farmers in the rural region of La Paz, Honduras, Marlene was tired of watching the women of her community endure widespread alcoholism and household abuse. She wanted to fight back.
So, in 1993, Marlene founded the Coordinadora de Mujeres Campesinas de La Paz, or COMUCAP, to educate women about their rights. But as time went by Marlene noticed that something was missing. While awareness-building was critical, in order to reduce violence for the long-term, COMUCAP had to attack the problem at its root: poverty. "We realized that until women are economically empowered, they will not be empowered to escape abuse for good," says Marlene. Seeing this link between economic independence and reducing violence revolutionized the way COMUCAP approached its work. In addition to rights awareness workshops, it started training women to grow and sell organic coffee and aloe vera, helping them earn an income for their families. Soon Marlene and her friends started seeing results - the more money women made, the more power they were able to assert in the household.	Marlene (right) shows off a bag of coffee with COMUCAP members. Photo Credit: COMUCAP
As the community started to view the women of COMUCAP as economic contributors to its families, rather than threats to the status quo, more and more women made decisions jointly with their husbands and stood up for themselves and their children in the face of abuse. Today COMUCAP provides employment and income to over 256 women. Household violence, Marlene is proud to report, is now nearly non-existent within the families of COMUCAP. Read more about our partner, COMUCAP, here.

How You Can Fight Violence Against Women

As the leading organization advocating for policies that economically empower women like those in COMUCAP, Women Thrive fights to get organizations around the world like COMUCAP the assistance they need to attack violence and improve lives. Right now, for example, we are working on getting the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA), a bill that would reduce violence against women worldwide by investing in local groups like COMUCAP, re-introduced and passed by Congress.

If passed, IVAWA, which was developed by lead Senate sponsors with the help of Women Thrive, the Family Violence Prevention Fund, Amnesty International USA, and over 150 groups around the world, would make ending violence against women a diplomatic priority for the first time in U.S. history. It would for the first time comprehensively incorporate proven solutions for reducing violence into all U.S. foreign assistance programs - solutions such as promoting women's economic opportunity, addressing violence against girls in school, and working to change public attitudes, potentially affecting millions of women worldwide. We need your help to get IVAWA through Congress and passed so that it can become a reality for women worldwide! This Valentines Day, help us make this happen: Click here to donate to our life-saving anti-violence advocacy! Click here to sign the petition calling on Congress to pass IVAWA! On Facebook? Join our End Violence Against Women & Girls group to stay connected to other activists!