“They peed on her, that’s how you know she’s dead.”
“She’s deader than Caylee Anthony.”
“They raped her harder than that cop raped Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction.”
These are but a few of the appalling comments a group of Steubenville, Ohio teenagers made in a 12-minute home video posted on YouTube in the aftermath of the rape of a 16-year old girl by two of her classmates, Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond.
On the night of August 12, 2012 Richmond and Mays transported their victim to several different parties. During this time they stripped her, photographed her naked, attempted to force her into performing oral sex, and used their fingers to penetrate her vagina and anus while the girl was unconscious.
The video that was made essentially lauds Mays and Richmond for what is an undeniable act of rape; it is shocking, barbaric and infuriating. This attitude, that rape isn’t that big of a deal, is a major problem and it is frightening to see that it is not only present in Steubenville, but apparently all over America, including the mainstream media.
Yes, perhaps CNN’s coverage of the guilty verdict that was handed down on March 17 was a little less inflammatory than the YouTube video, but it was still grossly inappropriate. Rather than focusing on the closure the verdict might provide for the victim, Poppy Harlow and Candy Crowley discuss the effects it might have on the lives of the rapists who had “such promising futures.”
Time and again in its coverage of the Steubenville verdict, CNN bombarded viewers with imagery and commentary appealing for sympathy for two men who had just been convicted of rape: rolling video of their families weeping for them, and they themselves weeping when they are sentenced. Harlow also took time during her segment to mention to viewers that after his son was found guilty, Ma’lik Richmond’s father told him he loved him for the first time. I understand that emotional TV makes for good TV, but trying to pull at my heartstrings using two convicted rapists not only insults my intelligence, but also destroys the respect I had for CNN as a news organization.
Harlow spent a significant amount of her screen time emphasizing that the events in Steubenville were “alcohol fueled.” I found this infuriating. Yes there was alcohol, people were drinking; this tends to happen at high school parties. Drunk or not however, when two men document themselves sexually assaulting and urinating on a 16-year old girl, it’s rape. When you take into account that the victim in this case was unconscious for most of the time, the crime becomes all the more clear. However Harlow overlooked all of these facts about the night of August 12 in her report. Instead she chose to continually emphasize alcohol as a factor in the Steubenville rape. Intentionally or not, she was insinuating that there is some sort sexual assault grey area that exists if the victim is intoxicated and by doing so she undermined the severity of an atrocious crime.
Out of all the outrage I felt, the thing that perhaps got me the most was this question from Crowley: “What’s the lasting effect though, on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?”
Well, firstly of all Candy, they were not convicted of essentially rape; they were convicted of rape. Second, how can the first thing you inquire about when given the opportunity be what someone thinks the effect of on the life of the rapists will be now that they have been convicted? What about the 16-year old girl who was brave enough to go to trial and seek justice after her body was violated and she was publicly humiliated? What about the effects having people like you sympathizing with her rapists will have on her?
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, out of every 100 rapes 46 are reported to police, 12 lead to arrests, nine get prosecuted, five lead to a conviction, and three lead to prison time. This means that out of 100 rapes, 97 rapists will walk free.
So how about instead of pitying Trent Mays and Ma’lik Richmond, we thank this 16-year old girl for being part of that brave 46 per cent who report their assault. How about we thank the justice system for doing the right thing, and putting these two rapists behind bars. How about we work on forming a society in which rape victims are not demonized for trying to get justice because their rapists were good at football.
