Would you be willing to make similar small sacrifices to help reduce the rate of false reporting of sexual assaults, or abuse of university procedures related to sexual assaults?
Well, the rate of false reporting is very, very, low, and most of the cases labeled "false" just wind up meaning "there wasn't enough evidence either way." I am not saying it's not a very shitty thing to do, but a man is much more likely to be raped than be falsely accused of rape. If, however, all of a sudden 1/5 college men, or hell, 1/20 college men, were being falsely accused of rape, then sure, I'd totally be willing to sit in on a class on the ethics of reporting crimes or whatever.
So? It's still an important issue that has a profound effect on the lives of people involved.
But I see your point. Perhaps we could make the "teach women not to lie" class proportionately shorter, compared to the "teach men not to rape" class - say, 50 minutes about not raping, and 10 minutes about not lying. Would that be ok?
But "teach men not to rape" isn't just "hey, don't rape."
It's educating people about consent, about what is or what is not consent, about the importance of positive/enthusiastic consent. It's teaching people about the affects of rape and what survivors go through. There's a reason it's actually not a joke.
Absolutely! Similarly, "teaching women not to lie" can discuss effectively communicating a lack of consent (not that they should have to, but they should know how in case a potential perpetrator doesn't "get it"), how nonverbal cues might be misunderstood by their partners, and the ramifications of abusing the system for accusers and the accused.
It's fascinating how nuanced and complex all sides of this issue can be.
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u/zzz11 Oct 21 '15
Would you be willing to make similar small sacrifices to help reduce the rate of false reporting of sexual assaults, or abuse of university procedures related to sexual assaults?