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Debunking trolls during Sexual Assault Awareness Month…

If you live in the States and believe rape is a serious issue, you likely know April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which has been around since the eighties – albeit ignored by most politicians, until filthy liberal Obama became the first president to treat rape as a serious issue. And whilst plenty of aspiring sociopaths think women deserve rape, the majority of civilised folks believe preventing rape is a good thing. But what happens when pro-rape trolls make the jump from spewing misogyny online, to harassing advocates and survivors at campus events?

Granted, most trolls lack the backbone to attack others without a cloak of anonymity to shield them from consequences. Yet more brazen trolls aren’t without precedent, like the ones who oppose Take Back the Night rallies with “you deserve rape” signs. One troll graced our recent campus tabling event, marching from table to table, claiming the event was a sexist attack on men, demanding to know why nobody would answer his questions about false rape accusations. (Most tablers thought they were being punk’d and shrugged him off, which didn’t help his attitude.)

Then he came to our table and, well, it didn’t end well for him. After a few minutes, his girlfriend (or whoever was standing with him) pulled him away from our table, before he could embarrass himself further.

For those who may find themselves in similar situations this month and need an entertaining survival guide – or who simply want an idea of how our conversation went – this post is for you. Just remember these responses hurt more when you deliver them with a smile!

TrollFace

Q: Why’re you spending my student fees on this event?

A: Welcome! Most people here think campus rape is bad, though not everyone agrees, since one frat was recently banned for allegedly heckling anti-rape events with dildos. If you’d like to join this frat, we have their contact info – but in the meantime, rape awareness is a cheap alternative to lawsuits from rape victims whose colleges violate their rights.

Q: What makes you think campus rape is a problem?

A: Aside from how 15 to 20 per cent of college women are sexually assaulted, and how this is corroborated by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Journal of American College Health, the Medical University of South Carolina and the CDC, we’re generally in favour of preventing things we know are harming our friends and classmates!

Q: What proof do you have those studies are legitimate?

A: Hey, last time we checked, the U.S. Justice Department is good enough at what it does that the FBI works for them. If you’re upset at how they study rape, we can give an address so you can address a letter of concern to them!

Q: And how do you know those rapes aren’t false accusations?

A: We’re confused – if someone rapes someone, how is that false? Regardless, considering the FBI reports over 90 per cent of rape cases are probable or true, we choose to focus our efforts on survivors who need help.

Q: So you don’t care about false rape accusations?

A: On the contrary, the most effective way to prevent such accusations is to prevent situations where rape occurs. That’s why we teach affirmative consent, to ensure men aren’t in danger of walking around and accidentally raping someone who didn’t say yes!

Q: And how would you know she said yes or not?

A: In a civilised society, most people ask for permission before sticking their body parts into another person. Most of us learn consent as children – do you feel consent is a challenge for you?

Q: So a girl can say she was raped if she had sex without saying yes?

A: Good luck with winning a rape case if you have no evidence of rape! That’s why so few men in jail for rape turn out to be falsely accused (unless they’re black), because getting a conviction without evidence sounds about as smart as your question.

Q: So you don’t care how false accusations affect men’s reputations?

A: Au contraire, we care about many things, from how 1 in 6 men are sexually assaulted before college, to how religious groups wish to ban rape victims from accessing birth control. Since rape victims tend to suffer most from rape, we focus on their needs – but since you care deeply about men and rape, perhaps you should table with us at our next event, talking to men about how to avoid accidentally raping?

Q: You didn’t bother answering…

A: I’m sorry, but not interrupting is another skill we assumed you’d learned as a child. Is your lack of basic skills why you’re fearful of being accused of rape someday?

laughing-horse

Our chat with this bloke wasn’t nearly this linear – he kept trying to disrupt and derail the conversation, as trolls often try to do. But given how predictable rape apologists are, we were by default well-versed in whatever tired arguments he trotted out, so instead we gave entertaining answers to string him along. No, what shocked us more was that he tried at all – he took his trolling into the offline world, to an event where he should have known none of his arguments would strike anyone as terribly original.

Why, then, did he even bother? We’re not sure why, but we were entertained enough by his foolishness that it led in this post. Happy tabling!


8 thoughts on Debunking trolls during Sexual Assault Awareness Month…

  1. That’s why so few men in jail for rape turn out to be falsely accused (unless they’re black)

    I think it’s important to point out that in every case involving rape where the man convicted was later exonerated thanks to the work of the Innocence Project, there was a real rape victim also denied justice (this is according to Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project). These are NOT false accusations of the sort MRA types are obsessed with; these women/children really were raped but the wrong man was charged and convicted.

    In some of these cases, the victim was raped and murdered so she was obviously unable to accuse anyone. In some cases, the victim lived but was unable to identify her attacker(s)–the Central Park Jogger case comes to mind or the beyond egregious Barney Brown case (mentioned in your link). And then there are cases where the victim and sometimes other witnesses sincerely believe they’re identifying the rapist but they’re mistaken.

    Most people suck at remembering the faces of total strangers, and we know that cross-racial witness identifications are especially unreliable. Many of these cases also involve misconduct by police and/or prosecutors who are so certain they have the right man that they manipulate line-ups to increase the likelihood that witnesses will identify their guy.

    Wrongful convictions are a terrible injustice but there’s no evidence that they are occurring because evil, vindictive women are deliberately accusing innocent men of rape.

  2. Why did he even bother? I would guess because he wasn’t dominating the conversation with what was important to him. I rather liked the offer to him to set up his own table at the next event; hard to say you’re not being heard or answered when you’re part of the conversation. But because the ongoing discussion wouldn’t be under his exclusive control, that probably wasn’t an attractive option. So frustrating when the intended victims don’t cooperate!

  3. There was one very good point made here. A fact that is often overlooked. I personally know of OMEMAN who was raped by another man. THEY WERE NOT IN PRISON. I grant that men who are rape victims are a minority. There is little or no concern for them. Secondarily does anyone even care how difficult it is for a man to report to police that he was raped? As a woman I know its hard enough for us to report this and get actions legally acceptable after such a traumatic event but I suspect it is 10 times worse for a man who is reporting such a thing. I have seen little or no addressing of this issue by either men OR womens groups. If it is addressed at all it is mostly a sidebar with no reference to any source that the man could go to and NOT be laughed at for making such a claim AND I include the police in this as well. The man I am speaking of has been trying to cope with this, psychologically, emotionally and physically by himself other than having a few caring friends who are trying to stabilize him somewhat. I am a female who has worked in both the medical and legal fields and I am at an absolute loss here as to what I can do other than just help hold him and listen Where do I go now, what do I do? This incident is about 18 months in the past now. I applaud what you are doing but I truly wish there was such a group that deals with the men who suffer this problem in silence. Thank you for allowing me to vent.

    1. I’ve been through that myself. Not sure what to tell you.

      Have you looked for online resources or directions to resources, like malesurvivor.org?

      Here in Ontario (Canada), we didn’t have anything for male survivors until about four years ago. I spent ten years looking for help, and was sexually assaulted a second time during those years. Thankfully I’m finally in counselling. I still sometimes get bullied by doctors or nurses, though. Social workers are better with this stuff.

      It’s rough having so little representation in cultural space and no re-assuring “path” presented to follow to make things better. It’s possible, though, that if you or your friend phone or email local counselling centers, social workers or such that they may be dealing with other men in your friend’s situation but there isn’t any kind of publicity or outreach for it. I’ve seen a lot of that.

    2. FWIW, I’ve seen some stats from reliable sources that suggest men may be the majority of rape victims in the US due to the overwhelming prevalence of rape in prison. But I’ve never understood why it matter whether men or women are raped *more,* it’s not like we’re going to stuff advocating for anti-rape programs/education/policies if suddenly it turns out women are 49% of victims instead of 51%.

    3. There is a desperate need for public awareness of nontypical forms of rape.

      Rape is not always violent. Rape does not always involve physical force of any kind. Rape can be difficult to identify at times.

      I would like to see rape discussed as more than a “woman’s issue” because it’s not. Rape affects everyone. As a female survivor of multiple unrelated and one recent assault, my experiences were difficult, but I would hate to have gone through the same things as a man.

      I want to see rape discussed more often without any mention of gender, or the color pink.

  4. Q: What makes you think campus rape is a problem?

    So campus rape is a problem, and since you’re a college student yourself I understand why you’d focus on it, but more broadly I do have a huge problem with the way it has become the cause célèbre of mainstream feminism recently. There’s something deeply classist about the fact that while non-college-students are significantly more likely to be raped than college students, such a disproportionate share of the energy and rhetoric is going towards protecting women on campus.

    Again, not an attack on you- you start by working on the issue where you live, I get that. But it makes me flinch every time I hear ‘we have to stop rape on campus,’ for much the same reason the statement ‘we have to stop violence against white women’ would make me flinch. Like, yes we do, but why are we specifically calling out a more-privileged and less-victimized subset of women as the ones who need a special focus on their problems?

    Haha just kidding I know why.

    1. And on top of that, campus rape statistics are frequently used to represent even the worldwide prevalence of rape. It’s really terrible, and I admit that I used to carelessly cite those statistics in a similar way. I’m glad that you continue to point this bias out, even though like you said addressing college rape isn’t itself a bad thing.

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