Or in this case, horndogs will be horndogs.
This was the explanation given by a few male college students in a group chat after several girls were physically groped by strangers at a party.
Instead of addressing the issue and ensuring this would not happen again at any other house party they promoted, they became defensive and even mocked the original person who brought up the situation.
No one else in the group chat stood up for the girls. The subject of the conversation was quickly changed.
When will our society stop making excuses for sexual assaulters?
When will we acknowledge that rape culture is a serious threat to both men and women alike? In fact, men are more likely to be victims of sexual assault themselves, than to be falsely accused of rape.
The Me Too movement has helped show the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment in all forms and settings, but there is still a long road ahead until real change comes.
According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, "20 to 25 percent of college women and 15 percent of college men are victims of forced sex during their time in college" but, "rape is the most under-reported crime; 63 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police."
With statistics like these, you would expect universities to do everything in their power to protect students, but documentaries like "The Hunting Ground" reveal this is not always the case.
This documentary focuses on sexual assault survivors who reported their assaults but were ignored by college administrators. While it wouldn't be accurate to generalize all college administrators in this way, this part of the issue demands close attention.
Ultimately, we can begin to challenge rape culture by acknowledging that it exists, challenging gender roles, modeling healthy relationships and being mindful of the language we use. We also need to change the attitudes we see about women's bodies.
Women's bodies are not objects or commodities.
Hopefully, we will reach a point where women can jog at night, pump gas or drink at parties without the fear of being harassed.
But until we reach that point, we need to come together and become better allies to survivors.
