Serena wrote in response to a query from Stephen Rodrick of Rolling Stone, who asked her about the rape. She said:
“I’m not blaming the girl, but if you’re a 16-year-old and you’re drunk like that, your parents should teach you: Don’t take drinks from other people. She’s 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn’t remember? It could have been much worse. She’s lucky. Obviously, I don’t know, maybe she wasn’t a virgin, but she shouldn’t have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that’s different.”
In Harris-Perry’s ‘Open Letter” segment of the show, she responded to Serena’s comment (see video):
And Ms Harris is absolutely correct. William’s attitude is one that many women share when they hear of rape–even I sometimes engage in such backward thinking at times.
It’s like there’s an automatic defense mechanism that pops up when you hear the word ‘rape’. A defense against the idea that people just go around committing such a horrible crime without somehow being severely provoked.
We hear about a rape and think, “What she was wearing? What was she doing there so late at night? Why didn’t she know any better? What did she expect to happen?
Not rape. No women ever expects or wants that.
Setting the responsiblity for rape on the shoulders of the victim gives the onlooker credence to believe that if they don’t behave or act like however the victim has done, they themselves will remain safe from such horrors. Of course we’re wrong.
When someone decides to harm another fellow human being, it’s their wrong decision, not the unfortunate victim’s. The most cautious, prudent and intelligent among us can still fall victim to someone’s evil intentions.
And it would absolutely not be our fault.
