Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

And, even if she believes she consented, or has convinced herself (a la Katie Roiphe) that what happened to her is not sexual assault, she has publicly identified a potential predator, and I wonder what Duke/Durham police or campus authorities might do with that, regardless of her self-acknowledgement at this point. 

 

Regards,
Brett A. Sokolow
Brett A. Sokolow, J.D.
Attorney-At-Law


"Best Practices for Campus Health and Safety"

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2009-2010 President, The National Behavioral Intervention Team Association (www.nabita.org)

NCHERM serves as counsel/advisor to 12 campuses, including:

Special Counsel to the Dean of Students, Dominican University (IL)
Special Counsel for Student Conduct Issues, Warren Wilson College
Special Advisor to the University of Texas, San Antonio
Special Counsel, Concordia University (TX)
Special Counsel, Northern Virginia Community College
Special Counsel, Southwestern Michigan College
Special Counsel, the Community College of Allegheny County
Special Advisor, Vassar College
Special Advisor, Henry Ford Community College

 

In a message dated 10/11/2010 8:48:35 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, writes:

This is where we need to take the conversation from here on.  Talk to students specifically about the situation where she clearly describes sex while either "Blacked Out" or passed out. Since she had no memory, no one knows which state of consciousness she was in. Either way, she was incapable of giving consent.

Along with many other comments which will be made about this case (such as cruel statements like "She was clearly a slut.  She set these guys up for public ridicule and now we are suppose to believe she was 'raped'?"), we must prepare to discuss the following question students will have:

"She clearly enjoyed this situation by the way she wrote of it - so how can you say she was raped?"

You have lots of options on where to begin the answer/conversation. Here are 2 quick examples:

1) "Enjoyment" has never been part of the legal definition of sexual assault.  CONSENT is the key.  

2) No one (not even her) has stated she enjoyed the nonconsensual sex (the sexual assault).  She references assuming it must have been good because of how aggressive he was with her (based on many bruises she found on herself).  She NEVER stated it was pleasurable.

Please keep this conversation moving forward by sharing with each other. I will be blogging about this case in the next few minutes.

Your Fan,

Mike Domitrz

http://www.DateSafeProject.org/blog

Sent from my iPad

On Oct 10, 2010, at 10:52 PM, wrote:

Most news coverage not only focused on the privacy of the men - and pushed the "what kind of girl" theme and emphasized how sorry she was - they said the guys were "sexually harassed".

I did some commentary for NBC and I said:

Isn't it interesting that when this is done by men to women  - as in the Juicy Campus.com sense - nobody says much about sexual harassment or invasion of privacy - it's all about how women have to learn that the internet is a place where bad behavior happens and there is no redress.

I also mentioned that there's little chance of a serious privacy violation lawsuit - and that her behavior is a symptom of the pervasive sexual victimization harassment and exploitation of women - 

I was prepared to say something about how a woman who is unconscious cannot have "sex" - and that the man in that situation should be charged with rape - but I was already feeling the heat for not doing the anticipated commentary about how the boys had suffered privacy rights violations- 

Wendy Murphy

New England Law|Boston

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