John Kasich is a victim blamer, and that is 100%, completely, and undeniably unacceptable.
At a Watertown, New York town hall on Friday, April 15, Kasich told a female college student to stay away from “parties where there’s a lot of alcohol” to prevent from being raped or sexually assaulted. To my surprise and dismay, the crowd actually applauded this statement of advice.
This incident reflects how many Americans view victims of sexual assault. Sadly, we look to place blame on the victim rather than the perpetrator, posing questions such “what were you wearing?” and “were you drinking?” Why do we feel the need to asks the VICTIM these questions when we should be grilling the one who committed the sexual assault with questions? Let’s get one thing straight (listen closely, John Kasich): sexual assault is NEVER the victim’s fault. It doesn’t even make sense to blame the victim, so why do we do it so frequently?
Considering victim blaming is most often directed towards women, we can infer it has to do with internalized misogyny. It’s easy for us to assume it’s always the woman’s fault somehow—that the woman was “asking for it” or “provoked” the sexual assault. But no woman is ever asking for sexual assault. No woman wants that, so we need to stop saying that.
As Jessica Valenti explained in The Purity Myth, “Being responsible has nothing to do with being raped. Women don’t get raped because they were drinking or took drugs. Women do not get raped because they weren’t careful enough. Women get raped because someone raped them.”
So John Kasich, from here on out, let’s try not to victim blame, okay? It’s counterproductive and misogynistic. Next time, instead of telling college girls to avoid alcohol so they aren’t sexually assaulted, you can try to promote sex and consent education to prevent sexual assaults from occurring. Because remember: sexual assault is never the victim’s fault.
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