There’s No Such Thing as “Non-Consensual Sex”
We must abolish the use of passive words to describe violent acts.
In an article in my local paper today, it was reported that a 20-year-old assistant wrestling coach had “non-consensual sexual intercourse in the spring of 2016 with a girl who was 15 or 16 at the time.”
This kind of language needs to stop.
Year after year, assault after assault, we allow the perpetuation of rape culture through the use of passive words to describe violent acts. There is no grey area when it comes to consent. Rape is not non-consensual sex, it’s assault, and an act of violence.
Why do media outlets choose to use phrases like “unwanted sexual activity,” or “aggressive sexual encounter?” Allegations of assault are described as “sex scandals” rather than “rape scandals,” and newspaper articles and TV News captions still profess that someone was accused of “sex with children.” Children can’t have sex. There’s no such thing as “sex with children,” that’s child sexual abuse.
Is this language some function of journalists trying to avoid printing the word rape repeatedly?
Perhaps as a society, we could decide that a…
