POINTS THAT MAY SPARK CONTROVERSY/DEBATE:

You may run into individuals who feel threatened by the film, become defensive. Their concerns are often:

What about false accusations?

What about the responsibility of the woman?

What about the "gray area" surrounding consent?

It is a major trap in a discussion to get hung up on the myth that women, for any number of reasons, often "cry rape". Dealing with the notion of false accusations is fairly straightforward because, according to the FBI, there are no more false accusations of rape than there are false accusations of any other crime. The actual figure is somewhere between 2 and 3%. When they do occur, false accusations hurt all of us, especially the real victims of this crime who have to face disbelief. The vast majority of rapes are not reported and the tendency of the media is to draw focus to the exceptions, to the rare instances of false accusations, and with a focus on the "devastating effect" on the accused.

From a feminist perspective, the reason people are focused on the woman's responsibility is because it lets sexual coercers off the hook for their predatory behavior. If you can blame the victim, you don't have to take responsibility for your own actions. It is best to steer conversations away from this pitfall. Instead, ask, "How does this fit into the larger picture?" Part of the effort of this film is to look at the larger picture of rape, outside of the "he said, she said" debate. What does it mean that we try to hold the victim responsible for her rape? Does this mean we believe that women can't wear tank tops and short skirts? Does this mean we are saying women can't go out at night? Are we saying that anyone who goes to a bar and meets someone gets what he or she deserves? Are we saying that we don't have the right to drink and be safe from sexual assault and rape? Are we saying that being drunk is a form of consent?

CONSENT is another huge area of controversy. What does "consent" mean? Remember Salamishah's story from the film. At a certain point she stopped saying "no." Why would some people interpret this as consent? What does that attitude suggest/indicate?

People project a great deal of fear into the consent debate. If you don't blame the victim it leaves men vulnerable to the criminal justice system and other sanction -- the alternative to blaming the victim is making a criminal out of the man. How does blaming the victim maintain the balance of power in social relations?

Antioch College developed a very thorough consent protocol to stop date rape. It requires that the person initiating sexual contact receive affirmative verbal consent at each level of intimacy:

http://www.antioch-college.edu/survival/html/sopp.html

This policy generated significant media ridicule. Why do you think there was so much negative reaction to this policy? Would you participate in a similar dialogue? Why or why not? What are important components of a campus sexual assault policy?

OTHER DISCUSSION TOPICS:

Beginning the Discussion
Human Rights
Prostitution and the Sex Trade
Rape in Prison
Dating Violence
Child Sexual Abuse
Pornography
Legal Issues