If you’re a victim of rape, is it worth it to come forward and seek treatment?
Conservative columnist George Will was asked that question by a rape victim during his lecture at Miami University on Wednesday night and his response was terrible.
She said the first time she spoke publicly about her sexual assault was during the question and answer portion of the lecture.
She said she asked Will about his comments concerning the cost of treatment for sexual assault victims.
“He replied in a series of non-finished sentences at which point I said, ‘I have specifically received treatment and is it worth it?’ and he said, ‘Yes, it is, but only for real survivors of real rape,’ and it was very diminishing and deterring my ability to talk about it,” she said.
Real Rape™
The ambiguity and vagueness of saying only “real survivors” of “real rape” should come forward puts the onus on victims who may not know exactly what happened to them or may be tempted to blame themselves. It’s a fucking horrible thing to say to the face of a survivor.
Miami University spokeswoman Claire Wagner said the school was not aware of the column George Will wrote in which he said women may falsely claim they were raped because it affords them privilege before the school signed his contract for speaking. Will was paid $48,000 for the lecture.
Do they not even Google the names of their speakers before signing them to contracts?