New approach to sexual assualt

This is ttue doctrine. :thumbup:

Excellent doctrine, I hope everyone believed in. God bless the victims of sexual abuse! But is it really new? I remember being taught this back 15 years ago at least. Of course, it was all in balance of the whole “chewed gum”/”bruised fruit” analogy, which seemed at odds with the atonement.

But is it really new? I remember being taught this back 15 years ago at least.

New? I suppose that depends. A long time ago in the church there was this notion that a woman should fight off her attacker – even to the point of death – before allowing her “virtue” to be taken. I do not believe that this has been spoken explicitly over the pulpit in many years but often if nothing new contradicts old teachings we default to old teachings. I have heard this old quote in SS within the last 10 years.

“Consent cannot be given when the person is asleep, unconscious, intoxicated or does not have the intellectual capacity to agree, including when they are minors. Similarly, just because a person stops resisting or freezes in response to pressure, manipulation or coercion, does not mean that the person has consented to sexual contact.”

“Let me be very clear about the responsibility for sexual assault,” Ogles added. “The perpetrator is responsible for their actions. A victim was deprived of their agency and they are not accountable for what happened to them without their consent — no matter what they were wearing, where they were or what happened beforehand. They did not invite, allow, sanction or encourage the assault.”

1) The absence of an affirmative “yes” means that consent was not given. No means no. Yes means yes. The absence of a “no” does not mean yes.

2) Responsibility. I believe that many in the church (and broader society) would feel that the woman had some measure of responsibility for “letting her guard down” or being in a vulnerable situation. Remember the Stanford swimmer that sexually assaulted an unconscious woman. Did the woman bear any responsibility for what happened by being unconscious? Ogles in this BYU devotional clearly said that the woman was not responsible and not accountable. If the woman did not make an informed choice to have sex then her conscience should be clear and she can begin the process of healing.

I call that progress.

2) Responsibility. I believe that many in the church (and broader society) would feel that the woman had some measure of responsibility for “letting her guard down” or being in a vulnerable situation. Remember the Stanford swimmer that sexually assaulted an unconscious woman. Did the woman bear any responsibility for what happened by being unconscious? Ogles in this BYU devotional clearly said that the woman was not responsible and not accountable. If the woman did not make an informed choice to have sex then her conscience should be clear and she can begin the process of healing.

I call that progress.

I call it progress as well. I think the section quoted above was mostly in response to the incident that led to making some progress specifically at BYU. There was the underlying “Well, if the girl hadn’t been at the party she wouldn’t have been assaulted.” Well, duh! That doesn’t mean going tot he party made her responsible for what happened to her and it doesn’t mean that Provo police officer should have shared that with the Honor Code office or that the Honor Code office should be at all involved with her. It doesn’t matter if it happened at a party, at her apartment, or at some random place on campus – it’s not her fault.

Also I believe that most bishops are not good therapists.

I just wish more of them would realize that. When my grandma died, a Baptist minister granddad had known for years invited many of the family to one-on-one meetings even though none of us were Baptist. The first thing he said in the meeting was “I’m not a grief counselor or therapist, though I can recommend a good one if you want. I”m a pastor and a friend: I’ll listen as much as you need, discuss what the Bible says about it if you want, and pray with you and for you. If you want a personal opinion, I might offer one, but that’s all it is.”