PLATFORM : Affront to Equality

The fundamental criticism of the bill is, “Come on--you don’t really think that rape is a civil-rights violation.”

Sure I do. Assault is a violation of state law. Assault, when motivated by race, may also be a federal civil-rights violation. Most people think that’s right. Most people instinctively understand that a crime based on race is an affront to our national claim of equality, that there is a federal interest in ensuring that all citizens of every race may live free from violence.

But ask them to endorse the same statements, substituting the word gender for race. Hear the guffaws, watch the grimaces.

Rape is not an isolated, lustful impulse but a deliberate act of aggression and domination. We, as a society, have not accepted the connection between inequality and sanctioned violence when the violence is predicated on gender. We do not accept that rape may be a crime not just against a woman, but against women. It’s time we did.