By CJ Guion
This past week over the Spring Holiday breaking news was released that WKNC DJ and Technician columnist Dwayne Samuel Daughtry a.k.a Triple X was arrested and charged with a sexual offense on April 19th. According to reports from police, Daughtry assaulted another student in his residence whom he knew from mutual acquaintances. The unnamed student reportedly fell asleep at Daughtry’s residence after leaving a party and woke up hours later to find Daughtry sexually assaulting him. He is currently being held at the Wake County jail on a $100,000 bond. This is where the drama begins.
Following the release of Monday’s Technician, many students were angry and upset regarding comments made by Captain Jon Barnwell of Campus Police who stated that “the best thing for students to do is to make sure they do not put themselves in a situation where you could be victimized.” While it obvious that his comments could have been blown out of proportion, one could say that in a sense Barnwell placed blame on the victim.
Many times in rape cases, it is common for slight blame to be placed on the victim. Spectators like to question the actions of the victim preceding the attack. Questions arise such as “Was he/she walking alone” or “did he/she lead him on.”
Another issue involved with this case is the fact that alcohol was involved and the victim was drunk. However, this does not give anyone the right to freely violate anyone who does not give them consent to do so. Yes, the victim chose to drink, but he never signed up to become another victim of sexual assault. The victim should have the right to sleep in peace, without having to worry about waking up to find someone forcefully touching him without his knowledge. It can be very difficult for victims of sexual abuse to reveal the truth, and this can become a bigger burden when you have public officials making comments such as this, taken out of context or not.
Yes, we live in a world where we have to be cautious of possible dangers around us at all times. However, we must stop placing the blame on victims of rape. In most cases, rape victims know and trust their violators. Sometimes, it’s just best to say little or nothing at all in certain situations. It’s easy to say that you should watch the people you choose to associate with and it’s easy to say that you should take certain precautions in certain situations. However, you never truly know what you would do in situation until you face it head on.
