Susan Patton, an author of marriage based self-help books, was dubbed the “Princeton Mom” after her victim blaming went viral from her CCN interview on Tuesday. “I didn’t say it was it was your fault, I said you could have prevented it,” Patton said to rape survivors.
She also advised rape victims to “stop and leave” if they are about to be raped or taken advantage of, as well as avoid drinking so as to not to encourage the assault. This contribution to the media’s conversation on rape followed suit with most of the politically conservative views. Patton took it upon herself to define the grey area between rape and clumsy drunk hook-ups for college students.
The author argued that drunk sex does not constitute an accusation of rape and encouraged victims that had been taken advantage of by their friends to “be smarter next time”. By the end, the interview managed to quickly illustrate that the “drunkenness does not equal consent” movement has missed the majority.
The reporter interviewing the “Princeton Mom” attempted to defend survivors of assault, explaining that women have the right to drink and remain safe. However, Patton insisted that there are particular kinds of non-consensual sex that drunk women should take at least partial responsibility for.
The conversation was spurred by a startling statistic: 80% of college rapes are not reported to authorities. In an effort to explore resolutions, the trend of victim blaming was reaffirmed in this major step back of an interview.