Bigfork Eagle editorial
Wake up
Last weekend's alleged abduction of an 18-year-old girl here in Bigfork should be a wake-up call for this entire community. Our young women are in danger, in danger from predators and in danger from themselves. Alcohol, drugs and societal pressures are rendering these girls vulnerable. And wild animals can always smell an easy kill.
In a 2002 Time magazine article, a 22-year-old woman was quoted as saying "To be able to drink like a guy is kind of a badge of honor. For me, it's a feminism thing." Wouldn't Gloria Steinem be proud? More young American women are drinking to get wasted, and are consequently putting themselves at risk by trying to keep up with the boys. Federal research indicates that more teen girls than boys began using alcohol in the year 2004, and two-thirds of ninth-grade girls said they have tried drinking at least once.
Where are these girls getting the message that being drunk is cool? The American Medical Association has found that aggressive marketing by the alcohol industry is actually targeting teenage girls. "While the alcohol industry claims to only target legal-age drinkers, their ads reach millions of impressionable young girls. Previous studies and these new polls show that teenagers see such ads more so than their legal-age counterparts. Parents should be outraged that these products clearly target and reach underage girls," said J. Edward Hill of the AMA.
Yes, parents should be outraged. Parents should also be outraged that there are establishments willing to serve underage girls until they are drunk out of their minds. There are businesses that sell 12-packs of beer to teens without even asking for proper identification. But here is the real outrage: An AMA teen survey found that one in six girls who report trying beer or other malt beverages were sexually active after drinking, and 25 percent drove a car after drinking or rode with a driver who had been drinking.
Being drunk is in absolutely no way an excuse for sexual assault, either for the perpetrator or the victim. All too often women who are raped after they have had too much to drink think that in some way they deserved it. The courts have started to send that message as well, as victims' entire sexual histories are dissected on witness stands across the country. That, like the crime itself, is a violation.
But, that also does not mean that young women should not take care of themselves and each other. From a young age girls need to be taught about self preservation. Remember the lesson "Never talk to strangers?" When does that fall by the wayside—when a girl is 13, 16 or 18? Some frightening statistics about rape include the fact that one in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. About 44 percent of rape victims are under the age of 18, and 80 percent are under age 30. Young women have got to be taught that self worth is of great importance, and that no one under no circumstance should be allowed to threaten or diminish that worth.
The 18-year-old victim who was found naked and screaming in the back of a van did not deserve to be harmed. In fact, she deserved to be protected, as do all who fall prey to depravity. It is time for us as a community and a society to wake up and say this is not OK.