Eskenazi, G. (1991, March). "Male athletes and sexual assault: From hall of fame heroes to hometown basketball stars, some jock idols are committing rape...and getting away with it!" Cosmopolitan, p. 220.

OVERVIEW

She was a small woman, just over five feet tall, no more than one hundred pounds. Whispering and weeping, she testified that after she’d gone into a player’s dorm room to watch some videos, five Kentucky State football players raped and sodomized her.

‘You can’t leave unless you "do" all of us,’ one player threatened. The woman said she wouldn’t. ‘If you don’t,’ he went on, ‘they’re going to hurt you bad.’ (They raped her two at a time.)

...when it was over, the victim informed the police, who noted that she was bruised on her hips, neck, face, and arm.

At the trial, the judge allowed the players’ defense attorneys to introduce the victim’s divorce papers into evidence. One defense lawyer asked the female witness, " ‘Why didn’t you kick and scream?’ " After only a few hours, the Kentucky trial jurors acquitted the players. What happened to the woman? She dropped out of school.

That almost always happens—according to Chris Sullivan of Bucknell University, an expert of gang rape. Consider the following situations:

A female student at St. John’s University in Queens, New York, contended she was sexually assaulted in an off-campus residence by a group of students; five of them were members of the university lacrosse team. Another student claimed the players routinely cruised the neighborhood bars seeking young women who seemed to have had too much to drink, then brought them back to the residence for group sex.

A woman was tutoring a football player at a Southern school. When the relationship felt comfortable to her, she suggested they read in her room. He immediately raped her and threatened her with violence...she accepted the myth of being at fault...and after contracting herpes, committed suicide.

Four former football players from Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey, including a pair of twins who were the team’s co-captains, were indicted on charges of sexually assaulting a mildly retarded girl while nine other young men watched...participated...cheered.

...a seventeen-year-old charged that four members of the Washington Capitals hockey team gang-raped and sodomized her in a limousine (into which they had dragged her from a party—reportedly collaborated by a left wing on the team). The grand jury declined to file charges against the four.

One of football’s great running backs admits to abusive treatment of women in his book, Out of Bounds. Several women have filed complaints against him, but all charges have been dropped.

Denver Broncos’ offensive tackle...was acquitted of a rape charge.

San Francisco Giants’ shortstop was accused by a woman in the Dominican Republic...of raping her. Charges were dropped for insufficient evidence.

Former junior-welterweight champion...was arrested and charged with rape and keeping a woman tied up for 24 hours. He pleaded guilty to lesser charges with no criminal record.

Defensive tackle of University of Florida arrested and charged with sexual battery for holding a student at knife point...case pending.

Philadelphia Eagle’s offensive lineman pleaded guilty to a charge of rape of a woman on a Margate, New Jersey beach. His lawyer commented, ‘It’s weird how five minutes on a beach can turn your life around. One minute you’re a football star, the next minute you’re a rapist.’

Two University of Colorado football players were charged with rape and acquitted, but then left school.

Victims have too often found police and jurors sympathetic to the importance and future of athletic stars. School administrators may be afraid of adverse publicity. Coaches may protect their players and chances for success. Lefty Driesell was once censured for asking a woman to withdraw her sexual-assault charges. And Bobby Knight once glibly quipped to Connie Chung, "I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it."

Ken Dryden, graduate of Cornell University and Montreal Canadians goalie Hall of Famer offered these insights into the mentality of the players themselves:

It’s really a sense of power that comes from specialness, reputation, money...Anyone who finds himself at the center of his world feels a sense of impunity—that no matter where the chips fall, they won’t fall on him.

Expert on sexual assault, Molly Henderson (professor at Millersville [PA] University) found in her doctoral research that every campus in the Pennsylvania State University system admitted to a rape problem, but only a tiny fraction of the offenses was being reported. Not all athletes, but a troubling number, are being charged with sexual assaults. According to Henderson

There’s a lot of homoerotic behavior involved. Men in athletic groups want to prove who’s the most manly. In the locker room, it’s the guy with the most outrageous conquest stories; on the field, it’s the player who crushes an opponent. And in the players’ dorms on many big-time campuses, manly translates into the macho groupthink: ‘Anything that happens is between us guys.’

Claire Walsh directs the sexual-assault recovery program at the University of Florida where "spectator sex" has grown popular. In every case, the accused deny gang rape but admit that there was group sex.

Too often, women are victimized twice: in the initial attack and in their recovery or attempts to seek justice. For these reasons, rape continues to be one of the most underreported crimes.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What is your reaction to this article review? What are your feelings and what are your opinions about this matter? Do you believe rape is a growing and serious problem in our society?
2. Can you think of any reasons why rape may be a special problem among male athletes in our society?
3. Is there any irony in the fact that this article appeared in an issue of Cosmopolitan that heralds sexual freedom from cover to cover? Can we discuss society’s sexual provocation—separately from the issue of sexual assaults—without removing any of the blame from rapists?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Date and gang rapes are increasing at alarming rates. They must be a matter of deep concern among educators and youth workers.
2. Innocent victims suffer from the social exploitation. What is society’s—and the media’s—responsibility to this social problem?
3. The 1990s are showing an increased demand for freedom and railing against censorship, especially on high school and college campuses. What are the limits to which society can push titillation without reaping too high a price from vulnerable sexual addicts, perverts, or violent pranksters?

Dean Borgman cCYS