Mike DomitrzPresident, Author, and Speaker on Respect, The Center for Respect, Inc. · Author & Speaker on Respect for Schools, Corporations, & the Military since 1990 (has reached

You need to call it what it is, don't downplay it.

11 Jun 2024 · 1 min

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In this brief segment, the speaker challenges the audience to label the intentional use of alcohol or drugs to enable sexual activity that would not otherwise occur as "rape." He highlights a recent cultural shift: five years ago, people avoided the term "rape" or "sexual assault," opting for softer words like "coercion," which downplayed the seriousness of the behavior. By emphasizing the importance of naming the act accurately, the speaker argues that proper terminology is essential for recognizing the problem and prompting appropriate responses.

Chapters

So what do you call it when someone's using alcohol intentionally, or other drugs, intentionally, to try to facilitate sexual activity that would not happen otherwise? All right, rape. Does anybody use that word at the party? No. No, you're right. When we're in a room like this, people go, well, it sounds like sexual assault. Now here's the wild part. 5 years ago, just 5 years ago, nobody said rape in the room. 5 years ago. They'd say coercion. They'd say every other word except rape or sexual assault, until the last 5 years. So, some of you are going, well, that's obviously rape, but nobody was taught it was okay to call it what it was. So they called it words that didn't sound as serious, so then nobody took it as a problem, is what happened.