A Facebook page about rape jokes prompted a petition in the United Kingdom to delete it, and many MU students agree the page should be taken down as well.
The page, titled “You know shes (sic) playing hard to get when your (sic) chasing her down an alleyway,” has incited strong reactions with its adolescent sexual bravado and rape innuendo.
Orlagh Ni Léid, a 19-year-old student from the U.K., started a petition Aug. 19 after Facebook refused to take the page down. Facebook said in a BBC interview the page is the equivalent to a rude joke in a bar, in that it may not offend everyone.
“I started the petition when I found out that Facebook refused to take the page down and the U.K. mainstream press proved unresponsive to a letter from Rape Crisis England and Wales,” Léid said in a news release.
The petition has 3,000 signatures compared to the 193,235 “likes” on the Facebook page.
“Please remeber (sic) this is not about rape,” began a statement made by the page owners on its Wall. “So please shut ur (sic) mouth geez you guys are so sensitive to shit like this like take a joke?”
Danica Wolf, MU Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center coordinator, said she believes it violates Facebook’s User Agreement.
“A rape joke, or anything that seems to condone rape, is problematic because it contributes to a society where rape is accepted as the norm,” Wolf said. “When survivors see or hear things like this, they can feel triggered, re-victimized and unsafe. When perpetrators see and hear things like this, they get the message that many other people think and act like them, when we know that most people would never even consider harming another person in this way.”
Other MU students said they were offended by the contents of the page.
“I think this page is insensitive, ridiculous and it’s offensive to women,” junior Imani Dyson said.
In a statement in an interview with BBC Radio, Facebook said the website is a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views respectfully.
“We have now more than 750 million people around the world of varying opinions and ideals using Facebook as a place to discuss and share things that are important to them,” Facebook said in the statement.
Feminist Student Union co-chairwoman Cat Coyne said she felt the page was the symptom of a culture that does not take rape seriously.
“You’d be re-victimizing people by liking (the page) and showing that you don’t take (rape) seriously,” Coyne said. “That goes for more than just Facebook pages. It also applies to comedians and using rape casually as a verb as opposed to what it is.”