Why do Cornell University cases keep happening?

Many of our readers will be aware of the events that transpired at Cornell University in 2024. Where does the responsibility lie, when somebody is stripped of their bodily autonomy? Is it that society has failed to socialise men, or that institutions fail to adequately punish the perpetrators? Or both?

These factors encourage behaviours that have put women at risk for most of human history. This particular failure extends beyond the seven men currently being investigated for rape, it can be attributed to the failure of some fifty-plus men who failed to act, despite knowing what was happening; fifty-plus men who could not see past themselves to stop ‘Jane Doe’ from having to experience the trauma that was endured.

The importance of sexual consent has been at the forefront of public discourse for some time now, so why has Cornell University failed to act on multiple fronts? From administering what most would call an insufficient punishment, to downplaying the events of the night which has prompted the re-opening of this investigation, there was a clear lack of care when this case was being handled. When cases like this come to light - yes, we can report the facts, but more importantly, we should be asking where do we go from here?

The term sonder comes to mind; a state of realisation that everyone around us, has an equally complex and vivid experience of life, and are not mere extensions of our own existence. This concept, many would argue, is where society has failed in raising men, generation after generation. Sex is something men 'do' to a woman; our exploits define our masculinity. How they [women] feel is an afterthought, if even a thought. Understanding, one would hope, would act as its own deterrent. To understand the trauma and pain victims go through would hopefully mean people would be more conscious, and therefore ready to act when a wrong is presented to them.  

To feel deeply is to be human. To lack understanding and not see the issue here, is exactly why men who act with bad intentions do not see women as human. The lack of care from institutions mimics this when they try to administer justice using essays, and try to equate the pain caused to a victim of rape to that of an academic misdemeanour. In the current climate, where the female body is being policed heavily through policy that has in the past protected the attackers, we must be ready to surrender to the idea that institutions do not have women’s best interests at their core.

We must work as a collective to ensure the safety of those made vulnerable by the actions of others. May a generation of men be raised who do not see women as sisters, daughters, mothers, or wives, but as people deserving of autonomy simply because they are human. As men, we can start by sitting down and having the difficult conversation with the women in our own lives; through understanding we gain unity, a unity which would have never sat silently by in a group chat whilst such atrocities are committed. The irony is that in even writing this piece the nuance is missed, a life that cannot be experienced by the writer is being expressed through words on a page. Yet in doing so there is recognition that this problem is real, and this writer will not be silent on it.