In the wake of the Cornell rape investigation, the national conversation has once again swerved toward scrutinizing the actions of the alleged victim rather than the accused. Marine veteran Joslin Joseph, writing for The World Signal, pushes back hard against this tendency, arguing that the burden of prevention lies squarely with men.
Joseph draws on his own experiences to illustrate the pervasiveness of victim-blaming. While serving in the Marines, a female colleague confided that she had been sexually assaulted by his best friend after a night of drinking in the barracks. When Joseph reported the incident, leadership dismissed it as a "he said/she said" case, adding that she "never should have put herself in that position." The complaint was eventually dropped after she was warned of potential charges for underage drinking and fraternization.
Similarly, at an Ohio State Halloween party, a woman in a revealing costume was groped after a man ripped off her coat. Instead of condemning the assailant, Joseph's then-girlfriend remarked, "Well what did she expect showing up like that?" These anecdotes, Joseph argues, reflect a systemic culture that excuses male predation by policing female behavior.
The Cornell case, which has already become a political flashpoint, has drawn commentary from figures like Sunny Hostin of "The View," who noted the legal complexities of prosecuting rape when evidence is contradictory. Former President Donald Trump has also weighed in, claiming the accused—dubbed the "Cornell 7"—won't receive a fair hearing because the investigator previously prosecuted him. Joseph contends that such focus on procedural nuances misses the larger point.
Drawing on his time at Baylor University, where he witnessed the university's efforts to cover up sexual assaults by football players, Joseph describes how donors and alumni often resorted to conspiracy theories and victim-blaming instead of demanding accountability. He emphasizes that this pattern—lack of accountability for men—persists across institutions.
Joseph also takes aim at the so-called "manosphere," which simultaneously calls for protecting women from transgender athletes while failing to address the epidemic of male-perpetrated sexual violence. He argues that regardless of whether a man identifies as a feminist or an "alpha male," the responsibility to prevent rape rests with men.
"The only cause of rape is a rapist," Joseph writes. "It's the choice to ignore a no. The choice to take advantage when you know better. The choice to walk away. The choice to accept it won't be your night to get lucky." He also stresses the importance of bystander intervention, noting that several of the accused men in the Cornell case claimed discomfort but failed to speak up.
Joseph calls for a fundamental shift in how we raise boys, teaching them from an early age that consent is non-negotiable and that silence in the face of wrongdoing is complicity. He concludes that while the full facts of the Cornell case remain unclear, the solution is not to demand perfection from victims but to instill accountability in men.
As the debate over civic education and democratic norms continues, Joseph's call to action underscores a broader need for cultural change. His message resonates beyond any single case, urging a reexamination of the narratives we teach our sons.
