Trending tags are a popular thing on most social media websites, especially Twitter. Whether it’s #ChristmasClapBack, #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies or the most recent one #ItAintRape (yes, you read that right), they get enough attention to receive both positive and negative reactions from the world. In case you forgot, any form of unwanted sexual behavior is illegal. Sure, you may not have raped or assaulted anyone, but if you’re making jokes about it you are just as disgusting and the perpetrator and you are contributing to the deterioration of an innocent victim’s peace of mind. If that doesn’t make you reconsider what you think is humorous, I don’t know what will.  

Some of the most popular responses to #ItAintRape include “because she’s a hoe” and “more than one guy was involved so it’s just gangbang.” This is ATROCIOUS. Rape is a problem and everyone claims to know that, yet we’re still making jokes about it on social media and on television. It’s not a joke. It’s a tragedy and it ruins the victim’s entire world. If the victim has to follow certain requirements to be able to say they were raped, when exactly does rape occur?

Does it happen when she’s crying too hard to be able to say no? Is it rape when he’s waking up from nightmares every single night because he knows that no one will believe him when he says he was raped? Or does someone’s entire life and mental stability have to be obliterated before it can be considered as rape?

Rape is more than a physical violation. It’s pleasure for a disgusting excuse of a human being at the expense of another person’s perception of humanity. It’s nightmares, second guesses and looking over your shoulder when walking alone. It’s constant fear of being near the same gender as their attacker and second guessing outfits that could be promiscuous. Our brains are already sensitive to trauma and can be greatly impacted by even the slightest disturbance, let alone being forced into sexual activity, which is supposed to be intimate and romantic. Our brains take this violent act that’s been done to us and twists it around until it eventually becomes our fault.

When will we stop the rape jokes and the humiliation of its victims? When will it be accepted as an actual crime by more than just women and victims?