Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized rape survivors who do not report the sexual assaults to authorities as “part of the problem.”
Carlson made the remarks Tuesday while discussing the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“Sex offenders tend to commit serial sex crimes. Doesn’t she have an obligation to tell someone? To stop him from doing that if he is, in fact, a sex criminal?” Carlson asked radio host Ethan Bearman. “Where’s her obligation here? What about the rest of us?”
“And I know it’s hard, but why don’t we have a right to know?” he added. “If there’s a rapist on the loose, if you don’t tell anybody … if Bernie Madoff rips you off and you don’t tell his other investors … you’re part of the problem, are you not?”
As Yahoo Lifestyle points out, the majority of sexual assaults are not reported to the police: “Only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to police, according to data from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Of those, only 57 of those reports lead to arrest, 11 cases are referred to prosecutors, and only six perpetrators end up in jail.”
“Only one person is responsible for a sexual assault and that is the perpetrator,” Mike Domitrz, founder of the Date Safe Project, told the outlet. “To imply a survivor is responsible or part of the problem for potential future crimes … is unfair and can cause emotional harm to survivors.”
