Lawmaker's 'how not to be a victim' of rape post raises criticism

Amy Bartner | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption Indiana lawmaker wants to abolish handgun licensing Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) believes a Republican-controlled General Assembly and governor could make this the right time to pass such a bill.

For the third time in less than a year, a state representative has raised eyebrows with a Facebook post, this time a photo of a letter he wrote to IndyStar in response to a story about sexual assault.

He urged IndyStar reporter Marisa Kwiatkowski to do a follow-up story about "the thousands of Hoosier women that are taking steps & learning how not to be a victim."

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The Monday post by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, garnered about 400 comments, some saying his letter places blame on the victim while others agreeing with his position that women should be armed.

“That's always been a concern and an issue of mine is women being able to defend themselves," Lucas told IndyStar. "I personally have paid out of my pocket for dozens of women to take firearms classes.”

The photo of the handwritten letter on State of Indiana House of Representatives stationery was one of two photos he posted on his Facebook page.

Lucas' cursive note says:

Dear Ms. Kwiatkowski,

After reading your front page article in the Sunday Star about the tragedy of rape, it would be nice to see a follow up article about the thousands of Hoosier women that are taking steps & learning how not to be a victim.

Sincerely,

Jim Lucas

The second photo is a snapshot of the story Kwiatkowski wrote, published June 4, about sexual assault survivor Michelle Kuiper, who now advocates for survivor rights. In 1994, Kuiper was sitting on her porch in Louisville, Ky., when a man pulled her off the ledge and into an opening underneath her neighbor's deck, where he raped her. She was 24.

Kuiper declined to comment for this story.

Almost immediately after Lucas' post, the comments started coming.

"This is disgusting victim blaming," one person wrote. "There is a significant difference between individual risk reduction and the prevention of rape as a public safety issue."

One commenter questioned Lucas' role as a state representative in sending the letter.

"Sexual assault is a public safety issue, and as a representative of Indiana, it is your responsibility to advocate for social change, prevention programs and legislation that will help prevent rape" the commenter wrote.

Other people defended Lucas' position, saying he intended to empower and help women to defend themselves, nothing more.

"He is asking them to celebrate women who control their destiny," one person wrote. "You aren't much of a feminist if you can't acknowledge that!"

"We don't have a problem victim-blaming for car seats, vaccines, gun in the homes, you name it," another commenter wrote on Lucas' post. "But somehow pointing out that a woman has a responsibility for her own safety is forbidden territory."

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Lucas said the critical response was the result of a misunderstanding of his intentions. He said those who said his letter blamed victims "come across as completely irrational and unreasonable.”

“That’s almost like saying that the victim can't defend themselves," he said. "My approach is to help the women, to educate them, to empower them to protect themselves and to give them the knowledge to not put themselves in certain situations. There’s really no greater satisfaction than having a single mom or an elderly woman come up to you with tears in her eyes because she’s no longer afraid."

Lucas' viewpoint is a common one, said Mahri Irvine, director of campus initiatives at the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault, but it could cause further victimization among survivors who might view the assault as their own fault for not taking actions to prevent it themselves.

"He might be very well-intentioned, but it’s sort of ludicrous to say that someone can learn how not to be a victim," Irvine said. "This type of letter could be psychologically and emotionally harmful to people who have survived rape."

Mindsets like Lucas' serve as distractions from the real issue of assault prevention, she said.

"Why don’t we focus instead on what’s making these men think it’s acceptable to mistreat a human being by committing sexual assault?" she said. "We really need to start redirecting our conversations away from survivors and toward confronting the problem of sexual violence in our society."

Irvine said Lucas is referring to "risk reduction" strategies such as carrying a gun or learning self-defense, but those methods won't end rape.

"It's totally fine and appropriate to educate people on how they can reduce their risks of being vulnerable," she said. "But the only people who can actually prevent sexual violence are the people who are committing those violent crimes."

Not only that, but employing such precautions might be physically impossible for some victims, she said.

"Up to 50 percent of all rape survivors have experienced something called 'tonic immobility,'" Irvine said. "They can’t fight back. They can't scream. They’re literally frozen. It's completely at the instinctive level. Some people call tonic immobility 'rape-induced paralysis,' because the victim's entire body becomes frozen."

Lucas said he "vehemently disagrees" with the insinuation that he is not holding perpetrators responsible.

"There’s always going to be horrible things happening, and we can wish them away as much as we want," Lucas said. "Where do we teach boys to rape women? I hold the door open for women. I go out of my way. I respect women. That's what we should be teaching."

Gun training will help prevent tonic immobility, too, he said.

"Almost every firearms course teaches you about the proper mindset," Lucas said. "If you acknowledge that there’s this situation where you basically go limp because of terror, go take a ladies-only class."

Lucas is familiar with receiving strong reactions to his posts to social media. In December, he posted a meme on Facebook of a woman in a car trunk with the caption: "Wanna know who loves you more: your wife or your dog? Lock them both in your trunk and see who's happy to see you when you let them out."

In January, Lucas was criticized for another Facebook post he shared after the post-inauguration Women's March. The post showed a police officer in riot gear, pepper spraying a woman in the face, with the overlaying text: "Participation trophies, now in liquid form."

Lucas deleted and apologized for the posts in January after the executive director for the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence called for Lucas' demotion. He was not stripped of his leadership position as assistant majority whip.

Lucas said Wednesday that the response to those posts were "totally blown out of the proportion."

Irvine said Lucas' most recent post is an opportunity to help elevate a discussion about sexual assault and educate those commenting on victimization and the culture around sexual assault.

"In a way, it’s great that he posted this," she said. "Because he’s generated a lot of conversation."

Call IndyStar reporter Amy Bartner at (317) 444-6752. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.