FixedIt: What did police say?

The ABC reported on an alarming increase in sexual assaults in the Gold Coast over the last year. They interviewed Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd, claiming he was “urging women to stay in groups while out at night”.

You have to read at least half way through the article to get to this quote from AC Codd:

“My main message is to the men, the perpetrators, to understand that impaired consent is no consent.”

His MAIN message. Why, if he said this is his main message. is it half way down the article and the exact opposite of what is in the headline?

If this happened in tabloid press I’d assume it was clickbait. A deliberate attempt to inflame women and get outrage clicks. But it’s the ABC. Surely I would be wrong in thinking they’d sink to such tricks?

The “urging women to stay in groups” appears to come from this: “Women have a right to go and freely and safely enjoy themselves, but we can all make decisions that make it more difficult to be preyed upon and I’d ask people to be mindful of that, you know perhaps be in groups.”

Another quote from AC Codd:

“Increasingly, what we are seeing is that women who are vulnerable, who are perhaps often partially intoxicated, are being preyed upon by people who will sexually offend against them.”

Codd seems to have a fairly good grip on how sexual violence works and who is responsible for it. It’s a shame the ABC is having so much trouble conveying this.

FixedIt is an ongoing project to push back against the media’s constant erasure of violent men and blaming of innocent victims. If you would like to help fund it – even $5 a month makes a big difference – please consider becoming a Patron

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