I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the comment Missouri’s U.S. Representative and  Republican challenger to Democratic U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill said on “legitimate rape.” This controversy only reiterates the idea behind Our Stories Untold that sexualized violence is an important issue for the church to pay attention to.

The fact that a politician is willing to spill such utter lies and nonsense about rape, and do so in such an inconsiderate manner, is absolutely appalling. Even more repulsive  is the idea that he, a man, is deciding for women the definitions of legitimate and illegitimate sexualized violence, and how their bodies should react to such acts.

By saying that women are capable of magically preventing the sperm of their rapist from meeting their eggs is putting the blame back onto the victim. “Oh, you got pregnant from your rape? Well… it must not have been a legitimate rape then. The doctor’s told me so.” As my boss and director of Women Under Siege explained in this interview with CNN:

“Casting doubt on these stories or putting them in categories such as legitimate and not legitimate or saying that a body should have taken care of an act of violence, a body should have rejected it is incredibly harmful. We are doing everything we can to try get these stories told so that we can learn from them so that we can stop this and anything that sets that back is really very painful.”

HappyPlace.com’s “Todd Akin Legitimate Rape Kit” pregnancy test

The sad part is that this idea is not new in Christian circles. Christian rhetoric has been known to support the theory that rape victims shouldn’t be able to get pregnant from rape. For example, Christian Life Resources published on their website a 1999 article by John C. Willke titled “Rape Pregnancies are Rare.”  And in her Atlantic piece, Garance Franke-Ruta details many more examples of how this concept has been a long-time religious and political claim of the right.

The U.S. House of Rep Science, Space & Technology “Lady Parts” diagram

Groups across the U.S. are writing, petitioning, and protesting Akin’s outrageous words. My Twitter feed has been a constant stream of well-articulated responses to Mr. Akin’s hideous remarks. I recommend checking out the links below and considering for yourself why this issue is important for Mennonites, and humans in general, to tackle.

How can we as a church get involved in educating others about misconceptions about sexualized violence?

How can we use the spotlight Akin has put on rape to refute these misled concepts?

How can we use this situation to set these ideas straight in our own circles of friends, faith, and families?

How are you willing to get involved in ending sexualized violence against both women and men?

Responses to the Todd Akin Controversy: 

• Sandra Fluke: ‘Legitimate rape’ — Romney, Ryan’s records offer warning
• Eve Ensler: Dear Mr. Akin, I Want You to Imagine…
• Ann Coulter to Todd Akin: If You’re Really Pro-Life, You’ll Drop Out of the Senate Race
• Lauren Wolfe on CNN: Akin’s Remarks Deemed Harmful to Rape Survivors
• Ellie Smeal: The Feminist Majority on legislation that could ‘send women back to the 1920’s’
• Dana Goldstein: How the Body Reacts to Sexual Assault