Outrage was sparked on campus and online this week when a University of Arizona student protested a sexual assault awareness event by brandishing a sign that read “You deserve rape” to passing students on Tuesday.
The student, Dean Saxton or Brother Dean Samuel, told the UA newspaper Daily Wildcat that “if you dress like a whore, act like a whore, you’re probably going to get raped.”
“I think that girls that dress and act like it,” Saxton said, “they should realize that they do have partial responsibility, because I believe that they’re pretty much asking for it.”
Saxton is known for delivering fire-and-brimstone style sermons on campus, although his sermon in advance of the UA campus Take Back The Night march left many students feeling as though he’d gone too far, including one student who is currently facing police action for attempting to forcibly take the offending sign from Saxton’s hands.
The UA dean of students admitted that although she disagrees with his sentiments his views are protected as free speech and there is currently nothing the school can do to reprimand him, although they have sought legal advice on the matter.
The photo associated with this story was posted to Reddit on Thursday morning and ignited a flurry of responses from users around the globe, including many wishing rape and violence upon Saxton, and also some rape apologists (something of a Reddit hallmark) who agreed with Saxton’s sentiments, but not the way he went about delivering his message.
For more information on this story check out the Daily Wildcat‘s story here, their editorial on running the story here, and the Reddit thread here.
