Savana Redding Interview
| June 25th, 2009Via Boingboing, this is a great clip of an interview with Savana Redding, the girl who, at 13 years old, was illegally strip-searched by her school.
The money quote for me is when she says:
When I was a kid and they asked me to do this, I didn’t know that … y’know, that it was wrong. I didn’t know that I could say no.
She didn’t know that she could say no. Think about that.
Well, first off, she shouldn’t have had to say no. Women shouldn’t have to say ‘don’t rape me,’ either. No means no, but she didn’t even know it was an option, and she shouldn’t have had to. It’s not a child’s responsibility to remind an adult of what is ethical.
Second, the similarity of this language to the kind of language we hear from people who have experienced statutory rape or were molested underlines that this was a sexual violation, and (like statutory rape and child molestation) one premised on taking advantage of her age, inexperience, and deference to authority.
I’m sure that that’s not how the vice principal intended it, but it doesn’t matter what the intentions were. A crying 13 year old girl was humiliated by being forced to strip in front of adults.
It astounds me that anyone would even try to come up with a justification.
Please do not comment unless you accept the basic dignity, equality, and inherent worth of all people (even people under 18).
June 25th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Strip Searches Illegal…
Today the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 (pdf) that an Arizona school district was wrong to strip-search a then-13-year-old student suspected of having over-the-counter painkillers tucked away in her underwear.
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June 26th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Even if she had known she could say “no”, the result would have been humiliating. She surely would at least have been sent home, probably would have been suspended, possibly have been expelled. And, of course, they might have forced her to disrobe without her consent.
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June 26th, 2009 at 8:34 am
In a way this is kind of my point. They did force her to disrobe without her consent. Because she was 13, and crying, and they were school officials. Coerced consent is not consent.
I have no doubt I could convince a 15 year old girl to have sex with me. No, “I’m in a position to expel her if she says no,” no accusations of drug smuggling, no crying on her part, just plain old cheerfully participatory sex. That doesn’t matter. It would be illegal and nonconsensual. It would be rape.
It’s rape because her consent would not be meaningful and real. The power imbalance, though much smaller than in Savana Redding’s case, is too great.
This was nonconsensual.
—Myca
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June 26th, 2009 at 9:19 am
It was illegal, amoral, and disgusting.
I am disgusted with the Supreme Court for not holding the school officials responsible; they ought to have their pants sued off.
I am very disappointed at the state of our schools, at the stupidity of zero tolerance programs, and at how damaging the school system has become for people like Savanna.
I hope that this kind of shit stops.
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June 26th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Personally I think they should need a warrant to do any kind of search of a person. Whether they are children in school or not. That’s the law and it applies to everyone.
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June 26th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Jen,
No, by walking into certain government-controlled/regulated places like public schools, airports, courthouses, etc., you put yourself up for being searched without a warrant.
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June 27th, 2009 at 10:47 am
[...] Myca over at Alas, A Blog comments on Ms Redding’s remark that “[she] didn’t know that [she] could say no.” As Myca points out, she shouldn’t have had to say no. But Ms Redding’s remark sounds even more sinister to me: that a young teen’s bodily autonomy should ever be called into question without probable cause highlights some of the deeply problematic attitudes in society about authority, consent, and privacy. [...]
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