That is to say, I have seen it all. But there is one particularly pernicious metaphor I have seen pop up time and time again recently — that of equating the Covid vaccine mandate with rape.
Invariably, those drawing this parallel are the usual suspects — white women wellness influencers on social media. Besides their love of healing crystals, "live, love, laugh" wall decals and suspiciously acquired white sage, these influencers frequently exhibit a deep mistrust towards the "medical establishment" and the Government, coupled with a profound inability to think critically or even consider the complexities of life beyond their narrow, whitewashed and coddled existences. Last week, one such influencer — a woman who peddles "natural living" and "conscious parenting" — went on a tirade against the Covid vaccine mandate on Instagram, arguing that it equated to rape.
I am a survivor of sexual assault. Reading this woman’s ignorant and tasteless rant made me recoil with anger. While I disagree with this woman’s stance on the mandate, I do not take exception to her right to criticise the Government’s Covid-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021. Rather, I am deeply appalled by her equating the aforementioned public health measure to sexual violence.
I have no doubt that the influencer in question cares not a whit for my opinion. After all, she’s blocked me on social media, has ignored my request for comment and has gleefully boasted of a recent increase in "story views", i.e. audience, since posting her comments publicly.
But I worry that others who hear such a deluded argument, might, on face value, accept the proposition that vaccination = rape. After all, ridiculous and damaging metaphors such as this abound on social media and in social justice spaces, from the likening of the meat industry to the Holocaust, to the current framing of vaccine passes as echoing Jim Crow-era racial segregation.
Traditionally, rape was understood as an act of violent sexual intercourse by a man with a woman against her will. We now know that rape and other forms of sexual violence can be perpetrated by people of any gender and age. Rape can occur within marriage, same-sex relationships, forced prostitution and sexual slavery. But vaccination and vaccine mandates are not rape, nor are they even remotely like rape.
The psychological motivations of those who commit sexual assault are varied and complex, but most experts argue that rape is a manifestation of a desire to exert control over the victim, and/or to punish, inflict pain, gain revenge or prove one’s sexual prowess. The intent of the Government, in contrast, is to reduce infection and transmission of the coronavirus, thereby saving precious lives and preventing the overburdening of our healthcare system.
In her statement, the wellness influencer argued that "Both [rape and vaccination] refer to items being forced into our bodies that we don’t want have repeatedly said NO to". I have yet to hear stories of people being held down and forcibly injected by healthcare providers. New Zealand citizens have, as they should, the freedom to choose whether to receive the Covid vaccine or not. But this freedom of choice does not mean freedom from consequences.
There are countless measures — mandates if you will — imposed by the Government that, if phrased in a certain way, might seem like the overreaching of a tyrannical government ... mandatory seatbelt-wearing, speed limits and health and safety procedures in hospitals and workplaces, to name a few. This vaccine mandate is no different.
The act of voluntarily receiving a potentially lifesaving medical intervention cannot and should not be equated to the personal, bodily, mental, spiritual trauma that accompanies sexual violence. I don’t particularly enjoy receiving vaccines — they sting and often the side-effects are unpleasant. But the short-lived aches and pains are proof that the vaccine is working.
Those who might accuse me of being oversensitive or reading too much into an analogy should be reminded that sexual violence is prolific in our country. According to HELP Auckland, one out of three girls, and one out of seven boys respectively may be sexually abused before adulthood.
Approximately one in five New Zealand women experience a serious sexual assault. For some women, this happens more than once.
Equating a sensible, evidence-driven public health campaign with the sexual, emotional, and mental trauma of rape is thoughtless, cruel and blatantly wrong. It misrepresents the genius of vaccines, dilutes the seriousness of sexual assault, and invalidates the complex experiences of countless rape victims and survivors.
- Jean Balchin, a former English student at the University of Otago, is studying at Oxford University after being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.
