Sexual Violence Prevention Association Slams Dem Rep Eric Sorensen Over Rape Joke
The Sexual Violence Prevention Association says Rep. Eric Sorensen (D., Ill.) should be "held accountable" for joking about rape, the association's leader told the Washington Free Beacon.
Sorensen, whose rape joke is being reported for the first time by the Free Beacon, contributed "to rape culture," said Omny Miranda Martone, the founder and CEO of the Sexual Violence Prevention Association.
The Illinois Democrat's rape joke came in response to a tweet about a cheeseburger called the "Roethlis-Burger," a reference to then-NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The poster sent the tweet in 2011, after two women had accused Roethlisberger of rape.
"I bet they'll rape ya on the price," Sorensen quipped about the burger. He followed up with "Too soon?"
Martone told the Free Beacon that Sorenson's tweet helped fuel a culture in which rape is viewed as a "cultural norm" and "meant to be laughed at or not taken seriously."
"I understand that this was one tweet from more than a decade ago. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't be held accountable," Martone told the Free Beacon after seeing Sorensen's tweet. "Rape jokes like this do contribute to rape culture, and that can contribute to normalizing sexual violence into something that is a staple in society. It makes it harder to prevent, and it makes it just something that is a cultural norm."
"So that's really an issue," especially "if you're running for elected office," Martone said. "You're showing survivors by making jokes like that that you do not stand with them and that this is funny—that this is something that's meant to be laughed at or not taken seriously."
Sorensen is running for reelection in Illinois's 17th Congressional District, after winning his first term in 2022. He recently told a local news outlet that "hearing women's voices" is among "the most important things" he could do.
The congressman's office did not respond to the Free Beacon's request for comment.
Sorensen, a former weatherman, has had no issue policing jokes from others. He grew angry in 2014 after someone made a joke about a tornado, calling it "disgusting and disgraceful."
"This person posted a fake tornado photo & thinks it makes a great joke #disgusting & #disgraceful," Sorensen tweeted in 2014.
"It's kind of hypocritical to say that the thing that's disgusting and disgraceful is when you make fun of something that he cares a lot about, but when you make fun of something that's a deep trauma for many people, you know, that's fine," Martone said.
In October, Sorensen trumpeted helping to steer $750,000 to programs in his district that support victims of domestic violence abuse. Martone said Sorensen's joke is the "antithesis" to pushing for a movement to end sexual violence.
"I hope in the last decade or so that he has grown and that he understands that making jokes about rape accusations is disgusting and disgraceful," Martone stated.
Sorensen's rape joke isn't the first time his inflammatory social media activity has earned scrutiny. Sorensen has claimed the residents of his Western Illinois district can't spell names properly and are too ignorant to understand climate science, the Free Beacon reported in September.
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