The Erie County (N.Y.) District Attorney announced today that it will not seek charges against Patrick Kane regarding a rape/sexual assault allegation stemming from an incident at his home in August. So Patrick Kane can go play for the Chicago Blackhawks with his clear conscience, right?
The Hockey News wrote a big post about “what we learned” from the Patrick Kane saga and went on and on about “rush to judgment” and “rape kits are in boxes and not bags” – now that’s just a poor attempt at humor with a perpetuation of rape culture – and how a “case” was rife with reasonable doubt?
How about the other side of it? How about a few more lessons we can learn away from the courtroom or the media regarding such a high-profile saga involving one of the NHL’s mega-stars?
How about teaching men and women that consent – or lack thereof – is not implied but must be determined?
How about men and women making smart decisions about themselves and about their personal and sexual safety?
And that Patrick Kane needs to learn to respect women. And people, for that matter.