Is rape a hate crime?

Law & Order: SVU Season 23 Episode 15 argued that it is, at least in some cases.

There was no doubt that the Bishop Club targeted women because of their gender and engaged in misogynistic attacks. But was the trial that stemmed from their behavior realistic?

While undoubtedly fraternities full of boys this disgusting exist, I had my doubts about them being so explicit about their intention to take away women's right to consent.

That very well may have been precisely what the boys hoped to do. And there was no doubt that the boys were entitled and arrogant. But I'd think they'd hide their intentions under something more benign-sounding than that song and give themselves plausible deniability.

After all, how could their lawyer argue that Annabelle's sexual encounter with them was consensual when they are on tape singing a made-up song about how raping women is part of their club creed?

That's the sort of thing that makes some conservatives dismiss SVU as woke nonsense because it seems so outlandish that it's almost a parody of what the show stands for.

If you looked past that, though, the basic premise of the episode was interesting.

This wasn't the first time SVU had tangled with the administration at Hudson University, and it certainly wasn't the first time Benson and McGrath had butted heads either.

What is this? I loosen the reins and you go galloping out of the parking lot?

McGrath

• Permalink: What is this? I loosen the reins and you go galloping out of the parking lot?

It seemed that both McGrath and the President of Hudson University were more concerned with being given a heads up than anything else. They didn't like being blindsided by Benson's quest for justice, probably because it didn't give them a chance to get ahead of the optics.

I was on Benson's side with this one. McGrath told her not to use her position to make political statements, but it seemed like he was talking about himself.

He was the one more concerned with optics than with justice, after all.

As for the President, her demand that there be no more arrests after the boys attacked Mia and her group was ridiculous.

If the police promise not to arrest a certain group of people no matter what, then they are no longer working for the public interest. They're beholden to special interests, also known as being corrupt.

It wouldn't do the police's public image much good to be in the pocket of an elitist institution. Nor would it do Hudson University much good if Mia or other activists leaked this arrangement to the press, which I have no doubt they would have done had SVU gone along with it.

That said, I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of rape being classified as a hate crime.

In this case, the boys engaged in misogynistic slurs and targeted girls they thought were easy marks. Carisi's argument for a hate crime enchantment there was good enough for the judge, and it made some sense.

But I'm not sure that all rapes could be categorized similarly. For one thing, not all sexual assault survivors are female or female-identified. What happens to male or non-binary survivors under this reclassification?

In some cases, these rapes might also be classified as hate crimes  -- e.g., if a homophobic person engaged in "corrective rape" or otherwise sexually assaulted a gay or transgender person -- but would that work for all such assaults too?

The last thing this statute should do is erase non-female survivors, and there's a risk it could do that.

The hate crime question wasn't the story's central point despite what the promos said. Ultimately, this was similar to other stories SVU has done with college-age survivors.

There have been several such stories over the years, all involving female students who had little to no recourse against entitled male students. As in other cases of this nature, the perps were wealthy white boys whose parents didn't seem interested in holding them accountable for their behavior.

And in this case, Benson was determined to get justice for a freshman girl whether or not her school or the boys' parents liked it.

SVU is at its strongest when it's about Benson advocating for victims who otherwise wouldn't have a chance in hell at getting justice.

Mia: Thank you for listening to us. You don't know how much it means to us to be heard.
Benson: Actually, I do.

• Permalink: You don't know how much it means to us to be heard.

The hate crime question might not have been realistic or thought through particularly well, but it was a vehicle for allowing Benson to give Mia and Annabelle a voice.

In the end, the new President of Hudson turned out to be better than her predecessors after all. Maybe it was because she didn't want the cops constantly arresting students, but she shut down the Bishop Club.

That was a step in the right direction, and it made Mia feel heard in a way she hadn't before.

I was curious as to Mia's backstory. She said she came back to Hudson to make a difference and appreciated Benson hearing her.

But it was Annabelle who had been raped, not her. I wondered if she had been abused in the past.

Anyway, I hope we see more of her and Carisi's family in general.

That short dinner scene at the beginning of the hour wasn't enough. Let's have more of Carisi's opinionated mother and his idealistic niece!

Your turn, SVU fanatics! Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know what you thought.

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Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9 PM EST / PST.

Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.