( CNN ) -- In the 1950s , I was almost gang-molested by a group of male fellow high school students . The incident took place one afternoon in the basement basketball court of the nearby Catholic church , of which I was a member . I had recently invited one member of the group to what I thought was an innocent get-together at a local square dance . I supposed later that they thought `` I wanted it . '' As I remember the incident , after some friendly play in the gym , the guys ( four of them ) turned on me , holding the ball as if I were the basket . The look on their faces terrified me . I ducked under their outstretched arms and ran , all the way home without looking back . I never mentioned the incident until 1983 , when I spoke at a rally supporting a student of mine who was gang-raped at a fraternity party . The rape case unraveling in Steubenville , Ohio , brought back memories of my own frightening experience . I did n't know what was happening that day when the four young men began looking at me differently . I only knew that I had to get away as soon as possible . In the Steubenville case , a girl purportedly passed out and was allegedly sexually assaulted by two young men on the high school football team while others watched . What strikes me about the incident is that it demonstrates a split in the boy rape-prone sexual culture . Some young men continue to believe that when a girl gets drunk , staging a sexual spectacle for their mates is part of a night 's fun . They do n't think of it as rape . Some of their buddies , however , disagree . In their transition to manhood , they are able to name rape when they see it . This split opinion is illustrated in the video posted a few days ago by Anonymous showing a young man -- presumably an eyewitness -- egged on by others , telling his version of what happened . The video footage is disturbing , to say the least . He repeats in a litany format that the girl is dead . However , he does n't mean lifeless , except in the sense that she is n't moving . `` How do you feel on a dead girl ? '' he asks someone in the room . He describes her as `` deader than a doornail . '' When asked `` How do you know she 's dead ? '' he answers that she is dead because she is n't moving . He then goes on to describe how dead : `` Deader than Andy Reid 's son ... deader than Chris Henry ... deader than OJ 's wife ... deader than f***ing JFK ... deader than Trayvon Martin . '' In other words , made only for use by men . In the cacophony of voices spurring him on , one hears the word `` rape '' from one or two other voices . One says , `` This is not funny , '' only to be drowned out by the laughter of the main speaker and those supporting him . When asked `` What if that was your daughter ? '' he answers , `` If that was my daughter , I would n't care . I 'd just let her be dead . '' Besides , he says , `` Is it really rape because you do n't know if she wanted to or not , '' the teenager says on the video . `` She might have wanted to . '' In response , the onlooker says , `` You are sick . '' What happened in Steubenville that night in August seems to suggest that some sort of sexual assault took place , at least from this eyewitness account if the video is verified to be authentic . Most rape laws in the U.S. state that sexual activity on a person who is incapacitated or unable to consent constitutes rape . One of the clauses of the Ohio law states that sexual activity is not permissible when `` the other person 's ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age , and the offender knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the other person 's ability to resist or consent is substantially impaired because of a mental or physical condition or because of advanced age . '' The girl 's incapacity comes not just from the multiple mentions of her being dead in the video . There is also possibly a photo of her being dragged along held by her wrists and ankles by two boys . In the United States , surveys administered from the early 1980s to the present indicate that 20 % to 25 % of female students say they have experienced nonconsensual sex by the age of 21 . Every year , a high-profile case of gang rape appears in the news . With each new report , many Americans react with shock . Confronted with such cases , many explain it away , thinking or actually saying `` she wanted it . '' Why do we think this way ? Doing so is behind the strange idea of `` legitimate rape . '' When will our sexual culture change so that an inebriated girl ( or boy ) is protected rather than abused ? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Peggy R. Sanday .
A video shows boys talking about the alleged rape in Steubenville , Ohio . Peggy Sanday : Incident demonstrates a split in the boy rape-prone sexual culture . She says some boys stage a sexual spectacle for their mates as part of a night 's fun . Others are more likely to be victims themselves and may not even realize it until they're too drunk or high to remember what happened.