Running a Train and Gang Rape are not necessarily interchangeable

Consent is the issue

The first time I heard the phrase running a train was in high school. I overheard some girls talking about a younger female who some guys got drunk and took turns having sex with her. I learned about gang rape my senior year when a local newspaper ran an article about a teen who was raped in the back of a van by a group of guys.

In my opinion gang rape and running a train were the same thing because if a female is given something to make her drunk or is drugged she could not give willing consent.

Was something in the drink?

I remember attending a dance at the local Masonic Lodge, when I was a teenager. At the end of the night, I was standing outside waiting for my younger brother when I saw three girls I knew staggering from the back of the building. They were leaning on each other and walking in unison like The Three Stooges.

They were giggling and then slipped, falling into a muddy ditch. After helping each other up, I noticed a guy watching them. I had heard he was the one who led the earlier incident involving the girl I mentioned. He was smiling at my acquaintances in a sinister way, as if admiring his handiwork.

I wondered whether he and his friends had slipped something into their drinks and what it had led to. The girls slipped and fell in a muddy ditch. They helped each other up, and I saw a guy watching them. He was the one I was told was the leader in running the train on the girl mentioned earlier. He was smiling at the young women in a sinister manner as if admiring his handiwork. I wondered had he and his friends had slipped something in their drinks and what it had led to.

Uncharacteristic behavior

I walked home with my younger brother and a few friends, and when my middle brother returned home, he told us a story. He had walked home with a friend whose younger sister was one of the three girls who appeared drunk.

He said she walked down the stairs naked and reaching for him, so he left. I assumed that something had been slipped into the drinks of those young women, and it was sex related.

In the 1970s, Spanish Fly was said to make women compliant. My friends never mentioned that night, and I never asked them. I wonder if they were taken advantage of behind the Masonic lodge building, but did not recall it. I also wonder if what made the one girl come downstairs naked is what was used on the girl who had the train run on her.

Willing participants

Over the decades, I have listened to men talk about running trains on women. I asked one if he realized that was actually gang rape and he just looked at me but did nto answer. Today I spoke with a man who was reminiscing about his childhood.

He said he and his friends were young and dumb and peeped through windows and spied on couples engaging in sex. He also told me that one night he and a few other guys ran a train on a willing participant. I realized that if a woman is willing and has not been given excessive alcohol or drugs, she is not a victim.

Any unwilling party is a victim of rape

I have heard over the decades that some women enjoy participating in group sexual activities where multiple men take turns with them. If they are of legal age, this is a personal choice. However, if a female of any age says no and you proceed, this constitutes rape.

If she is given alcohol or drugs that make her compliant or render her unable to make an informed decision, this is also considered rape. Additionally, if you are 18, 19, or older and a willing participant is not of legal age, this is classified as statutory rape, regardless of her consent. However, if a female of any age says no and you proceed this is rape.