Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond in the courtroom before their trial (AP/Pool Photo)
The news that two high school football players in Steubenville, Ohio, were found guilty of raping an intoxicated 16-year-old girl lit up Twitter on Sunday, with many users—most of them women—celebrating the verdict while calling for more work to be done to transform America's rape culture.
GUILTY verdict in #Steubenville! Let's hope this serves as a lesson nationally—only yes means yes.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) March 17, 2013
These young men have forced a young woman to relearn trust, dignity, self worth and sexuality. And demonized her afterwards.
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) March 17, 2013
Full justice will not be realized for survivors until we stop blaming victims and destroy the culture that feeds this. #Steubenville
— Lily Bolourian (@LilyBolourian) March 17, 2013
There are a lot of tears in the courtroom. Wonder where the tears were for the victim that night? #Steubenville
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) March 17, 2013
When I was in college guys used to joke "passed out equals consent" and it made my stomach turn. So glad for the Steubenville verdict.
— Erin Drummond (@ebdrummond) March 17, 2013
Solidarity w/ Jane Doe. Happy for verdict, but it doesn't stop today. She has to live with this when media coverage stops. #steubenville
— Katie Hnida (@KatieHnida) March 17, 2013
Steubenville young men were found guilty ... But it still doesn't fix the problem of society devaluing women.
— Esha Hand (@handesha) March 17, 2013
CONGRATULATIONS, JANE DOE! Justice in Steubenville is in your favor! Next stop: civil court!
— Roseanne Barr (@TheRealRoseanne) March 17, 2013
The verdict came a day after the victim testified she did not remember anything from the night of the attack, but was "embarrassed and scared" to learn what happened to her via text messages from witnesses, Instagram photos and a YouTube video.
#Steubenville rape case had more undeniably damning evidence than many other high profile cases--texts, tweets, photos. Hard to ignore.
— Irin Carmon (@irincarmon) March 17, 2013
#Steubenville case looked at "10s of 1000s of texts found on 17 phones seized." May texting do away with he-said-she-said trials forever.
— Selena Ross (@seleross) March 17, 2013
Steubenville community leaders would have covered up this abuse as they had before, but bloggers and Anons shined a light on it. Well done.
— Random Pinko (@anon_pinko) March 17, 2013
The case "drew wide attention for the way social media spurred the initial prosecution," the New York Times said, "and later helped galvanize national outrage"—outrage that was evident to anyone scanning tweets with the #Steubenville hashtag on Sunday.
Going to have stop commenting on #steubenville case now, as every time I think about it, I cry. I have so much respect/love for the victim.
— Emma Jayne (@EmmaJaynewithaY) March 17, 2013
You will not reduce, redefine, diminish, or take away from what you did. And what you did was rape her. #Steubenville
— Kimberly Hurtt (@MrsHurtt) March 17, 2013
Too much sympathy in court being shown for these disgusting little rapists. It is not a tragedy when a rapist is found guilty.#Steubenville
— Radical Feminist (@RadicalFeminist) March 17, 2013
"She Never said no" is such a hideous defense, and one of the many sad examples of how much work needs to be done. #Steubenville
— Lizz Winstead (@lizzwinstead) March 17, 2013
I wish I had heard the judge utter one word--one word--about respecting women and girls and the issue of consent. #Steubenville
— Truly S. (@hotincleveland) March 17, 2013
"Those poor boys' lives are ruined!" — exactly what you should not be thinking after the #steubenville guilty verdict.
— Matt Binder (@MattBinder) March 17, 2013
So many feelings as a survivor of intoxicated, teenage rape about Steubenville. The howling for blood makes me really sad.
— Suzan Eraslan (@SuzanEraslan) March 17, 2013
Don't feel sorry rapists: Stop airing the men crying. Those were adult actions, they should've been tried as adults. #Steubenville #stopVAW
— Kimberly S. Brusk (@peaceforus4ever) March 17, 2013
The five-day trial put a spotlight on the football culture surrounding Steubenville High School, a point of pride for a city hard hit by the collapse of the steel industry.
The community of #Steubenville should now do some soul-searching about how they treat their boys like gods. It won't.
— Abraham Lincoln (@Mr_Lincoln) March 17, 2013
I guess the question coaches should ask themselves is this: "Is rape culture part of my locker room?"
— Joel D. Anderson (@blackink12) March 17, 2013
#Steubenville coach and adults also #guilty, protecting the rapists, demonizing the victim
— Progressive Voices (@progvoice) March 17, 2013
Sign across the street from Steubenville Courthouse: "Be a parent, not a best friend."
— Maggie Jordan (@MaggieJordanACN) March 17, 2013
Drink responsibly? Children should not be drinking anyway, and if they do should not get raped, no matter how drunk they get. #Steubenville
— Mark Hoggan (@Markho23) March 17, 2013
Breaking: Rape is wrong even if you are good at sports. #Steubenville
— Katy, Esq. (@kayteeod) March 17, 2013