Refinery29 had a chance to ask VP Joe Biden about rape culture, shifting cultural norms, and how women can continue to fight the good fight in the age of Trump.

Terms like “rape culture” have grown in popularity on the left in recent years. In your mind what does “rape culture” mean and how have those on the right misinterpreted it? Is it a useful term or is it alienating?
“Something is terribly wrong when people ask victims of sexual assault questions like, ‘What were you wearing? Why were you there? What did you say? How much did you drink?’ Rape culture happens whenever women are reduced to sexual objects instead being treated with the inherent rights and dignity that belong to all humans. And we have to take it on wherever we find it in our society, whether it’s the so-called locker room talk, or bar banter, or the tasteless joke—anything that condones or even promotes violence against women.“Naming rape culture—calling sexual assault by its rightful name—isn’t about attacking or alienating anyone on the left or the right. It’s about taking off the social blinders that make it easier to overlook violence, rather than confront it. And because this culture is pervasive in our society, we all have a responsibility to step up to change it.