“Laura’s going to flip out,” was the conclusion drawn by my colleagues when they forwarded the following email message to me:

“Sober Up Before You Hookup is a smart message for all seasons and perfect for the upcoming holidays. The Sacramento County Department of Public Health is sharing the details of their campaign and the effective materials they developed. Just click here for the SWAP feature.”

The correspondence, sent from the CDPH STD/HIV Prevention Training Center, does contain an important message: drinking impairs judgment. All you have to do is visit Texts From Last Night to find limitless evidence of that.

But because this message came to me via the CDPH STD Control Branch in Richmond, CA, its reader easily connects the dots to conclude that it is one of a variety of responses California local government is making to contain the public outcry surrounding the gang-rape of a 15-year-old Richmond High School student last weekend.

And what is the implication? If she hadn’t been drunk, she wouldn’t have been gang-raped. She chose to accept that beer from her male classmates; thus, she knowingly, willingly exposed herself to harm. Getting drunk equals asking for it.

Moreover, when my colleague tried to call the number CDPH provided on the email blast, she found it had been disconnected. It feels like a sick emblem of the larger problem: the authorities, Richmond itself, even, are still disconnected from this problem.

Yes, drinking makes you vulnerable. Yes, women are vulnerable to rape in a way that most men aren’t. But the counter-message I want to add to the “Sober Up Before You Hookup” discussion (and I don’t mean to be coy, but haven’t we generally accepted “hook up” as two words? Obviously these folks at the CDPH are way in touch with youth culture) is this: it’s hard to get too drunk to say no, and even if you did, being semiconscious does not equal consent.

So to all the rape survivors out there who entertain that seedling of doubt that maybe that fourth or fifth beer you drank sent him the wrong message, know this: he is accountable too. Even if you were drunk, rape is never your fault.