http://qz.com/
A recent article in Rolling Stone magazine detailed
a brutal gang rape at the University of Virginia. It was a classic
tale of sexual assault at American campuses: hard-partying,
binge-drinking fraternity members, a stigmatized female victim, and an
indifferent university administration.
The piece rocked the university. The administration apologized to the victim, asked the police to investigate the case, and suspended activities at its more than 60 fraternal organizations.
But then questions arose about Rolling Stone’s reporting. After a series of fact-checking articles, statements, and updates from the magazine itself,
it turned out that some of the facts were uncorroborated, undermining
the story, the magazine, the reporter, and for some, the credibility of
the subject, identified only as “Jackie.” Worse, many people worried it
would undermine the nationwide campaign to fight campus rape. “If this
story does turn out to be largely false, it will do real damage to the
important new movement to crack down on sexual assault on college
campuses,” wrote Margaret Talbot at The New Yorker.
This “important new movement” came about at least in part thanks to the internet, as
survivors of sexual assault began to band together through social media
to expose how universities across the country were letting their
attackers go unpunished. It has sparked college and government
investigations and galvanized public debate. These are the results so
far—and the reason why people are worried about the damage the Rolling
Stone article could do.
Sexual assault is pervasive, and the investigations are snowballing
In 2007, a federally funded survey of US college students (pdf)
was published, based on data collected in 2005 at two large public
universities. It found that about 19% of female and 6% of male students
at those universities had experienced “completed or attempted sexual
assault” since
entering college. (Most of the available follow-up data refer to women
survivors, so in this article we will be talking about women, unless
otherwise specified.)
But it’s difficult to get accurate estimates. A report this month (pdf) from the US Department of Justice sums up nationwide data from 1995-2013 from the National Crime Victimization Survey, which collects data on both reported and unreported crimes. Those data say that only 0.6% of female college students have experienced rape or sexual assault. (Here is a good explanation of the differences between the two studies.) But the report also found that most survivors of sexual assault don’t seek help or report it to police, which is one reason for the unreliable numbers.
But it’s difficult to get accurate estimates. A report this month (pdf) from the US Department of Justice sums up nationwide data from 1995-2013 from the National Crime Victimization Survey, which collects data on both reported and unreported crimes. Those data say that only 0.6% of female college students have experienced rape or sexual assault. (Here is a good explanation of the differences between the two studies.) But the report also found that most survivors of sexual assault don’t seek help or report it to police, which is one reason for the unreliable numbers.
In May of this year, the US Department of Education announced it was investigating 55 colleges for mishandling complaints of sexual violence. The news set off a wave of national media stories and school responses.
By Dec. 8, the number of institutions under investigation had risen to
90, according to an email the Department of Education’s Office for Civil
Rights sent to Quartz. (The full list of colleges is at the end of this
story.)
The number of complaints is going up too
A college that fails to deal with sexual assault on campus falls foul of Title IX of the
Education Amendments of 1972, which “prohibits discrimination on the
basis of sex in all education programs or activities that receive
federal financial assistance,” as the May press release puts it. The
government has prodded universities about their obligations once a decade or so since the 1990s, and most recently (before this year’s May announcement) in 2011, when it sent a strongly worded letter to colleges and school districts.
The
Office for Civil Rights responds to complaints, and can also
launch investigations or compliance reviews with universities if it
suspects wrongdoing. Most of the cases come from complaints—since 2009,
the office has initiated 18 proactive investigations. In a sign
that more people are coming forward, the number of complaints received
jumped from nine in fiscal year 2009 to 96 in 2014, and the number
of sexual assault cases resolved rose from 10 in 2009 to 39 in 2014,
according to data the office provided to Quartz.
America’s legal age for drinking plays a controversial role
College
rape isn’t just an American phenomenon, of course. But much of the
discussion in the US focuses on two very American issues: the role of
fraternities—the male-only college societies whose members live and
often socialize together—and underage drinking.
With the legal drinking age set at 21, many students drink at fraternities or other student housing. According to several studies,
fraternity members are three times more likely to commit rape than
other college men. In October, a chapter of the Phi Delta Theta
fraternity at Texas Tech University was stripped of its charter for displaying a banner emblazoned with “No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal.”
Alcohol
is a big factor in sexual assault by fraternity members. According to
the 2007 study, almost 60% of all completed sexual assaults on women
occurred when the victim was incapacitated by drugs or alcohol.
Fraternity members were twice as likely to be involved in the
drug-and-alcohol cases as in cases when the victim was physically
coerced.
In light of the Virginia revelations, many have called for stricter alcohol regulations on campus. Wayne Curtis at Politico magazine, however,suggests the opposite:
“By lowering the drinking age, it’s possible to coax the party out of
the demimonde and into a better-lit public realm.” Drinking in a more
public place, such as a bar, “instantly raises the threshold of getting
away with misbehavior.”
Doubt and stigma dissuade women from reporting rape
Women
are often blamed for when they are sexually assaulted—for drinking too
much, for wearing “provocative” outfits, for supposedly putting
themselves in a position to be attacked. Most rape victims know their
attackers, which further complicates the perception of whether or not it
was rape.
That
means female rape victims, like Rolling Stone’s “Jackie,” are often
doubted. But the most reliable research available suggests that only
between 2% and 8% of people lie to law enforcement (pdf) about being sexually attacked—that includes reports from men and women around the world.
Of the women who chose not to report a sexual assault to the police, according to the 2007 study, here are some reasons why:
Close to 40% thought it was unclear that there was a crime, or that harm was intended.
Statistics are hard to get…
A federal law—The Clery Act—requires
schools to report crimes, including sexual assault, but those
statistics are often incomplete. Because sexual violence is such a large
campus problem, many colleges have their own criteria and processes for addressing it.
What’s more, on some campuses the definitions for different forms of sexual violence—harassment, assault, battery, rape—are different fromthe state’s terminology, as are the legal standards. And many US statesdefine rape and sexual assault differently. This confusion, along with awhole host of other concerns, can discourage a survivor from reporting a case.
The 2007
survey also found that many women who described being raped did not
recognize it as rape—especially when drugs or alcohol were involved.
(The study defined rape as “sexual assault that entailed oral, vaginal,
or anal penetration.”)
…and enforcement is hard to pursue
State | University | Date initiated |
---|---|---|
AK | UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION | 5/5/2014 |
AZ | ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY | 1/26/2012 |
CA | BUTTE-GLENN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT | 2/27/2013 |
CA | CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS | 9/30/2014 |
CA | OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE | 5/2/2013 |
CA | SAN JOSE-EVERGREEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT | 11/12/2014 |
CA | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-BERKELEY | 3/25/2014 |
CA | UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-LOS ANGELES | 8/8/2014 |
CA | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | 6/26/2013 |
CO | COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY | 6/24/2014 |
CO | REGIS UNIVERSITY | 4/30/2013 |
CO | UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER | 6/18/2013 |
CO | UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT DENVER | 4/29/2014 |
CO | UNIVERSITY OF DENVER | 12/12/2013 |
CT | UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT | 12/6/2013 |
DC | CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA | 1/8/2014 |
DE | UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | 5/8/2014 |
FL | FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY | 4/3/2014 |
FL | UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA | 9/3/2014 |
GA | EMORY UNIVERSITY | 12/13/2013 |
HI | UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA | 5/28/2013 |
IA | DRAKE UNIVERSITY | 10/3/2014 |
IA | IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY | 10/15/2014 |
ID | UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO | 4/18/2013 |
IL | KNOX COLLEGE | 1/2/2014 |
IL | UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | 6/28/2013 |
IN | INDIANA UNIVERSITY-BLOOMINGTON | 3/12/2014 |
IN | VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY | 10/3/2014 |
IN | VINCENNES UNIVERSITY | 3/20/2014 |
KS | KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY | 8/4/2014 |
KS | UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS | 7/16/2014 |
KS | WASHBURN UNIVERSITY | 7/1/2014 |
MA | AMHERST COLLEGE | 1/6/2014 |
MA | BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC | 6/19/2014 |
MA | BOSTON UNIVERSITY | 12/16/2013 |
MA | BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY | 8/29/2014 |
MA | EMERSON COLLEGE | 12/23/2013 |
MA | HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE | 7/17/2014 |
MA | HARVARD COLLEGE | 4/24/2014 |
MA | HARVARD UNIVERSITY – LAW SCHOOL | 12/21/2010 |
MA | NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 10/30/2014 |
MA | UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-AMHERST | 6/30/2011 |
MA | UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-DARTMOUTH | 7/16/2014 |
MD | FROSTBURG STATE UNIVERSITY | 9/18/2013 |
MD | JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY | 8/8/2014 |
MD | MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY | 6/26/2014 |
MI | GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY | 10/6/2014 |
MI | MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY | Case 1: 7/21/2011 |
MI | MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY | Case 2: 2/18/2014 |
MI | UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-ANN ARBOR | 2/21/2014 |
MO | MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY | 5/21/2014 |
NC | GUILFORD COLLEGE | 11/18/2013 |
NC | UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL | 3/1/2013 |
ND | MINOT STATE UNIVERSITY | 2/26/2014 |
NE | UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLIN | 9/30/2014 |
NH | DARTMOUTH COLLEGE | 5/31/2013 |
NY | CUNY HUNTER COLLEGE | 2/8/2013 |
NY | ELMIRA COLLEGE | 5/12/2014 |
NY | HAMILTON COLLEGE | 11/14/2014 |
NY | HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES | 4/24/2014 |
NY | PACE UNIVERSITY – NEW YORK | 7/22/2014 |
NY | SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE | 7/9/2014 |
NY | SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE | 12/4/2013 |
NY | SUNY AT STONY BROOK | 7/23/2014 |
OH | DENISON UNIVERSITY | 3/7/2014 |
OH | THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON | 5/6/2014 |
OH | WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY | Case 1: 8/25/2011 |
OH | WITTENBERG UNIVERSITY | Case 2: 4/18/2013 |
OK | OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY | 4/10/2014 |
PA | CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY | 1/13/2014 |
PA | ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE | 11/20/2014 |
PA | FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE | 3/26/2014 |
PA | PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY | 1/23/2014 |
PA | SWARTHMORE COLLEGE | 7/12/2013 |
PA | TEMPLE UNIVERSITY | Case 1: 8/9/2013 |
PA | TEMPLE UNIVERSITY | Case 2: 11/19/2014 |
RI | BROWN UNIVERSITY | 7/10/2014 |
TN | VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY | 3/12/2014 |
TX | CISCO JUNIOR COLLEGE | 5/7/2014 |
TX | SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY | Case 1: 8/17/2011 |
TX | SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY | Case 2: 4/19/2013 |
TX | SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY | Case 3: 4/19/2013 |
TX | THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN | 4/21/2014 |
VA | COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY | 4/18/2014 |
VA | JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY | 6/4/2014 |
VA | UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND | 6/12/2014 |
VA | UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA | 6/30/2011 |
VA | VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE | 9/15/2014 |
VT | MARLBORO COLLEGE | 10/6/2014 |
WA | WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY | 1/15/2013 |
WA | WHITMAN COLLEGE | 11/7/2014 |
WI | UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER | 2/14/2014 |
WV | BETHANY COLLEGE | 4/28/2014 |
WV | DAVIS AND ELKINS COLLEGE | 9/4/2014 |
WV | WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE | 3/25/2013 |
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