As you may know by now, Rolling Stone (RS) magazine has apologized for, and then retracted, its story on a gang rape of "Jackie" (not her real name) at a University of Virginia fraternity after discrepancies in the woman's story surfaced. In case you haven't seen the original article - and the more recently added retraction - it's viewable here. Among the problems with the story as reported are that the journalist, at Jackie's request, never interviewed the alleged perpetrators. Also, no party occurred at the frat house on the night the attack reportedly happened. Jackie told the RS reporter that one of her attackers, "Drew" (not his real name), was a member of the fraternity where the attack occurred. It turns out he is a member of a different fraternity. There are a few other discrepancies as well. Even so, Jackie stands by her story.
Here are some thoughts, in no particular order.
(1) Discrepancies or no, sexual assault on campus remains a nagging problem.
(2) Circumstances surrounding campus rape can make prosecutors reluctant to pursue a case; if, for example, there was drinking involved by both the victim and perpetrator(s). A rape that occurs at a college fraternity party would likely involve drinking at the very least. It may have begun as a consensual encounter, then turned non-consensual and ugly. From a legal standpoint, the 'better' type of victim/witness for the prosecution didn't know her attacker(s) ahead of time, and at the time of the attack was only involved in wholesome activities like coming home from church. Any questions about the victim's behavior at the time of the attack can shift blame off of the perpetrator and onto the accuser. A good example of how rape victims can be mistreated by the justice system - by prosecutors, who are supposed to be on their side - is shown in this this video clip from the movie "The Accused".
(3) From a police and prosecution perspective, ideally rape victims would dial 911 immediately after an attack, not shower before heading (right away) to the hospital, and submit to a rape kit so that as much evidence can be collected as possible. In reality, this could very well be the last thing a victim wants to do. She may prefer to go home, shower, call a friend, crawl into bed, weep, and process what happened for weeks, months, or years before coming forward. Such is the case with Emma Sulkowicz, the young woman at Columbia University who is carrying a mattress around campus until her attacker is expelled from the school. This is part of her performance art senior thesis, entitled "Carry that Weight", and it refers to an assault that happened two years earlier when she was a sophomore. In waiting to report an assault, rape victims may contribute to their own inability to get justice. But this sounds like victim-blaming. Is it even fair to mention this?
And speaking of expelling (alleged) perpetrators from their universities -
(4) Colleges and universities face a thorny legal problem if they try to expel someone for breaking a law when he/she hasn't been convicted or even arrested. The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is all about rights for the accused, including the right to confront witnesses against oneself, and to understand the nature of the alleged crime and the evidence pertaining to that crime.
(5) It must be truly, unimaginably awful to be a rape victim and have to walk around campus still seeing one's attacker in the hallways, in the cafeteria, in class.
(6) It must also be awful to be accused of something, to wear the scarlet letter R (Rapist!), for something you didn't actually do. I don't think that the majority of rape accusations are false, but they happen. Remember the Duke University lacrosse team allege rape/fiasco? This blogger saw a biography of the accuser in that case, and she claims to have been gang-raped as a teenager by her boyfriend's friends (set up by him). She doesn't seem to have reported this to the police. Years later, she (apparently falsely) accused three men on Duke's lacrosse team of a gang assault. No justice is served by accusing the wrong people of a crime they didn't commit. (Note: I've previously written about the Duke University case.)
(7) There's no easy solution for solving the problem of sexual assault on campus. Despite the amount of brain power on college campuses, university folk haven't come up with any perfect solutions. Ideas like California's "yes means yes" campaign are, in my humble opinion, silly and doomed to fail. In trying to balance victims' needs for justice and comfort with fairness to accused perpetrators, bad feelings will abound.
(8) I still stand by my sentiment expressed in an earlier blog post: let the police handle it. Not that the police do everything perfectly, but they've had more training in working with rape victims. It's a criminal matter; let the criminal justice folks do what they do.
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