Feminists For Choice

A new report from the Center for Public Integrity looks at the prevalence of sexual assault on America’s college campuses. Most feminists would not be surprised to learn that 1 in 5 college women is sexually assaulted.

But official data from the schools themselves doesn’t begin to reflect the scope of the problem. And student victims face a depressing litany of barriers that often either assure their silence or leave them feeling victimized a second time, according to a nine-month investigation by the Center for Public Integrity.

Many victims don’t report at all, because they blame themselves, or don’t identify what happened as sexual assault; one national study found that more than 95 percent of students who are sexually victimized do not report to police or campus officials.

The report continues by providing some very troubling explanations for why students don’t report sexual assault.

Institutional barriers compound the problem of silence, and few victims in fact make it to a campus hearing. Those who do come forward can encounter secret disciplinary proceedings, closed-mouth school administrations, and off-the-record negotiations. At times, school policies and practices can lead students to drop complaints, or submit to gag orders—a practice deemed illegal. College administrators generally believe the existing processes provide a fair and effective way to deal with highly sensitive allegations, but the Center’s investigation has found that these processes have little transparency or accountability, and regularly result in little or no punishment for alleged assailants.

One specific instance of the university culpability (which is not documented in the CFPI report) happened at the University of Arizona. The student newspaper, The Daily Wildcat, ran a story about a sexual assault that occurred at the U of A campus. When the story ran, 10,000 copies of the newspaper disappeared from the distribution racks around campus. One fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, was suspected of being responsible for the thefts of the newspapers, because a fraternity member’s homework was found amidst recovered newspapers. The U of A’s Greek Board determined that Phi Kappa Psi was not responsible, despite the fact that the original story on October 8th was about a sexual assault that occurred at a Phi Kappa Psi frat party.

I spoke to a graduate student at the U of A, as well as a campus employee who works to prevent violence on campus, and they both told me that they felt this was a huge cover up. Sexual assault is serious business. And university officials should not be trying to cover up serious accusations against a fraternity. Where is the justice in that?

If you’re fed up with the level of sexual violence that has become commonplace on college campuses, do something about it. Click here for the Sexual Assault Reporters’ Toolkit provided by the Center for Public Integrity. Know your rights, and speak your truth. It’s time to stop accepting that sexual violence is an inevitable part of being a woman in our culture. That’s all I have to say about that.