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Because "well, they were both drunk, so..." comes up so often in discussions about rape...


Xuzi
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The Association of American Universities did a massive study on sexual assault in 2015, encompassing 27 universities and over 150,000 students. Here are some statistics from that study:
 

23% of female undergraduates reported nonconsensual sexual penetration or sexual touching by physical force or incapacitation. 

11% of female students reported the most serious type of assault: sexual penetration by physical force or incapacitation (i.e. rape).

5.4% of undergraduate females reported sexual penetration by incapacitation (defined as being unable to resist because the victim was unconscious, asleep, or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol).

5.7% of undergraduate females reported sexual penetration by physical force (defined as being pinned down, hit, or threatened with a weapon).

 

According to this study, more than half of nonconsensual sexual penetration (i.e. rape) involved physical force. And the other half included penetration while the victim was unconscious, asleep, or so incapacitated as to be unable to resist. Those statistics do not include penetration by "coercion" or "lack of affirmative consent," nor do they include other types of sexual contact (kissing, groping), all of which are separate categories in the study. 

 

The idea that the problem of campus sexual assault is just a matter of drunk girls getting laid and regretting/forgetting the next day is patently false and extremely dangerous.

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He does say that nothing criminal happened. He does say that they believe they were wrong, but only in a Disney movie kind of way. He isn't saying that there isn't enough evidence. He says no crime has occurred.

 

"I’m afraid it sounds like I’m faulting the victims. And I guess I am, to a certain degree, but it’s a bit more nuanced than that. I have sympathy for these women and I believe that the vast majority of them do truly believe that they have been wronged. (An email about the ones I’ve come across who make false allegations out of spite, jealousy, or mental problems like the girl at UVA would be at least as long as this one.) On a moral and ethical level, based upon quaint standards of chivalry and gentlemanly behavior that no one seems to practice anymore but that the Disney corporation told these women from a young age that they should expect, they have been wronged. But that doesn’t mean a crime has occurred."

Wow I missed the part where he says false allegations are a huge problem. Which is contrary to ever report I've ever seen.. ... Hmm. I'm starting to get reeeeeally skeptical about this letter from a random guy on the Internet. Oops I mean a letter from a friend of a random guy on the Internet.

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I didn't get the impression that he thought 80-90% of the cases had no merit. But that they were impossible to prosecute. Evidence only shows that 2 people had sex, but doesn't show whether or not it was consensual. Our justice system is such that when rape occurs in a situation like that, where the victim has no memory of it, or sexual contact started out as consensual, it's incredibly difficult to prosecute and get a conviction. And IMO, that's why men do it. If you want to get away with rape, you need a victim who can't remember what happened.

 

 

I'm open to the possibility that I misinterpreted him.  I'll reread it.  I'm also going to ask my husband to read it, because he's a pretty thoughtful, fair-minded guy (and I'm not biased in that assessment at all ;)  )

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Wow I missed the part where he says false allegations are a huge problem. Which is contrary to ever report I've ever seen.. ... Hmm. I'm starting to get reeeeeally skeptical about this letter from a random guy on the Internet. Oops I mean a letter from a friend of a random guy on the Internet.

 

Yeah, it's amazing that despite the fact that he almost never has enough information to even charge the alleged attackers with assault, he has all the facts he needs to know that a big percentage are false allegations based on "spite, jealousy, and mental problems." 

 

Basically all reported sexual assaults involve slutty drunk girls, and many of them are just spiteful, jealous, or mentally unhinged. If college girls would just stop getting drunk and throwing themselves at men, those poor guys wouldn't be subjected to these false allegations and it would totally solve the problem of sexual assault in America.

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This is complex. The cop sees things from his point of view. He sees the same stories play out over and over again. My sis, and emergency room nurse sees the same stories play out again and make different judgements. My sis and I side with women. I worked in a large hotel where the exact same stories play out again. The cop... IS A MAN... he is going to side with his own sex if he can. Did anyone not figure this out in grade school??? His point of view is interesting, and I am glad to have seen it. That doesn't mean it isn't prejudiced.

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Red Squirrel had an interesting post on the thread about the judge, so I went to do a little more reading on him and came across this Rolling Stone article:

 

"Why Did Judge Aaron Persky's Stanford Rape Decision Go Viral?"


Rolling Stone  pulled up some different numbers than I have usually seen quoted when talking about sexual assault, young people, and especially on campuses:
 

"As a perpetrator of sexual assault, Turner is unexceptional. Demographically, his is the profile of the teenager most likely to engage in sexual coercion or assault and to use alcohol to facilitate abuse. According to a study released in late 2013, one in 10 people between the ages of 14-21 report having already committed an act of sexual violence; 15% said they used alcohol as a facilitator. Eighty percent of victims were girls. Across race, ethnicity and class, the teenagers with the highest propensity to admit that they'd sexually coerced or assaulted a peer were white boys from higher-income families. In other words, rape is a perk of status."

 

After RS's "Jackie" debacle, I would like to know more about the study that these numbers came from. One in ten is not a small number and 15% using alcohol as a facilitator is not a large number.  These don't look like the numbers we've been talking about as far as all the drunk girls with regrets.  These numbers are self-reported.  That means these guys were cognizant of what they were doing and that it was wrong.

 

The numbers with regards to college athletes is incredibly sobering and yet we are very accustomed to domestic violence with many of our top professional sports figures:

 

"By going to court instead of just admitting guilt, Turner rolled the dice and lost, but the odds were in distinctly in his favor. College athletes are far less likely than their non-athletic peers to face charges for criminal behavior, but far more likely to engage in sexual and illegal violence. More than 50% of male collegiate athletes report coercing partners. Male athletes are responsible for up to 19% of reported sexual assaults and 37% of intimate partner violence on college campuses, despite being just more than 3% of college populations."

 

The video at the top of the article also mentioned that Brock Turner will actually spend more time in jail than something like 97% of those convicted of sexual assault.


 

 

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Thanks for sharing that info swimmermom. I think the major reason it went viral is because of the victim's powerfully worded statement- that and just luck( you never know with the internet when something will go viral it is a bit of a role of the dice).

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