Ann Friedman argues that, if we’re going to address the problem of sexual assault on college campuses, we have to force reputation-conscious college administrations to get over themselves:
[M]aking colleges get serious about addressing sexual assaults will probably take more than just urging them to mend their ways. One of the institutional deterrents to encouraging more assault survivors to come forward is that it often means a marked increase in crime statistics. Last week the Pentagon reported that, after a similar campaign to change the way the military handles assault, reports of sexual assault jumped more than 50 percent. This is actually good news for survivors: It means more of them feel comfortable coming forward. But it doesn’t look good for the institutions involved. Universities are eager to please parents and woo new students, which has often led them to prioritize their own reputations above survivors’ needs.
Amanda Hess adds that this is especially important given that many of the trouble spots are among the most elite schools in the country. She worries about the obstacles students face when reporting rape:
In order for the federal government to learn that something may be amiss in a college’s handling of sexual assault, rape victims need to report their assaults to their schools in the first place—no guarantee, given the rampant underreporting of sexual assault in America. Then, when they feel that their colleges have not properly adjudicated their cases, those victims need to launch another complaint against the process itself, and take their cases to the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The very purpose of these complaints is to prove that colleges are denying some students equal access to education by failing to properly discipline rapists and support victims. Living through an assault, pursuing a complaint against your attacker, and then furthering a civil rights agenda—while also studying organic chemistry—is an almost unthinkable feat for an undergrad. Students who are incapable of juggling those outsized responsibilities may never be heard.
But Lauren Kirchner notes that victims do have ways of reporting rape even if their school is uncooperative:
One small comfort for college kids today is that, if they’re unsatisfied with their schools’ response to a crime, they’re just a Google search away from getting help in filing a report. Networks that span campuses and countries have sprung up to provide support and inform students about their rights—sites like End Rape on Campus (EROC) and Know Your IX (KYIX), and others. (In fact, the White House’s new NotAlone.gov mimics these smaller, non-profit organizations that have been providing the same support and services for years—not that the federal attention and funding isn’t welcome.)
The Dish 