The Problem of Campus Sexual Assault

The Problem of Campus Sexual Assault                                                 
March 14, 2014 by Alison Kahler

"When young women get to college, nearly 20% of them will be victims of attempted or actual sexual assault, as will about 6% of undergraduate men."

"the vast majority of (campus) rapes are committed by serial, violent predators"

Recently, a friend and fellow University of Chicago alumna showed me an open letter to university president Robert Zimmer demanding that the university reevaluate its policy regarding campus sexual assaults. After reporting an assault by her then-partner and being illegally offered a mediation session by Dean of Students Susan Art, current fourth-year student Olivia Ortiz filed a complaint with the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), prompting a larger investigation of the university for possible violations of Title IX. In response, a coalition of alumni wrote and circulated the letter in question. I gladly added my name.

Though I am heartbroken to read about my beloved alma mater’s betrayal of sexual assault victims, I am not surprised. Campus sexual assaults are chillingly common, according to the Department of Education’s 2011 Dear Colleague Letter: Sexual Violence Background, Summary, and Fast Facts (found on Marsh Law Firm’s roundup of Title IX resources):

When young women get to college, nearly 20% of them will be victims of attempted or actual sexual assault, as will about 6% of undergraduate men.

And yet—despite this reminder of the prevalence of this problem and their responsibilities—when confronted with an incident, colleges all over the country exhibit a pattern of dismissing and covering up sexual assaults....

perpetrators know they can get away with their largely under-reported crimes, and they do so often; according to a report by psychologist David Lisak:

[College rapists] tend to be serial offenders, and most of them commit a variety of different interpersonal offenses. They are accurately and appropriately labeled as predators.

This picture conflicts sharply with the widely-held view that rapes committed on university campuses are typically the result of a basically “decent” young man who, were it not for too much alcohol and too little communication, would never do such a thing. While some campus rapes do fit this more benign view, the evidence points to a far less benign reality, in which the vast majority of rapes are committed by serial, violent predators....
http://www.childlaw.us/the-problem-of-campus-sexual-assault/ 

Police 'protection' of celebrities 'allowed serial abusers Cyril Smith and Jimmy Savile to escape prosecution for decades', 280,000 girls accept sex abuse as being normal

Police 'protection' of celebrities 'allowed serial abusers Cyril Smith and Jimmy Savile to escape prosecution for decades'

Information on high profile suspects was reportedly marked as 'secret' or 'restricted' and only available to a small number of officers

Charlie Cooper  Wednesday 20 March 2013

Celebrities and politicians were protected from child sex investigations because hundreds of police intelligence files were kept so secret that investigating officers could not access them, it has been reported.

Information on famous suspects was marked “secret” or “restricted”, allowing only a small number of officers to access it, to offset the risk of police officers or staff leaking the information to the media, according to The Times.

However, the burying of information is understood to have helped serial offenders such as Jimmy Savile and Sir Cyril Smith MP escape prosecution for decades. Campaigners for the victims of child sex abuse said that police had “put protecting celebrities above child protection”.

The problem has emerged in a review of police information handling by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal. Since the exposure of the former TV presenter as Britain’s most prolific child sex offender, police have been inundated with reports from members of the public of “historical abuse”, often by prominent politicians, celebrities and VIPs.

Valuable intelligence on Savile was recorded in 1964, 1998 and 2003 by Scotland Yard, the inspectorate found, but other forces were unable to access it. The inspectorate said the restriction of access to intelligence files was “an area we are concerned about”.....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-protection-of-celebrities-allowed-serial-abusers-cyril-smith-and-jimmy-savile-to-escape-prosecution-for-decades-8541473.html
 
280,000 girls accept sex abuse as being normal
Rob Hastings  Wednesday 29 February 2012

As many as 280,000 teenage girls are suffering from sexual abuse
because they believe it is an accepted part of relationships or do
not believe they can stop it, the NSPCC has warned.

In a disturbing report, the charity said fewer than 20 per cent of cases are reported by young people, as opposed to the majority of cases in which adults are abused. "Many girls are being forced to carry out sexual acts and in some cases are even being raped," said Jon Brown of the NSPCC....
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/280000-girls-accept-sex-abuse-as-being-normal-7463699.html