<p>rape is bad</p>
<p>“For a few months we had men spending the night on the third floor. Not many. It didn’t last long because it made the majority of those living in the sorority house uncomfortable. So men were banned from upstairs, by group decision, but nothing to do with house mother oversight. I wondering if rapes will be dramatically reduced when we get a consensus it’s just not okay. That’s my hope.”</p>
<p>We were only allowed to have men above the first floor during certain (daylight) hours, and men had to be out of the house by a certain time. Now, I’m not going to pretend that guys didn’t ever stay with their girlfriends (if the girlfriends had singles, of course) but those were <em>clearly</em> consensual situations. We had a house mother, but she really didn’t have much to do with that. She was more an adult on premises to deal with the logistical issues of running the house (interacting with repairmen, that type of thing). Sadly, I don’t think the kinds of scumbags who did what they did to Jackie would be somehow put off if there was a middle-aged or elderly house mother around. </p>
<p>I have a question.</p>
<p>In general, if universities “mishandle rape”, is rape “handled correctly” in the general public?</p>
<p>My experience through a young adult relative with a “clear cut” case of rape was months and months, with trauma caused by arresting the guy and setting him free, and “no basis” for a restraining order etc.</p>
<p>In other words, I feel like if my relative’s case were her and a fellow student, it would be highly likely he might be arrested and released by the police until DNA evidence provided enough reason to go to trial (as in my young relative’s case - he made bail and was allowed to return to work and still have contact with the victim). And that in the two years intervening (in my relative’s case) and not forcing the accused rapist to not be in contact with the victim, what would a college student do?</p>
<p>I guess my point is, if you are a victim of a crime, any crime, what rights do you have while justice is taking its course?</p>
<p>If the victim in the UVA case reported it in a timely manner, even if as is said it was a gang rape and assault, would it have been handled differently than my relative’s case? Would she have been on campus continuing her studies with counseling and the accused be removed from campus?</p>
<p>I just don’t know. Even though I think the victim in the RS story had multiple crimes committed against her, and I do think that there would be justification for immediate arrest and holding the accused based on danger to the community.</p>
<p>Note that in my relative’s case, she did end up get a restraining order involving her child and the accused (note that the child was not the rapist’s child), and the accused violated it and the cops had to be called to remove him from the premises.</p>
<p>My mom was a night housemother in a residence hall of women college students, where guys could not go upstairs. One of the students told me about how often the students would ask my mom to turn off the alarm on the back door so “they could bring their bicycle inside.” </p>
<p>
This question leads me to make a point I’ve been thinking about.</p>
<p>Rape cases can be hard to prove in the criminal courts, especially if the people involved knew each other and the defense is consent. There often isn’t a lot of evidence, and the case must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. However, if the case is proven, the punishment can be quite substantial.</p>
<p>In the college setting, where the standard of proof is less, and the definition of misconduct may be broader, it may be easier to get some kind of punishment, or at least assistance. It might be reasonable for a woman to choose between these options depending on an evaluation of the likelihood of some kind of relief.</p>
<p>True, if the woman wants the guy living further away on campus, in different classes, etc. I would imagine that would be easier for the college to handle than the woman going to the police and getting a restraining order to keep the guy xx distance away. My guess and I’m just guessing is that colleges have probably proceeded this way, looking for remediation of a situation, when women have declined to press criminal charges. I noticed in the news this week that Swarthmore “lost/settled” their case with an accused who sued, so I imagine as some of these cases are now finally coming to an end there will be much finer legal definitions about what colleges/universities can and can’t do procedurally and with punishment which is good for everyone concerned.</p>
<p>We hear in many of these cases that the victim was discouraged from going to the police. It could be that in at least some of these cases, the discouragement took the form of a truthful statement that the police would be unlikely to do much about a case with the fact pattern the victim was describing. I’m not sure it’s wrong for a college representative to tell the victim that, if it’s the truth.</p>
<p>I think rape would be a lot easier to “prove” if law enforcement would investigate rape like a crime and not the way they currently do. </p>
<p>
The point of my post is that there should be at least one witness to what happened to her. At the very least, her co-workers at the aquatic center and the person who helped her with the cuts on her back.</p>
<p>The Rolling Stone article presents a lurid story, and we should be wary of accepting it.</p>
<p>But I don’t think dwelling on the part about the glass is productive. The story could be true in essence, but instead of a broken table, there could have been broken glass from a bottle, or something, and she could have gotten minor cuts. We shouldn’t nitpick about details of an event that allegedly happened four years ago. Either she was gangraped, or she was not gangraped.</p>
<p>
[quote]
<a href=“http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120450/sabrina-rubin-erdelys-uva-gang-rape-reporting-raises-questions[/uoqte]”>http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120450/sabrina-rubin-erdelys-uva-gang-rape-reporting-raises-questions[/uoqte]</a></p>
<p>The last paragraph sums it up and mirrors my feelings all along:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Can’t tell whether New Orleans is in a class by itself or just like most other places. Over 1000 cases not investigated at all.
<a href=“Report claims five New Orleans cops failed to properly investigate over 1,000 sex crimes | Fox News”>http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/13/report-claims-five-new-orleans-cops-failed-to-properly-investigate-over-1000/</a></p>