<p>The report also addresses how prevelant all this is during college and on and off campus. Seems the majority of incidents are off campus. Also, there is a huge difference in the percentage numbers when a second screen using a narrative report by the female who responded to the survey is used. 1.7 per 100 for completed rapes (without narrative report screen) v. 0.16 per 100 with narrative screen. </p>
<p>The incident percentage for female grad students indicates a near total reduction of rape.</p>
<p>Of course this is true. Of course we tell girls to be aware of your surrroundings, don’t drink to excess/stay with a crowd of friends, blah blah blah. I told my own daughter that. </p>
<p>And yet, I was assaulted at 3:30 pm while on school grounds by my high school teacher. (Strange - I never got the memo that said you shouldn’t stay after school to ask for help with an assignment!) Over the years, I’ve come to think that many stories of assault or rape are similar to mine - it happened under routine daily circumstances, the attacker was someone you thought you knew, and so on.</p>
<p>I think we like to advise people to take self-defense courses or stay away from frat parties because such activities (and such advice) give us a sense of control. Sure, such things may help, and they are common-sense precautions. I’m just saying that they aren’t really the answer. </p>
<p>And no, I don’t have the answer, either. </p>
<p>
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<p>Actually, this happens all the time. Ask someone recently diagnosed with diabetes what reactions they got from friends/family, and many will tell you stories of “well, if you had just lost that weight…”</p>
<p>or the more recent studies from Lysic, or the one from McWhorter?</p>
<p>I’m confused.</p>
<p>The McWhorter is a naval study, so particularly interesting, suggesting that in every setting men rape at the same rate… and it is a very, very small percentage of the population that is committing these crimes.</p>
<p>Another interesting correlation that seems to be coming to light in the more recent research is that there is a strong link between the likelihood to commit child abuse and these rapists.</p>
<p>these aren’t just “guys,” these are guys with some serious problems who have managed to spin the narrative to look as if “it could happen to you.”</p>
<p>But, when the research is collected from thousands and thousands of men, only this small percentage of them are rapists, and they are repeat offenders. It is very interesting new information.</p>
<p>apprentice: “We don’t visit heart-attack victims and tell them they should have exercised more”</p>
<p>The problem I have with your analogy is: No one perpetrates a heart attack! </p>
<p>Certainly, there are certain actions that may keep us safer (have a buddy, get your own beverage, don’t get wasted). I have not seen anyone dispute that point. However, not doing those things does not make the cirme less of a crime or the rapist less of a criminal! </p>
<p>Completely agree with nrds’ post: “I don’t see you as a “cruel monster,” but as someone who has yet again made the thread about you rather than the subject matter. I honestly don’t see vigorous disagreement with your position as anything “nasty” or personal, but apparently you disagree.”</p>
<p>I think some of the disagreement many pages back had started to resemble a pecking party, with words like “lie” and repeated statements about not believing something she said. The thread has gotten much more civil and informative again, but there was an ugly period there.</p>
<p>"these aren’t just “guys,” these are guys with some serious problems who have managed to spin the narrative to look as if “it could happen to you.”</p>
<p>Since they usually don’t have horns or other distinguishing features and on campuses are probably meeting a threshold of cleanliness and intelligence, women need to listen to their intuition and do smart things to make sure that the handsome guy in the Sperrys who has all the right lines isn’t a monster behind the mask.</p>
<p>Again, many of the “tips on rape prevention” totally ignore acquaintance rape. As Romani pointed out in the tip list. We do need to support victims and encourage them to report rapists so that they will recognize that serious consequences will follow if they assault or rape. The one in three college men who would rape if they knew they could get away with it need the clear message that rape will not be tolerated. If we have repeat offenders prosecuted and locked up, assaults should greatly decrease and make the campus and our communities MUCH safer.</p>
<p>Yes, and also, rapes need to be reported and investigated thoroughly.</p>
<p>Since the rapists are a small percentage of repeat offenders, the most dangerous thing to campus safety is to keep them on campus.</p>
<p>The less victim blaming and shaming, the easier it is to report. The easier it is to report, the more quickly their name will show up more than once.</p>
<p>poetgrl: the report is the document in the link in #861</p>
<p>Question: is the context of the navy surveys considered aquaintence rape or stranger rape? Also, are the victims of child abuse greatly more likely to be child abusers?</p>
<p>I don’t see it as a big surprise that the percentage of rapists to the male population is steady regardless of the circumstances. Nor is it surprising that it is a small percentage and that they constitute repeat rapists.</p>
<p>Seems the precautionary issue is identifying and/or avoiding these guys and the enforcement issue is getting them off the street permenantly.</p>
<p>HImom, the reason I recommend reading the gift of fear is because women often need permission to hear their intuition telling them that their longtime friend really is being inappropriate or that their friend’s brother has crossed a line so she can put a stop to it before she is assaulted, rather than telling herself “I have known him for years and he would never so that” until he has.</p>
<p>Yes, but then why the new “everyone’s being mean to me” post in the midst of all this civility? Just seems to deflect attention from the important purpose of the thread, which is not about any one person here, but about some very large and serious societal issues.</p>
<p>I have to admit that before this thread, I did not know that so many universities have not only been less than responsive to victims’ reports of rape, but have actively sought to suppress them and essentially protect the rapist. It’s stunning, actually.</p>
<p>And, yes, I agree that it is not counterintuitive to discover that the men who perpetrate acquaintance rape are a very small percentage. (this has not in the past been the narrative, so it is good to have the evidence.)</p>
<p>Stranger rape among the respondents was too small a percentage to be discussed.</p>
<p>Most rape, anyway, is perpetrated by someone who knows the victim. Most advice on how to “avoid” rape is about stranger rape. </p>
<p>IMHO, nothing substitutes for creating an environment in which women feel safe reporting. This really seems to be the most important thing in terms of getting these guys off campus. The Harvard article I linked a couple of days ago, from Huffpo via the Crimson, is particularly interesting on this issue. The women on that campus seem to feel, like women on all campuses, that even in reporting they are blamed.</p>
<p>I don’t think we ought to ignore these reports which are coming in off of every type of campus at this point. The consensus is that reporting your rape is not safe… not at Harvard, Princeton, Notre Dame, UNC, Amherst, Williams. These are a lot of really good schools. Are we to assume that the women who filed the complaint with DOJ against Yale were just “party girls” who got in trouble? Or the women from Harvard?</p>
<p>I think that is a red herring compared to what is really important here. The hostility towards the victims is coming from the administrations, not just the students. This is problematic, to say the least. Couple that with the new research showing that very few guys accidentally mistake drunkeness for consent, and we are talking about a systemic problem which protects the criminals and keeps the rapists on the campus to rape again.</p>
<p>“Yes, but then why the new “everyone’s being mean to me” post in the midst of all this civility? Just seems to deflect attention from the important purpose of the thread, which is not about any one person here, but about some very large and serious societal issues.”</p>
<p>That post and your prior one seem pretty unpleasant when directed to someone whose feelings might already be a little hurt. There were also a couple of shots at her earlier this morning. A lot of people so deeply disagree with her that responses to her are pretty adamant. Depending on the day, my feelings might be hurt too. But not always and we all have to be less thin skinned in threads that evoke very strong emotions.</p>
<p>So we got word that the sexual assault and dv center in Steubenville is receiving donations from all over the world. I think it’s great that people want to help but there are nearly 2000 other such centers in America, most of which are clawing for funds. It amazes me how much people want to help those thousands of miles away but not in their own backyard. I wonder if it goes back to the mentality of “well at least it’s not happening HERE.” Out of sight, out of mind.</p>