If you had a dollar for every time mainstream media told you how unfairly men treat women in our country, you could retire comfortably right now. While unfairness does happen, it’s a two-way street, and once again we find a media supported narrative that is disturbingly distanced from reality.
Today, we are going to tackle rape culture and see who is really bearing the brunt of discrimination on college campuses.
Thomas Clocke
Odds are that you have never heard of Thomas Clocke. He was a student at the University of Texas at Arlington, and he was accused of hate crimes against homosexuals on campus. He was brought before an academic review board (no criminal charges were ever filed) and reprimanded for his behavior.
Throughout the process, he was denied any chance to defend himself. His character witnesses were barred from speaking, and there were no witnesses to any event aside from the accuser.
What actually happened? A homosexual student hit on Clocke, and Clocke rejected him. That student retaliated through the school’s disciplinary protocol, and Clocke was placed on probation. That doesn’t sound too bad until you hear the end of the story – Clocke took his own life after he was sentenced.
UC San Diego
The California Supreme Court recently ruled on John Doe vs Jane Roe in favor of Roe. The incident took place three years ago, and the details are muddied.
Ultimately, Roe levelled accusations of sexual misconduct (again, there were no legal charges), and the academic board sided with Roe. John Doe’s appeal was centered around the fact that he was not allowed to present any defense whatsoever.
He was denied legal counsel and his advocates were barred from the proceedings. He was also not allowed to directly address his accuser, and the advocate assigned to relay communication between the two flat out refused to speak on behalf of Doe.
In both of these cases, you can see a startling trend. In response to the call of “rape culture” on college campuses, young men are completely denied their right to due process.
Accusations alone are now enough to ruin a student’s career, and in extreme cases, the consequences are deadly. The most frustrating part of this whole situation is that this breakdown of justice is predicated on misconceptions about sexual assault in America. Let’s break those down.
Common Myths
There are a few statistics and myths perpetuating across the country. Chief among them is the statistic that one in seven women will be the victim of rape. While this statistic is almost rooted in truth, it’s grossly distorted.
The truth is that one is seven women worldwide are the victim of sexual assault (note that the definition of sexual assault is much wider than rape). In the U.S., less than 0.1 percent of Americans are ever the victim of rape, and that includes men and women. This is according to the Department of Justice, which closely tracks these numbers.
Building on the one in seven misnomer, there is a myth that the majority of sexual assault victims are college women. The boldest of claims is that one in three college females are sexually assaulted before they graduate. This is an obvious overestimate, but the real numbers are extreme in the opposite direction.
Once again, according to the Department of Justice, two-thirds of sexual assault victims never attend college. On top of that, third-party studies have concluded that 92-percent of sexual assault claims on college surveys occur when both parties are inebriated. While sexual assault can happen under those circumstances, the third-party research makes it clear that the primary problem with sexual assault reporting is unclear definitions that make the situation seem worse than it is.
The Problem
Sexual assault is a problem in America, but not to the extent you have been led to believe. That becomes a problem because the noise surrounding rape culture has actually created a dangerous mob mentality that crucifies young males without giving them proper defense.
While it is important to have avenues of support for genuine sexual assault victims, witch hunts create false positives. Women who have actually suffered are often overlooked in favor of more vocal, less reliable accusations.
Worst of all, this culture assumes that women are the only ones at risk. As it turns out, 38 percent of all sexual assault is performed against men by women. When you factor in same-sex assault, you find that less than half of all incidents are of the traditional men-against-women variety we typically assume.
Once again, America’s attempt to protect minorities has bred a bigger problem than the original issue. It is entirely possible to protect victims of assault without burning innocents in the process. We’ve had a systematic approach since the Constitution was written, and we need to trust in due process to protect all Americans.
~ Conservative Zone
