Can Online Reporting System Help Prevent Sexual Assaults On Campus?

jyosim writes Studies have shown that as many as 90 percent of campus rapes are committed by repeat offenders. A new system is designed to help identify serial assaulters, by letting students anonymously report incidents in order to look for patterns. But some argue that having the ability to report someone with just the click of a button may not be a good thing. Andrew T. Miltenberg, a New York lawyer who represents young men accused of sexual misconduct, says though the system seems well intended, he is concerned about dangers it may pose to students who are accused. 'We're all guilty of pressing send on an angry text or email that, had we had to put it into an actual letter and proofread, we probably wouldn't have sent,' he says.

Comments

Students + Anonimity

[Needs2BeSaid]

This will end very badly. Some students will use this as an attack and/or revenge tool against people they don't like. Anonymity plus rape accusations will equal lawsuits and destroyed lives.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[MitchDev]

No kidding, there needs to be accountability when you claim rape.

The accusation, even when later proven false, destroys lives.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[NotDrWho]

Did anyone else see that report last weekend on "60 Minutes" about the Duke lacrosse coach? The guy wasn't even accused of a crime, only COACHING the men who were accused. And those men were all PROVEN INNOCENT. And even still, it cost the guy his job and still follows him to this day. And that was for coaching innocent men!

That's the kind of damage even being ASSOCIATED with someone FALSELY ACCUSED of such a crime can do.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is that certain SJW/feminist groups have so broadened the definition of "rape" as to make it utterly meaningless. The word can still destroy lives just by being thrown around (because most of us still associate it with the traditional definition). Yet at the same time they've so expanded its definition that almost any form of everyday sex between a male and female can now be defined as rape. "I had sex with my girlfriend" last night suddenly becomes rape when she decides later on that she regrets it. "We met at a party and had a one night stand" becomes rape because you and she were both drinking at that party. Even "we were both sober and had sex and she didn't regret it" becomes rape, because you DIDN'T GET HER AFFIRMATIVE CONSENT first.

Pretty soon any male-female sex that doesn't involve a notarized written contract in advance will become "rape" too.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of REAL rapes going on out there. And the victims of those terrible crimes will suffer because normal people will lump what happened to them in with false accusations and psychos who consider any male-female sex to be rape.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[Jason Levine]

This is especially true if the local community places a high value on the person being accused. For example, if a small town's football superstar rapes someone and she reports it, she will be treated as a horrible person for trying to ruin the team's chance at the playoffs. Accusations will be made regarding her promiscuity and her general character. Her name will be dragged through the mud. And all of this before the case even sees one day in a courtroom. She might have to leave the town entirely while the football superstar will be hailed as a hero for having to go through such trying times while still scoring points for the local team. And if the football superstar had raped other women, they will be pressured into keeping quiet having seen how women who speak out are treated.

Does rape get falsely reported? Sure, but it also goes unreported out of fear of the victim becoming a target.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[Anonymous Coward]

When looking at best practices, we have to examine the common cases, the places where things can do the most harm or most good, NOT the super rare edge cases that get the spotlight.

Yes, who cares if a minority of innocents get their lives destroyed. Better be safe and punish the innocents this is how a good justice system works. And they're just a minority anyway, fuck minorities. (/sarc)

Re:Students + Anonimity

[MitchDev]

Considering the penalty the accused faces, tough shit.

Rape is a SERIOUS accusation, not to be made lightly.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[swb]

Rightly or wrongly, the police may be influenced by their familiarity with the criminal justice system and circumstances that were reported. So many rape accusations boil down to a he said/she said situation that would be impossible to get charged by a prosecutor, let alone result in a convicton in court.

A woman I used to know was raped by a coworker. The woman and her roommate were waitresses at a restaurant and bar. They had the company Christmas party at the restaurant and the rapist was one of the employees. Everyone had too much to drink and the rapist was too drunk to drive and asked if he could crash on their couch. They said sure. In the middle of the night, he crept into her room and raped her and left the apartment afterwards.

In the morning, she told her boyfriend who insisted she go to the police who were basically dismissive of the claim, not because they thought she was lying but because there was no way to conclusively prove it was rape. There were witnesses who saw the three of them (the woman who was raped, her roommate, and rapist) voluntarily leave together. All had been drinking. The apartment wasn't forcibly entered. The rape itself didn't involve enough violence that she had bruises, scarring or signs of a physical struggle.

The cops said they would bring him in for questioning but that unless he actually admitted raping her outright, what would almost certainly happen is that he would say that after they got back to the apartment she invited him into her room for sex and that he left afterwards and that the rape accusation was that she felt guilty because she had a boyfriend. And because there was no way to disprove this version of events, the prosecutor wouldn't even file charges. They also said the presence of the roommate would work against her, since he would claim that since her roommate didn't wake up she wasn't fighting or resisting.

Are the cops insensitive? Maybe, but what can they do when there's no evidence?

I believed her personally because I knew her fairly well, but if I think about it too long even I can start to enterain doubts. Why was there no physical struggle? Why didn't she yell and wake her roommate? If I was a cop confronted with this a lot, I can see why they come off indifferent.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[ShanghaiBill]

Worse than that, not one member of the Duke Lynch Mob has suffered any repercussions at all for their actions in demanding penalties against the accused before they were tried.

In the UVa case, "Jackie" has faced no repercussions for making false accusations, and neither has Rolling Stone Magazine. At least Jackie tried to retract the story before it was published, but RS went ahead even though the "victim" no longer stood by the story. But more significantly, the University of Virginia has suffered no repercussions, despite taking drastic and broad punitive action against the fraternities, before doing any fact checking, much less waiting for a proper investigation.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[deadweight]

Because NO ONE would ever think about getting all their friends to turn the same guy in that they are pissed at.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[LaurenCates]

I don't think anyone who was reading Rolling Stone saw the Boston Marathon bomber as a sex symbol, at least anyone who wasn't inclined to see him that way in the first place.

It isn't like RS never covered anything but pop culture either.

That said, when someone who commits a heinous crime is part of your target demographic, I actually think it's rather responsible to pull the veil of "it couldn't happen to you" off your readership, and if it provided some insight that could help someone recognize the signs in someone like that before it's too late, I think it's a far more responsible choice than you're willing to give it credit for.

Re:Students + Anonimity

[clonehappy]

His common sense probably let a lot of child molesters go free. Family court judges are notorious for being dismissive about abuse claims and I know a lot of a adults who still bear a grudge because a judge would not believe one of their parents was abusing them.
Sadly, your uncle is not a counter example, he is more likely an example of the problem.

Sorry "you know" a lot adults who got diddled by grandpa (I don't know a single fucking one, but then again I don't hang around with people like you). That's what we call "anecdotal evidence" and it isn't worth jack shit. The exact same reason family court judges can't just throw everyone in jail based on some he-said, she-said bullshit. Common sense is not an example of the problem, pussies like you are. If you had your way, I'm sure a judge could just (without evidence, of course, like all authoritarians enjoy) throw people away because mommy said daddy touched little Johnny or Janie. Sadly, people who let emotions rather than facts or common sense (like yourself) are starting to ruin enough lives that these things are finally coming to light.

Better to let 1,000 guilty men free than imprison 1 innocent man. You know, the way it's supposed to work. In a free country, not the kind you like (I hear Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Iran are nice this time of year). If you want innocent people to be jailed because of feewings, get the fuck out. You don't understand what freedom and liberty really are.

Re: Students + Anonimity

[epyT-R]

That doesn't mean it's ok to falsely accuse, or for the accuser to stay hidden while she and her lawyer trash their target with impunity before a trial is even started, hell, sometimes before an arrest is made. Maybe false accusers should be dealt the same punishments their targets would've had to endure.

In a free country everyone deserves equality before the law. What you're suggesting just encourages witchhunts and social vendettas (he cheated on me, I'll get him!). All I can really read from your post is that 'women matter, men do not.' Fuck that.

Better

[Hevel-Varik]

Girls don't hang out with drunk men. Men don't hang out with drunk women. The standard behavior on a university campus invites sexual misbehavior. Mod me into oblivion.

Re:Here's what I don't get

[AmiMoJo]

Colleges want students to feel like they are protecting them, that's why they have campus security. Students are consumers, they have a choice of where to go to college, and providing security is part of the offer.

Serious things treated seriously and w/ dignity

[WillAdams]

There needs to absolutely be a mechanism in place for a woman to:

  - safely be transported to a hospital in a fashion which maintains chain of evidence
  - be examined by a sympathetic, but impartial medical professional using a rape kit to collect evidence
  - make a formal statement, and if it includes an accusation, that to be duly sworn out in a reasonable fashion

There needs to be in place mechanisms for the hospital, police and other social structures to take the above seriously. If there aren't, that needs to change.

Re:Students + Anonimity = some false accusations

[NotDrWho]

Get raped, and generally one will be treated like they deserved it, or are making it up, or are just having regrets, or are simply trying to 'take advantage' of some innocent man.

You know, I keep HEARING that claim. But I don't think I've ever once seen any actual evidence of it (not in recent decades, anyway). When a rape victim walks into a police station today saying "I've been raped," I'm pretty damned sure they don't immediately take her to an interrogation room and start accusing her of making it up. AFAIK the SOP in just about any police station is to quickly get her story, get to her a hospital for a rape kit, and then arrest the accused if there is sufficient evidence of the crime. Many police stations and hospitals even have rape counselors who show up now and assist the victim. The standard presumption initially is to believe the accuser, particularly if there is physical evidence to back up the crime.

It's only later in the process that good police officers (ones not being spurred on by grandstanding prosecutors) will follow up with a more thorough examination of the evidence. And then, yes, they will ask more detailed questions of both the accuser and accused--and possibly even question their stories. Because that's THEIR JOB, to not take accusations or denials at face value and to look at the evidence, question witnesses, etc.

Re:This won't end well

[Ol Olsoc]

I guess it depends on how mature and responsible college students are... so yeah, I agree with you!

We've forced them to be extended children, so they come out of High school with the maturity of 14 year old's of say 40 years ago. So they are sowing their wild oats in college a bit more than they used to. So with a combination of legitimate reports, vendetta and rejection reports, and simple pranks, this is a system built to fail.