Mona Charen
Two University of Miami football players have
been arrested and dismissed from the
university after being criminally charged with
sexual battery on a 17-year-old girl. According
to ESPN , the two admitted to buying drinks for
the girl and then bringing her back to a dorm
room where they engaged in nonconsensual
sex acts with her.
Six Vanderbilt students have filed a suit
claiming that their allegations of sexual assault
were not taken seriously. Students at Amherst,
Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Yale and dozens of
other colleges have filed similar complaints.
Some of the statistics circulating about campus
sexual assaults -- such as the much-touted 20
percent figure -- are clearly exaggerated and
are based on an overly broad interpretation of
the word rape. As Cathy Young of Minding the
Campus explained, "Three quarters of the
female students who were classified as victims
of sexual assault by incapacitation did not
believe they had been raped."
It's always wise to take statistics, particularly
those offered by advocacy groups, with a large
grain of salt, but that doesn't mean the
problem is illusory.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, has just
released the results of a study she
commissioned about how universities are
handling sexual assault allegations. Among her
more headline-grabbing findings was that 22
percent of a national sample of universities
permit their athletic departments to oversee
cases involving alleged misconduct by athletes.
One in five provide no sexual assault response
training to faculty and staff.
The feminist interpretation of these facts is
well-known: This is part of the "rape culture"
that devalues women. The American
Association of University Women seems to
endorse this interpretation and offers "10 Ways
to Fight Against Sexual Assault on Campus." It
begins by suggesting contacting "campus
resources like counseling centers, advocacy
offices, or the police," but among the other
suggestions are "Write an op-ed"; "Use social
media ... to spread awareness"; "Start a
conversation on victim blaming"; and "Get
involved in national campaigns ... like the
Clothesline Project."
I'm all for writing op-eds, but not as a
response to a violent crime. Doubtless I will be
accused of "victim blaming," but it must be
said that the reason the AAUW, university
administrators, the Department of Education
and most importantly, young men and women
themselves are so confused about how to
handle the wave of campus rape (and
unwanted sex) is that they've created a social
environment -- the boozing hookup culture --
that invites bad behavior. Women are right the
culture is harder on them than it is on men.
They're wrong if they blame the "patriarchy."
This is the spawn of the sexual revolution, not
traditional morality.
Rape is rape, the advocates chant. Well, not
quite.
If a man sneaked into a college woman's dorm
room and raped her, she would have no
hesitation in calling the police, right? But if
she and a guy she had a crush on stumble
drunkenly into her dorm room, and she
decides following their first act of sexual
intercourse that she doesn't want to have sex
again, and he presses himself upon her, she
may be angry and feel violated, but she doesn't
want him to spend 20 years in jail, either. He
did commit a crime, and yet, her hesitation in
reporting him would be perfectly
understandable.
The sexual free-for-all culture denies that
women are more vulnerable to sexual
exploitation than men. Both sexes are
presumed to want "safe," relatively
anonymous sex on a moment's notice with no
strings attached. Yet the overwhelming
majority of those who lodge sexual assault
complaints are women. Most men are not
sexual predators, cads or rapists, but there's
little doubt that the binge drinking, casual sex
climate is tailor-made for those who are.
Women's' alcohol consumption has
dramatically increased in recent years.
"Between 1999 and 2008," reports The Wall
Street Journal, "the number of young women
who showed up in emergency rooms for being
dangerously intoxicated rose by 52 percent.
The rate for young men, though higher, rose
just 9 percent." More women are arrested for
drunk driving, and more report that they binge
drink than in the past. Again, irresponsible
men couldn't be happier with this turn of
events.
Women are being victimized on campuses and
off. But writing op-eds is not where their
power lies. They can protect themselves better
by staying sober and out of the hookup world.
Women are more delicate and vulnerable than
men. Smart women don't attempt to live this
down; they oblige men to respect it.
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