I briefly mentioned the UVA rape allegation issue back on the 24th of November in relation to legislation in New Jersey which would criminalize “rape by fraud“, and had no interest in continuing to blog the story unless it was found to be false. Many have done a great job in investigating and blogging the story, particularly Tom Maguire at Just One Minute (like here and here). Of course, many sex assault advocates (a very strange way to term people who are against sexual assault, wouldn’t you say?) are saying that the point is not whether the story is real or fake, the point is the issues of sexual assault occurring on campus. The Washington Post Editorial Board jumps on board
ACKNOWLEDGING DISCREPANCIES in its controversial story about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia , Rolling Stone magazine issued an apology on Friday. There is no underestimating the damage caused by the magazine’s faulty reporting, exacerbated by its shoddy effort to shift blame to its source even as it admitted inaccuracies.
The extent of those inaccuracies is still being sorted out. But it’s not too soon to point to some possible casualties: the reputations of the university, of a fraternity named in the report and of journalism. The much-needed — the still much-needed — effort to reform how universities seek to prevent and respond to sexual assaults. And, most distressing, the future rape victims who may find themselves less believed — or who, out of fear that they won’t be believed, tragically will decide to stay silent.
What about the reputations of the people themselves who were accused? How about the fact that the entire Greek system, including sororities, were shut down by the school, despite knowing which specific fraternity was alleged to be involved, all with no due process, no criminal complaint, and no evidence other than a several years old allegation? Liberals on campus have created a situation where almost everything is considered sexual assault, they push for women to push sexual assault claims, they’ve gotten the schools to investigate and punish every belief that sexual assault occurred, regardless of evidence and denying due process, destroying reputations. They make a mockery of real instances of assault, which should go to law enforcement, not administration officials and student advocates.
Again, it is very strange that there is supposedly such a pervasive problem on campus when colleges are hotbeds of liberalism.
As the doubts and discrepancies are sorted out, here are some truths that must not get lost: Sexual assault, often associated with excessive alcohol consumption, is a scourge that, for far too long, has not been taken seriously enough by colleges and universities. The critical work of putting in place a system that effectively and fairly investigates allegations of sexual assaults, supports victims and provides for due process must continue with even more urgency.
That system is Law Enforcement. Not college officials, not students gathered to create a university tribunal.
To the university’s credit, it responded to Friday’s revelations with exactly the right message. “Despite doubts that have been cast on the Rolling Stone story, we need to keep our eyes on the prize, which is nothing less than zero tolerance for rape,†said Helen Dragas, a member of the university’s governing Board of Visitors. “Our primary concern must be for the well-being of our students. We need to get this right for them, and do so with no hesitation or concern for image.â€
Why does it need to be a “prize” unless this exceedingly liberal university is coddling rapists? It shouldn’t be something we need to strive for. Rape is a criminal allegation, a felony, and any instances should immediately be turned over to the criminal justice system.
But, notice, this allegation, which is teetering over the cliff to being a completely false allegation is being turned into an overarching theme of “fake but accurate”, rather than noticing that this is probably a false allegation. This all needs to be a Big Issue which involves everyone. Yet, much of the problem will be glossed over. Like why so much sexual assault occurs on college campuses which are very liberal, which are run by liberals, staffed by liberals, have teachers which are liberals, and students who are liberals and are intolerant of students who aren’t. How these same liberals look to turn everything into sexual assault, even a stolen kiss. Consensual sex while drunk is considered sexual assault, and advocates, and now government (California) consider that rape, blaming the man and exonerating the female. Who may have been the aggressor, in some cases. Young people are taught by Liberals that “if it feels good, do it”, and then are surprised that failing to teach proper morals, personal responsibility, and restraint creates a dangerous atmosphere and lots of sexual assault.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
I agree with what you say Teach. The “false but accurate” meme in alleged sexual assaults is taking over colleges and it is led by the Obama administration who has stated that colleges should lower standards of proof from an attack “more likely than not” occurred to a mere “preponderance of the evidence,” which is a much lower standard.
As people have looked into the story as related by “Jackie” at UVa, it seems that very little is true. The fraternity she says sponsored the event at which she was attacked did not have an event the weekend she claims. The person she says took her to the event is not a member of the fraternity as she claims. Claims of injury seem to have been fabricated or at the very least highly exaggerated. Her story which was allegedly told to the Rolling Stone (who has now acknowledged they screwed up) was supposed to be the first time she had said anything about the alleged attack, even though she had be recounting the attack in speaking about on campus sexual assaults for at least a year.
No one I know thinks sexual assaults are a laughing matter. Allegations should be taken seriously and investigated. However, false allegations of attacks happen at the same rate of false claims of other crimes.
The idea that we wouldn’t take sexual assault seriously because some have lied about such assaults flies in the face that we still take robbery, theft,and other crimes seriously even though those crimes have false accusations made as well.
The police are investigating Jackie’s claim and if it is found to be without merit – a complete fabrication – her name should be revealed and she should face charges from UVa. While I disagree with the idea that names victims of sexual assault are withheld as I think it adds to the stigma attached to the crime, if it turns out Jackie lied, she is not a victim of anything and just like any liar or person who makes a false claim, she should have her name in the public record and eye.
Finally, I agree that the WaPo’s Editorial board jumped the shark on this editorial. Instead of using the Jackie story as a cautionary tale of people being falsely accused of crimes and the damage that can happen, they pushed the narrative that truth doesn’t really matter in the overall picture. That’s crazy. However, I will say this for the editorial board: if you look at their site, they are running stories on Jackie’s story, the Rolling Stones part in this, the failure of journalism from Rolling Stone, and the discrepancies and falsehoods in the story itself. They do not appear to be holding back and not reporting what happened and what appears to be a contrived story.
The editors are letting the reporters run with this story to let the public know, but they are also taking the wrong lesson and message from this incident.