Sexual assault in College-Is it getting worse?
 

As the sensitive issue makes major headlines, here is a look at he numbers (and the numbers represent the victims)
http://www.salon.com/life/sexual_abu...%2529_7_30_110

To answer your question, NO it is NOT getting worse.

As with most issues, we are only hearing more about it because victims are coming forward and there are media outlets (including the Internet) to cover it.

These sorts of things remind me of a (now) ironic Cicero quote:

"Times are bad, children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book."

What leads you to the question "Is it getting worse" when the article you include states that it's not getting worse, that the number of non-forcible (of course, IMO all rape including date rape is forcible) sex offense reports has gone up due to increased awareness that date rape is, in fact, rape?

I don't think it's getting worse at all. I think awareness & acceptance/support have gotten better, as has reporting.

Come now, reading is so 2002 - why not just re-ask the (later-answered) opening question from the article? THAT'S FUCKING DISCUSSION, BABY.

SOM was just using the title of the article and probably not actually asking whether it is getting worse. The article is titled "Sexual Assault in College: Is It Getting Worse?"

SOM's post was the heading of the article "as the serious issue makes major headlines...".

Perhaps SOM wanted us to respond and share our own thoughts, which some of us did.

In that case, it's a classic internet misread - I did not even consider that the thread title would simply be the article title.

And the article is interesting, albeit unsurprising to most and less than comprehensive. It actually reads like a wikipedia entry more than anything, which shows the prevalence of that writing style - that might be more interesting, actually.

This. We may hear about it more often but that's because girls can stand up for themselves more easily in this day and age. Up until the past couple decades women even in relationships/married could be abused in many ways and couldn't get divorced and it was all generally behind closed doors it seems like.

Now it's not. Clearly, the Internet can spread news much more easily, there are alternative news sources even if the mainstream media wouldn't want to cover it (although they do).

"60 Minutes" from Sunday, April17th 2011:
The government sent out guidelines on how college judicial review boards should handle incidents of campus sex assault. Beckett Brennan says a university board bungled her case, spurring her to come forward to say she was sexually assaulted by three of the school's athletes. Katie Couric reports.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?...ain;contentAux

I watched this last night, and I can’t help but feel bad for this girl. The punishments that the 3 athletes received – after being found guilty by the school, btw – were unbelievable… one was expelled (only to go play ball for Idaho the following year), one was suspended for a year, and the other for a semester – and both of them were allowed to return to the basketball team.

The one woman on the show (I forget who she was exactly), said that schools are perfectly capable of handling situations such as this, leaving the police out of it. Absolutely ridiculous. They’re just trying to cover their asses, and hide the fact that any kind of sexual assault ever occurs at their school.

I saw it last night too. I believe that woman was the school's attorney.

That's what I thought, but I didn't want to throw that out there without knowing for sure.

Regardless, she's an idiot. Anyone who thinks a semester suspension is an appropriate punishment for rape is out of their mind. Or they're, well.. a lawyer.

(before anyone comes in here, reads this, and becomes enraged, I'm not implying that all lawyers are out of their mind and/or think this is ok. I'm simply saying that only a lawyer - and/or a crazy person - would think (or pretend) this punishment was sufficient).

University of Oklahoma: Changes and Possible Future Changes to Sexual Assault Policy

http://www.oudaily.com/news/2011/may...cy-approve-lo/

Excerpts:

Thursday, May 12, 2011
Sexual-assault victims on OU’s [University of Oklahoma] campus have a longer time to report an incident after the OU Board of Regents extended the crime’s statute of limitations Thursday during the board’s May meeting.
Students now have 365 days to report a sexual-assault incident instead of 30 . . .
The policy's original wording unintentionally put a 30-day deadline on reporting an incident, President David Boren said. This change clarifies the policy and provides students with enough time to report an incident, Boren said

“In our whole society ... we tend to avoid candid conversation about sensitive subjects like this,” Boren said. “Those that suffer sexual assault need to know that the university is a place where they can bring forward their concerns, their need for help, their need for discussion without worry and without embarrassment.”

The change to the sexual-assault policy also modifies the punishment for offenders. If a student commits an act of sexual assault, the penalty of expulsion and suspension are now viable punishments, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Although it wasn't listed on the agenda, the university will make more changes to how it handles sexual-assault cases, Boren said.

A committee of students and faculty has been assembled to look into further changes, Boren said. . . .