Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

I agree with Marilyn -- and emphasize? a few points:

1.? i often hear people say that wanting to "lock up" a rapist sounds fascist 
and that locking people up isn't the key to prevention, etc -- and I 
understand this.? but while locking people up isn't the ONLY solution - it is 
certainly part of the solution -- and it isn't fascist to say so.? when i 
teach this idea, i say "i dont' want the government (or in this case - 
university officials -- ) to have more power -- i just want the power they 
already have to be used fairly.? This isn't fascism - it's egalitarianism -- 
and it's important because when punishments are doled out in a manner that 
implies violence against women is less harmful than theft of property -- 
social hierarchies are legitimized.? In other words -- if, in the name of 
justice, the going rate for rape is probation - while the going rate for 
theft is 2 years incarceration -- the law has just endorsed the idea that 
ownership of stuff is more important than women's freedom, autonomy and 
bodily integrity. Even if t
 his is a reflection of how people in fact think in teh real world -- the 
rules (of law or campus policy) should be better than the real world -- or as 
i write in my new book "justice should be better than capitalism".

1.? reporting rates are low for many reasons -- thus, it seems to me the 
solutions should be directed at each reason. 

for example -- one reason is --? women don't report because they fear 
retaliation and social isolation--  
the obvious solution to this problem is - increasing effectiveness and 
enforcement of rules that prohibit retaliation 

another reason is -- women are fearful of being blamed and often aren't even 
sure the conduct WAS rape -- usually because the victim was drinking - 
the obvious solution is -- massive repetitive training about the nature of 
unwanted sex -- and the role of alcohol in the equation of determining 
responsibility.? as i said in an earlier post -- in the real world and on 
campus, the message is clear that if a victdim is intoxicated, she bears some 
of the blame.? this message has got to be turned around to a "buyer beware" 
idea -- such that the potential offender -- male or female - knows that THEY 
bear the risk of getting in trouble if they have sex with an incapacitated 
other.? Taking advantage of a vulnerable individual should not be the 
accepted norm - it should be the scandalized "bad" behavior -- and colleges 
can help create this mindset.? Even bumper stickers themes can help promote 
the idea in the context of sexual violence that if a victim is drunk - 
"intoxication will be seen as a vulnerability not a liability" -- 

i could go on with the reasons and proposed remedies -- but? marilyn's point 
is crucial -- that the culture has to create a sense that reporting is a good 
thing to do and that there will be a swift and certain reaction from 
responsible officials.

my work is partly aimed at giving schools a legal incentive to do the right 
thing -- because for too long - schools have feared legal action from the 
accused student -- but the trend is clearly in the opposite direction.? 
Student victims have a much firmer legal leg to stand on when the response is 
inadequate - primarily because being sexually assaulted on campus raises 
civil rights (and thus serious liability) issues for teh school -- being 
accused of sexual assault on campus does not.

wendy murphy





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