On Sunday, the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism released a damning report detailing how a now-retracted Rolling Stone account of a brutal gang-rape at the University of Virginia turned into a journalistic nightmare. The report revealed editorial failures at every level that missed apparent fabrications by the alleged victim, a student identified only as Jackie.
Rather than calling for the heads of Rolling Stone’s editors, we should instead consider the impulses that led to their missteps—the lure of a juicy story and, most perniciously, the impulse to sacrifice truth for comfort about the subject of rape.
Amid the fallout, two things may happen. First, sexual assault survivors may think twice about sharing their stories with journalists at a time when publicizing the prevalence of sexual assault is critical to creating a societal dialogue about the issue of campus rape.
Second, journalists and the public may shy away from engaging with sexual assault. Rape culture is quotidian, omnipresent, and far less ghoulish than Rolling Stone (and probably many of us) would like to imagine it. That’s what makes it so pernicious. Sabrina Erdely, the article’s author, sought out a terrifying rape in a darkened fraternity house to shock readers out of apathy. The problem isn’t just that these notions play to our comfortable stereotypes of what rape is—it’s that they marginalize and devalue the experience of victims whose stories aren’t deemed “dramatic” or “newsworthy” enough. This double-edged sword of media attention for sexual assault is precisely why responsible journalism must be at the forefront of the effort to name, blame, and shame those who engage in the practice.
But all of us should be careful to avoid compromising truth in service to a cause. Untruths don’t just embolden rape culture naysayers; they also damage the legitimacy of campaigns that seek to support victims and accurately conceptualize the problem. These compromises are often far less sensational than Rolling Stone’s faux pas. Outlets ranging from Georgetown’s own Stall Seat Journal to President Obama frequently cite the widely circulated statistic that one in five women will be the victim of sexual assault while in college. Emily Yoffe at Slate, however, has called this figure to task—the statistic comes from a survey of just two colleges, and shouldn’t be applied nationally. That we do this so readily is a problem in itself.
This evening, at 7 p.m., Georgetown’s chapter of Take Back the Night will share anonymous stories of sexual assault survivors at an event called It Happens Here. The Editorial Board has faith they will embody the truth Rolling Stone failed: that speaking inaccurately of rape culture hobbles only our ability to fight it. We shouldn’t fear that accuracy hurts either victims or our cause. Sexual assault survivors deserve brave spaces to confront perpetrators of rape culture. Fidelity to truth, confronting sexual assault as it is, lets us see the problem in the light of day. Perhaps it lets us see a way to fix it, too.
Illustration: Ellie Yaeger
Um
This editorial is excellent. Completely balanced case that takes actual facts into consideration.
I usually hate media criticism from the Voice but this is spot on.
Rape culture doesn’t exist in America. Neither the legal system, nor institutions like Georgetown, condone, incentivize, or promote rape in any way, shape or form. When rapes occur, they’re spoken ought against and steps are taken to punish the guilty. Many organizations exist to combat rape and much money and media time is spent in anti-rape efforts. How many organizations exist to promote or excuse rape, and how much money and media time is spent celebrating it? Zero.
The 1 in 5 statistic is also bogus, as a quick review of the study and a basic knowledge of statistics will show you.
Real rape victims should have no fear of coming forward. Women (or men) who weren’t raped and who lie and say they were for attention, sympathy, to cover up cheating, revenge because they think they were used just for sex, or because they slept with someone they’re embarrassed about, should feel the fear of being exposed. This includes Jackie from UVA, as well as Emma at Columbia, and any Jane Hoya who wants to lie about it.
————————————–
| PLEASE DO NOT FEED |
| THE TROLL |
————————————–
|
|
|
|
|
“When rapes occur, they’re spoken ought against and steps are taken to punish the guilty.”
There are dozens of studies and news reports showing that this, in most cases, is very far from the truth. Jameis Winston, anyone?
Rape is notoriously hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, since it usually occurs between people who know each other in private places with alcohol involved. The amount of time, emotional energy, and stress that it takes to prosecute someone for rape, knowing that it will likely not end in a conviction, plus being subjected to exactly the kinds of accusations you use in the last paragraph of your comment, are plenty of reasons that discourage many rape victims not to come forward. In these cases, the accuser is frequently just as much on trial as the accused.
It’s true that people who lie to the police or other officials about being sexually assaulted should be punished, the same way that people who commit insurance fraud or lie about being robbed are. However, these instances are very rare, and the punishment should be held to the same standard of evidence as convicting someone of any crime–proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Saying that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict someone of rape isn’t enough to convict the accuser of lying, because that would effectively mean the accuser is guilty until proven innocent. That’s not how the US justice system works.
Name an institution or group of people who publicly endorse rape. The fact is you can’t. This is proof our culture doesn’t support rape, which is evidence that “rape culture” doesn’t exist. That’s just a term feminists use to create the impression that rape is widespread (it isn’t) and get more money and attention for themselves.
While some foolish and immoral individuals may joke about it, and some criminals may engage in it, no one in politics, business, academia, the media, or legal system approve of rape, and it is condemned by more than 99% of the population (with that less than 1% being the mentally ill, morally repugnant, and actual rapists). We have, in reality, an “anti-rape culture” because society condemns it, seeks to prevent it, and attempts to hold the guilty accountable.
That the legal system sometimes fails is, as you note, representative of the difficulties that come with prosecuting cases, something that is especially true when the alleged victim waits until the physical evidence is gone and continue to trade texts and emails with the alleged rapists, as was the case with Mattress Girl up at Columbia.
Isn’t one of the issues the fact that Senator Gillibrand touted the Columbia Mattress Girl? I am sure than most GU students would vote for her–but what she did was appalling, and she should be called out.
The other problem—the President of UVa still has a job. Teresa Sullivan, an unattractive woman, jumped to conclusions and collectively punished a bunch of men with high social status on campus. Why did she jump to conclusions? Was she acting out some of her feelings about being slighted when she was unattractive and in college? These are fair questions.