Kinja reply list

Read More
KendradicalAnna Merlan
9/22/15 10:53am
1 in 4 women on UVA’s campus have been sexually assaulted? Jesus fuck, that is sickening as shit. I just cannot comprehend how this is allowed to continue at colleges across the country... I can bet you that if 23.1% of their students were dying or suffering permanent harm from alcohol poisoning, the school would be going above and beyond to put a stop to binge drinking on campus. So where the hell is their outrage when it comes to victims of rape on their campus??
Reply
- Read More
  TheSuperBongoKendradical
  9/22/15 11:15am
  When it starts as having your bra snapped in 6th grade gym class, or boys creating rating scales for girls’ bodies, or teachers/principals telling girls that visible collar bone makes them a sexualized distraction to the boys, or kids being teased for being virgins . . . the list goes on. Girls, unfortunately, are taught to accommodate sexualized violations. And, administrators are more than happy to bank on that rather than address entitled, jerk, rapey behavior.
  Reply
- Read More
  KendradicalTheSuperBongo
  9/22/15 11:56am
  I know. And all of those things are so revolting. It’s just, like, we’ve made so many strides in the way of equal rights (obviously a long, long way to go, but nonetheless), so it’s exceptionally disgusting how this behavior is not only tolerated, but expected, and generally played off as “boys will be boys”. That, right there, is a phrase I hate with a fiery passion of a thousand burning suns, because it makes it as though that type of behavior is acceptable. I wish more people would call that shit out when they see it, but I haven’t the faintest idea how to get them to do that...
  Reply
Read More
GlitterPeacockAnna Merlan
9/22/15 9:45am
This is why the Rolling Stone article made me so angry, they fabricated details about a very real problem in this country and left many to believe that most claims of sexual assault are also fabricated. It wouldn’t have been too hard to find a story that 100% checked out and didn’t do this kind of damage.
Reply
- Read More
  QellaqanGlitterPeacock
  9/22/15 9:56am
  I thought it was pretty insane how much heat “Jackie” from the article took, and how relatively little Erdely took.
  
  And this is part of a larger journalistic issue— if you go for the biggest, splashiest, wow-est version of a story, at the very least, it’s probably not going to represent the many other related stories. Like stories about student debt are always about kids with $200k rather than the far more common and still extremely limiting $20k. A guy getting his date drunk and pressuring her for sex is super common and needs addressing, but they go with an insane tale of depraved gang rape (which, does anybody think that doesn’t need addressing when it happens?!). The blankiest blank version of journalism, at least to me, often seems to undermine its very purpose.
  Reply
- Read More
  djericasphinxGlitterPeacock
  9/22/15 10:18am
  I live in Northern VA and have friends who went to UVa. The amount of people who re-posted when the Rolling Stone article was first published and said something along the lines of, "this happened to me" or "something like this happened to a friend" was unreal.
  Reply
Read More
bwrites enjoyed the time we shared togetherAnna Merlan
9/22/15 9:52am
I’m have several very close friendships, so close we’ve shared our sexual assault stories. I know my sample size is low relative to the entire population, but it really is unbelievably common.
Reply
- Read More
  Mike Pipper Super GIF Enthusiastbwrites enjoyed the time we shared together
  9/22/15 11:34am
  Every woman I am or have been close to has a sexual abuse/physical assault story.
  
  Every.
  
  One.
  
  Save for my sister. She is the sole exception.
  Reply
- Read More
  IHateGoatsPartDeuxbwrites enjoyed the time we shared together
  9/22/15 12:57pm
  Almost every one of my close friends has gotten a drugged drink. Most of us didn’t get sexually assaulted (thank god, that includes me) but it’s happened. The vast majority of my female friends have been sexually assaulted. When people tell me they don’t know ANYONE who has been (which is a lie, as they know me), I tell them people obviously aren’t comfortable telling them about it.
  Reply
Read More
plandrew burnAnna Merlan
9/22/15 9:54am
Earnest sincere question. Once assaulted why is the school administration the first stop instead of alerting local authorities? ie the police? I’m a woman, never been thru such horrific events so I have no clue. Why are colleges their own tiny enclaves insulated from local state and federal laws?
Reply
- Read More
  EdnasEdiblesplandrew burn
  9/22/15 10:26am
  In the cases of rape, I believe that the police force should be the first contacted. However, not all cases of sexual assault on campus are rape and many would not be given any sort of investigative priority at a police station. For example, let’s say there’s a situation where a female student in the dorms is held down by a male student. He forces a kiss on her and puts his hands under her shirt. She is able to get away and go to the RA. If she called the police on this he would likely not be charged with anything. There’s no evidence. It’s just he said/she said. So now she has to see him every day on campus? By contacting the school and using that process, they can investigate and hand down sanctions like moving him to another dorm or removing him from on-campus housing, etc.
  Reply
- Read More
  BlessedAreTheHedas. Our fight is not over.plandrew burn
  9/22/15 10:42am
  For many women its fear. Most police departments don’t have a SVU, and the police aren’t well trained in dealing with sexual assault. Look at the case of Darren Sharper, and how many police departments dropped the ball. He raped multiple women in multiple states. The majority did go the police and the investigation were shoddy. The back log of rape kits in Detroit was finally tested and they found serial rapists. Everyone says go to the police, but for many women it adds to the trauma. There are countless stories of women being treated like the perpetrator instead of the victim. Not to mention how men are treated when they go to the cops. They'll still get the, men can't get raped, line. From cops.
  Reply
Read More
KillanyAnna Merlan
9/22/15 9:59am
It also found that the school’s policy didn’t provide due process for either the complainant or the person accused of assault:

This is obviously a gross injustice for the victims, but why should the accused get due process?
Reply
- Read More
  slevin kelveraKillany
  9/22/15 10:17am
  Because that’s how the justice system should work. It doesn’t matter if everyone in the world knows you’re are guilty you still get the same rights as everyone else. Like it or not there are people out there who will lie about sexual assault, and regardless of how few times it actually happens you have to take steps to mitigate it.
  Reply
- Read More
  KendradicalKillany
  9/22/15 11:13am
  ... Because, in America, everybody has the right to a fair trial? And just because somebody’s been accused of a crime, it does not necessarily mean that they are guilty of it?
  Reply
Read More
Mike Pipper Super GIF EnthusiastAnna Merlan
9/22/15 11:10am
OCR also found a basis for a hostile environment for the affected students and that the university failed to take sufficient steps to eliminate a hostile environment and prevent its recurrence for the portion of the investigation that OCR completed.

Fucking this... Cannot stand potential victims being treated like this. Absolutely no excuse for generating a hostile environment when they absolutely need support.

Stop it.
Reply
Read More
CabalanooAnna Merlan
9/22/15 12:50pm
Very bad obviously, but as UVa is one of 106 schools being investigated, and you previously apologized due to your coverage on the Rolling Stone UVa story, yet specifically chose UVa here, this seems like sour grapes/grudge. Frankly I think you should leave it up to other writers to report on campus rape from now on (and if UVa is again a singular noteworthy school to call out, fine, but at least an author claiming such isn’t you, so an objective reader wouldn’t suspect bias at a particular school due to personal animus or redemption attempt or I-was-right-all-along or whatever).

Stop covering UVa, Anna. Let someone else do it, who doesn’t have as much baggage. You apologized, great. But you are still untrustworthy on this particular topic and/or school.

Just me: I’m left wondering whether all other 105 schools did as much bad stuff if you investigated/quoted things similarly, yet you solely focused on UVa due to personal reasons. Not a good thing to wonder, when campus assault should instead be the main issue.
Reply
- Read More
  gilld'dragonCabalanoo
  9/22/15 1:10pm
  Probably because of that coverage. Also stop trying to cast aspersions. If you don’t believe the article come out and say it.
  
  As to redemption: Yeah I could see that. It shows that while the RS article was fabricated in regards to specific incidents/participants the truth behind it (UVA has a sex violence problem) wasn’t. And also it is important that someone who seems might have gotten away squelching that sort of bad press doesn’t get away with hiding behind a snafu.
  
  But I am more inclined to believe the OP is not acting in any bad faith or with an active vendetta against UVA
  Reply
- Read More
  UngreyMyHeartCabalanoo
  9/22/15 1:50pm
  What the actual fuck? “You reported on this story before, therefore you should specifically avoiding reporting on the same topic again.”
  
  Fucking journalism, how does it work?
  Reply