Sexual Misconduct Hearings on College Campuses: The Victims and The Accused

Buzzfeed recently posted this article about accused men being unhappy with the judicial actions made during their trials by college officials. While I think this article has a lot of issues, I think that it is important to address that our current system for dealing with campus assault and rape is just not working.

Due to the increased amount of media about colleges’ failures to report or deal with these cases, it makes sense for the boys to jump on the bandwagon too. I completely agree that both the accused and the alleged victims are probably not getting the best treatment from these trials. Sexual assault and rape crimes are incredibly complicated issues, and since our colleges and universities have no idea how to actually handle them, it’s obvious that neither the men or women in these trials are getting an equal and just treatment. But the majority of this article feels a lot more like “mansplaining” and pity-parties than really trying to address the underlying structure of our college judicial systems.

So this article takes the stories of three college boys accused of sexual assault or rape (but cleverly only chooses “low level” incidents of unwanted kissing, texting, or touching) to use in defense of their claim that the system disadvantages the men accused of sexual assault. Our first frat guy Kevin, a self-proclaimed “social justice bro,” is unhappy with the way his trial went. Kevin said that he sent some drunken sexual texts to a girl in a sorority during freshman year, which he immediately regretted the next day. He texted her apologizing and she said it was cool. Later on, when the Greek committee met to discuss how to deal with sexual assault, he disagreed with the same girl about having co-ed fraternities to curb these offenses. (He claimed most rape/assault occurred in dorm rooms, which I think means he’s completely naive and ignorant of what goes on around Greek life).

Basically what he insinuated after that is that she reported the offense afterward because of the disagreement. Oh and some other girls joined too. But that’s just something that pisses me off. Maybe you could argue that these women starting reporting at this point to make a point to him that fraternities are an issue when it comes to rape culture. But people won’t interpret it that way; they’ll see it as girls trying to get attention or revenge. Adding even more to the stupid myths that circle around that most or even just a large number of accusations are false. It’s bullshit. It’s the same thing that’s going on with the Cosby case. No matter how many women come out about their instances of sexual assault involving Bill Cosby, there will be a wall of people saying “No, they’re just going after his money, this guy is a saint cause he was in a commercial about Pudding Pops.” Just like people will say, “Boys will be boys.” “It was a one-night stand, it’s normal.” “I was drunk too.”

Or my favorite is, “Why did she wait so long?” Oh, I’m sorry, is there an expiration date? Is it like Forever 21, where I can’t report a crime after 21 days?? Let’s just assume that the first idea that pops into your head after you’ve been assaulted is, “Oh, I’m gonna run to an officer and report this, and I won’t experience any grief or harassment, and the judicial system will deal with this issue perfectly. I won’t have any residual anxiety or depression, and I can go on my merry way!”

Anyways, Kevin and the other 2 boys are complaining about the process of their trials. They said that the schools provided them misleading information, changed trial dates, and didn’t follow the rules. They were then either kicked out of school or suspended, and the case stayed on their transcripts. Then they complained that this stigma ruined their lives because they were unable to go to graduate school or get the jobs they wanted.

I completely feel for these boys concerning the improper trials provided for them. Everyone has a right to a fair trial. I also think that there are issues about how we deal with the accused. I am completely against sexual assault and offenses, but sometimes, maybe for these “lower level” offenses, I think that there should be more to these trials than just kicking them out of school. You don’t learn anything this way. I’m a restorative justice kind of gal, and I think that colleges need to revise their judicial plans for dealing with campus assault.

Yes, you will face the stigma that is attached to having sexual assault tattooed on your record. But the reason it’s on your record is to combat repeated offenders. Sexual assault and rape is often done by a small group of people who repeat their offenses. That’s why it’s not surprising for a report of assault or rape to stir up more reports about victims from the same accused. *Cough cough* Sam Pepper, Bill Cosby, etc *cough cough* Statistically, maybe not every single accusation is true, but I can not discredit these women’s claims. Strength comes in numbers, and I fully support these women in sending a message out to the world, saying “Look, this shit is happening and you’re just ignoring it.” Cause guess who’s also facing the stigma? These women, the victims of sexual assault (in these cases). So yes, you may think that a “silly drunken night” ruined your life and that men are “held under a knife” during college. But women are the ones who are being violated, pressured, ridiculed and ignored, and you bet your sweet Frat Boy ass that their lives will be every bit as much miserable as yours.

Rape culture exists, as much as you want to deny it. As much as colleges want to sweep cases under the rug rather than acknowledge that they have no idea what they’re doing. As much as we want to protect the people we idolize. As much as we want to believe that women are just vindictive bitches looking to destroy men’s lives. We need education. We need to take women seriously. We need to have fair trials for both women and men. We need change.