Post by ck4829 on Jul 16, 2017 10:17:46 GMT
Betsy DeVos’ Campus Rape Talks With Men’s Rights Groups Are a Travesty
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos held meetings yesterday with several organizations to hear their concerns about Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in any education program receiving federal funding, as it relates to cases of campus rape. Under Title IX, sexual harassment, assault, and rape can be considered discrimination. The rule has been in the news often these last few years, with hundreds of people involved in sexual assaults on college campuses filing complaints over how their school mishandled their cases. There are 339 open cases at the moment.
As news of DeVos' meetings circulated, one disturbing fact arose: She would divide her Title IX summit into three parts, giving one session each to victims and victim advocates, universities and their legal teams, and men's rights activists. MRAs often campaign on behalf of men who they claim are wrongly accused of sexual assault. These people, they say, have been publicly accused of sexual assault when it didn't actually happen—and sometimes even been taken to court over the alleged incidents.
Some of these groups can make it harder for sexual assault victims to be heard or believed, and giving equal time to them shows a callous lack of sympathy and respect for these victims.
DeVos met with men’s rights groups that perpetuate false information about sexual assault.
The websites of two of the men’s advocacy groups that met with DeVos present inaccurate and highly misleading interpretations of rape report data. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), for example, states: “Analyses of the extent of unfounded or false reports of rape made to the police range from 1.5 percent to 90 percent, depending on the geographical location and study methodology used." This is a completely bizarre statistic, cutting such a wide swath as to be practically meaningless. The National Coalition for Men (NCFM), who was also on DeVos' docket, says, “Some studies represent false accusations [as] 50 percent of allegations examined.” They do not give any proof for this number.
Although it's an impossible figure to pin down, various large-scale studies cite the rate of false reports of rape to hover around 2 to 8 or 2 to 10 percent. Claims of more frequent false rape reports are inflated, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. They also note that "many inaccurately believe false reports are commonplace."
The truth is, reliable statistics about sexual assault—on and off campus—are basically nonexistent. These groups use whatever numbers they choose to validate their claims, and in so doing, invalidate the lived experiences and traumas of real people.
Some of these groups normalize harmful victim-blaming and victim-doubting narratives.
www.self.com/story/betsy-devos-title-ix-mens-rights-groups
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos held meetings yesterday with several organizations to hear their concerns about Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination in any education program receiving federal funding, as it relates to cases of campus rape. Under Title IX, sexual harassment, assault, and rape can be considered discrimination. The rule has been in the news often these last few years, with hundreds of people involved in sexual assaults on college campuses filing complaints over how their school mishandled their cases. There are 339 open cases at the moment.
As news of DeVos' meetings circulated, one disturbing fact arose: She would divide her Title IX summit into three parts, giving one session each to victims and victim advocates, universities and their legal teams, and men's rights activists. MRAs often campaign on behalf of men who they claim are wrongly accused of sexual assault. These people, they say, have been publicly accused of sexual assault when it didn't actually happen—and sometimes even been taken to court over the alleged incidents.
Some of these groups can make it harder for sexual assault victims to be heard or believed, and giving equal time to them shows a callous lack of sympathy and respect for these victims.
DeVos met with men’s rights groups that perpetuate false information about sexual assault.
The websites of two of the men’s advocacy groups that met with DeVos present inaccurate and highly misleading interpretations of rape report data. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE), for example, states: “Analyses of the extent of unfounded or false reports of rape made to the police range from 1.5 percent to 90 percent, depending on the geographical location and study methodology used." This is a completely bizarre statistic, cutting such a wide swath as to be practically meaningless. The National Coalition for Men (NCFM), who was also on DeVos' docket, says, “Some studies represent false accusations [as] 50 percent of allegations examined.” They do not give any proof for this number.
Although it's an impossible figure to pin down, various large-scale studies cite the rate of false reports of rape to hover around 2 to 8 or 2 to 10 percent. Claims of more frequent false rape reports are inflated, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. They also note that "many inaccurately believe false reports are commonplace."
The truth is, reliable statistics about sexual assault—on and off campus—are basically nonexistent. These groups use whatever numbers they choose to validate their claims, and in so doing, invalidate the lived experiences and traumas of real people.
Some of these groups normalize harmful victim-blaming and victim-doubting narratives.
www.self.com/story/betsy-devos-title-ix-mens-rights-groups