There are an average of 207,754 victims of sexual assault in the United States every year, which breaks down into about one victim every two minutes. While the number of rapes has been on the decline in the past two decades, high profile cases continue to crop up. The most disturbing aspect of these high profile cases is the institutions with which they are involved — the United States military and American universities.
Where our most talented students go to study, and where our most steadfast citizens go to serve, is where we may be failing the most in terms of keeping our men and women protected. The U.S. military and universities have enough in common to explain the unsettling disrespect for, and outright aversion towards, sexual assault victims. Both are closed systems, meaning they handle — or don’t handle — reports of crime within their own environments, using whichever procedure they deem appropriate.
In May of this year, the Pentagon released a survey estimating that 26,000 of 108,000 active duty service members were sexually assaulted in the past year. The military chain of command promotes a clear conflict of interest for commanding officers when reporting a rape in their midst. Consequently, no action has been taken to change the way the military deals with these crimes.
The ongoing case against three Naval Academy football players charged with raping a fellow female midshipman has raised ethical concerns that have long been present in regards to military court proceedings. The New York Times reported that the young woman was “grilled” for “roughly 30 hours over several days” by defense attorneys, who asked her questions that would normally not be permitted in a cross-examination in a civilian court. This case specifically highlights the worst of the problems with the military’s handling of sexual assault cases, because these methods scare many victims from speaking up.
Within the last two years, federal complaints of Title IX, a law protecting against gender discrimination, and Clery Act violations have been filed against the University of North Carolina, Yale University, Swarthmore and Occidental Colleges, among many others. The Clery Act, passed in 1990, requires any university that partakes in federal financial aid programs to report crimes on campus, but the U.S. Department of Education has only used its power to fine schools for violations of this mandate six times in the past 20 years. Women on college campuses are often forced to rely on the university’s justice system when pursuing a rape allegation, and due to the college’s lack of resources and inability to conduct a police-level investigation, the case usually does not lead to a conviction.
With the lax response to sexual assault victims in both the military and universities, we empower these predators even further, instilling a belief that there will be no penalty for their actions. It’s believed to be in the best interest of the institution as a whole if the allegations are swept under the rug — perpetrators are able to comfortably stay in these institutions without being held accountable.
Reputation is imperative for both the military and universities. The issue is therefore reduced to a question about values. Those in charge of military and university institutions must decide to either propagate this false sense of superiority, or care for the safety and well being of college students and military service members.
If our military, held in high esteem across the country, cannot adequately handle reports of rape, it is no wonder that our universities follow suit in attempting to conceal and ignore any sexual assault problems. If Congress does not make it a priority to protect our best and brightest, it perpetuates rape culture within our nations most respected institutions, and it ends up supporting the perpetrators’ actions.
Our lawmakers need to fiercely monitor the country’s universities, as well as ensure local and state police forces engage in preventing sexual harassment and violence. Passing legislation that will change the way the military and universities handle sexual violence allegations should be a first priority. Perpetrators of sexual assault and rape need to know that they are not invincible, and that the government and the American people will not tolerate their actions.
Nina Golshan is a staff columnist. Email her at [email protected].
