Rolling Stone magazine has apologized for trusting the subject of rape article after a University of Virginia fraternity revealed they did not have a party the night of alleged rape and no 'lifeguard' is a member.

The horrifying first person account in the article, saw a current junior identified as 'Jackie', claim she was assaulted by a seven Phi Kappa Psi brothers after accepting an invitation to a 'date night' function at the house.

The damning article accused the school of repeatedly hushing up sexual assault victims in order to protect their reputation.

But now the magazine has been forced to issue an apology as it admitted there were discrepancies in Jackie's account about the incident at the Charlottesville, Virginia school and that they have now 'come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced.'

Officials close to the fraternity said that no members of the fraternity were employed at the university’s Aquatic Fitness Center during that time frame — a detail Jackie provided in her account to Rolling Stone and in interviews with The Washington Post — and that no member of the house matches the description detailed in the Rolling Stone account.

'Her friends and rape activists on campus strongly supported Jackie's account. She had spoken of the assault in campus forums.

'We reached out to both the local branch and the national leadership of the fraternity where Jackie said she was attacked.

'They responded that they couldn't confirm or deny her story but had concerns about the evidence.

'In the face of new information, there now appear to be discrepancies in Jackie's account, and we have come to the conclusion that our trust in her was misplaced.

'We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault and now regret the decision to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account. We are taking this seriously and apologize to anyone who was affected by the story.'

The fall-out from the report on one of University of Virginia's most illustrious fraternities was extremely damaging and University president Teresa Sullivan promised a full investigation and also to examine the way the school responds to sexual assault allegations.

In the piece published last month it was claimed that Jackie decided not to press charges when the incident first happened, but she felt she needed to go public with her story after hearing from two other women who were gang raped at the fraternity, which counts President Woodrow Wilson as one of their distinguished alumni.

At a certain point men who will be punished for not committing a crime will lose any punitive reason for not doing so.

You're suggesting that men will begin raping women because, why not - some men get convicted whether they do or not?

Seriously?

- A survey of 6,159 college students enrolled at 32 institutions in the U.S. found the following: (ref 4)

· 54% of the women surveyed had been the victims of some form of sexual abuse; more than one in four college-aged women had been the victim of rape or attempted rape;

· 57% of the assaults occurred on dates;

· 73% of the assailants and 55% of the victims had used alcohol or other drugs prior to the assault;

· 25% of the men surveyed admitted some degree of sexually aggressive behavior;

· 42% of the victims told no one.

- In a survey of high school students, 56% of the girls and 76% of the boys believed forced sex was acceptable under some circumstances. (ref 5)

- A survey of 11-to-14 year-olds found:(ref 5)

· 51% of the boys and 41% of the girls said forced sex was acceptable if the boy, "spent a lot of money" on the girl;

· 31% of the boys and 32% of the girls said it was acceptable for a man to rape a woman with past sexual experience;

· 87% of boys and 79% of girls said sexual assault was acceptable if the man and the woman were married;

· 65% of the boys and 47% of the girls said it was acceptable for a boy to rape a girl if they had been dating for more than six months.

- In a survey of male college students:

· 35% anonymously admitted that, under certain circumstances, they would commit rape if they believed they could get away with it (ref 6,7).

· One in 12 admitted to committing acts that met the legal definitions of rape, and 84% of men who committed rape did not label it as rape.(ref 6,7)

- In another survey of college males: (ref 8)

· 43% of college-aged men admitted to using coercive behavior to have sex, including ignoring a woman's protest, using physical aggression, and forcing intercourse.

· 15% acknowledged they had committed acquaintance rape; 11% acknowledged using physical restraints to force a woman to have sex.

- Women with a history of rape or attempted rape during adolescence were almost twice as likely to experience a sexual assault during college, and were three times as likely to be victimized by a husband. (ref 9)

- Sexual assault is reported by 33% to 46% of women who are being physically assaulted by their husbands.(ref 10)



If you or someone you know has been hurt:

Campus Advocacy Network

Resources for Survivors of Sexual Assault and Abuse

After an Assault


Sources:

1. Dupre, A.R., Hampton, H.L., Morrison, H., and Meeks, G.R. Sexual Assault. Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey. 1993;48:640-648.

2. National Crime Center and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA; 1992:1-16

3. National Victim Center, and Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA; 1992:1-16.

4. Koss M.P., Hidden rape: sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of students in higher education. In: Burgess A.W., ed Rape and Sexual Assault. New York, NY: Garland Publishing: 1988;2:3-25.

5. White, Jacqueline W. and John A. Humphrey. "Young People's Attitudes Toward Acquaintance Rape." Acquaintance Rape: The Hidden crime." John Wiley and Sons, 1991.

6. Koss M.P., Dinero, T.E., Seibel, C.A. Stranger and acquaintance rape: Are there differences in the victim's experience? Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1988:12:1-24.

7. Malamuth N.M. Rape proclivity among males. J Soc Issues. 1981;37:138-157.

8. Rapaport, Karen R. and C. Dale Posey. Sexually Coercive College Males. Acquaintance Rape: The Hidden Crime, edited by Andrea Parrot. John Wiley and Sons, 1991.

9. Ellis, Atkeson, Calhoun, 1982: Gidycz, Coble, Latham, Layman, (1993); Guthrie, Notgrass, 1992.

10. Frieze IH, Browne A. Violence in marriage. In: Ohlin, L, Tonry, M, eds. Family Violence: Crime and Justice, A Review of Research. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press; 1989:163-218.

11. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Adolescence. Sexual assault and the adolescent. Pediatrics. 1994;94(5):761-765.

12. Heise, L.L. Reproductive freedom and violence against women: where are the intersections? J Law Med Ethics. 1993;21(2):206-216.

the rape industry

I know, I'll go watch some Jimmy Carr stand-up.

Edit: Show of hands, how many people read this in Gil's voice?

I'm glad you guys went there. Because I was about to start going from the moment I read the phrase "Rape industry"... and then found some rare moment of restraint. Carlin's been gone too long, I'm becoming less comfortable joking about rape.

I know, I'll go watch some Jimmy Carr stand-up.

I keep waiting for us to outsource that industry, but nooooo.

"C'mon, buy a rape, just one rape, please I'm beggin' ya, ol' Gil's just gotta move some rapes here..."



Edit: Show of hands, how many people read this in Gil's voice?

I've known too many ladies that have been raped, in school, in the military, in jobs that would seem perfectly safe. One of the ones in the military was working under a vehicle when her Major pulled her out from under, smacked her around a few times, then raped her. He'd just gotten a dear John letter and blamed it on his ex. She was transferred to another unit, no action was taken on him.

Deny it all you like, there is a rape culture that rots our society to the core. Some may abuse it and make an industry out of it, but it is real, it is there, and it is not funny.

Contrary to popular belief, I generally try to admit when I'm wrong. The first report I quoted was not from a source I have any experience with and grabbed because I was in a hurry. So with that in mind, this is a reputable source: http://ippsr.msu.edu/NCHA/NCHA_2014_Report.pdf
I am intimately familiar with this particular organization (IPPSR) I worked for them for several years, and am well acquainted with both their staff and methodologies. Their numbers are good.



Now a couple of caveats, a) this is a single university that does have a somewhat negative reputation for drinking and partying but I'm not sure where they compare with the national statistics. b) this is a single year's sample c) MSU has had the last several years working hard on a sexual assault awareness program.

According to this report (page 49) 1.6% of females reported being penetrated without consent within the last year. 2.9% reported attempted penetration within the last year. Assuming a 4-5 year college career that's 12-15% of females would experience one sexual assault in the course of their time at college. (Granted there is probably significant aggregation if certain high risk behaviors are repeated)