Editorial: Recent rape trials set dangerous precedent

For most students, UCLA is a safe place. Compared to other parts
of the city, Westwood has few violent crimes. But sexual assault is
always a concern on college campuses. In 2002 there were 18 sexual
assaults reported to campus police. But, on a campus of 35,000, how
many have not spoken up?

Recent court cases have illustrated a dangerous trend and
contributed to an environment in which victims may increasingly
fear reporting assault.

Several cases have highlighted the legal and ethical complexity
of sexual assault cases: Kobe Bryant’s accusations in
Colorado, a case implicating the son of an assistant deputy sheriff
in Orange County and another closer to home. DeShawn Stringer faces
a retrial this week after a jury in June deadlocked on charges that
he and two friends raped a UCLA student in her De Neve dorm room on
Dec. 5, 2002.

For the women involved in the cases, reporting their stories
have subjected them to intense media scrutiny, at times revealing
explicit details about their sexual histories and splitting public
perception of their character and morals.

A defense attorney in the Orange County case was quoted in the
OC Weekly asking, “Why isn’t she being charged with
this crime?” while a defense consultant said, “This is
exactly what she wanted. They believed her when she (said) she
wanted to be a porn star.”

All three of these cases revolve around the question of consent
““ no one is denying that sexual intercourse occurred ““
the only question is whether the sex legally constituted a rape. In
the initial trial involving Stringer and his friends, much was
debated of when and to whom Jane Doe said no.

Many rape cases share these characteristics. On college
campuses, a 2001 study by the National Institute of Justice and the
Bureau of Justice Statistics indicates that as many as 90 percent
of women knew their alleged attacker in instances of completed and
attempted rape. Around 36 percent of female rapes were committed by
men who were classmates.

Especially in cases where consent is the question, reporting a
rape is often ““ and understandably ““ a complicated and
scary situation.

A 1997 edition of the study showed that only 32 percent of rapes
and sexual assaults were reported. Reasons for not reporting
included: belief that the victim was herself responsible, fear of
social consequences, and the belief that the police would be
ineffective.

Even for professionals, tracking the prevalence of rape can be
difficult. Dick Haws wrote in the Columbia Journalism Review that
the estimated percentage of false rape claims ranged from one to 25
percent. The NIJ/BJS study found that rape statistics could vary by
a factor of 11 depending on the survey method.

Although each of these court cases are certainly complex, their
outcomes will quite simply make it more difficult for future
victims of assault to believe that justice can be achieved. The
prospect of the accused placing the accuser on trial should not
silence individuals deciding whether or not to file charges.

With the most simple math, the 18 reported instances of assault
at UCLA in 2002 would suggest more than 50 existed. How much more
silence can be tolerated?