In his widely-criticized column, George Will recently bemoaned how sexual assault victims are endowed with “a coveted status that confers privileges” due to academia’s progressivism and government interference. According to Will, the Obama administration “vows to excavate equities from the ambiguities of the hookup culture, this cocktail of hormones, alcohol and the faux sophistication of today’s prolonged adolescence of especially privileged young adults.” He backs up his claim with shoddy statistical analysis and an analogy equating people who are sensitive to assigned readings with those claiming they have been sexually assaulted.
Will’s opinions on sexual assault are hopelessly outdated and demonstrate a remarkable ignorance of reality. Will appears to be willfully ignorant of the damning statistics regarding sexual assault on college campuses—20-25 percent of female college students in the US have been sexually assaulted and 55 colleges, including Harvard, are under investigation by the government for Title IX violations due to their mishandling of assault cases.
By arguing that people who claim to have been assaulted do so in order to attain some form of privilege, Will not only offends all victims of sexual violence, but also the academic institutions and public leaders who are taking much-needed steps to remedy widespread sexual assault on college campuses. In an implausibly counterintuitive fashion, Will’s vehement rejection of sexual assault victims perfectly elucidates the reason why only 12 percent of rapes on college campuses are reported—victims are told by the many George Wills of the world that they are lying.
I was always aware that assault happens to too many women, but I never thought it would happen to me. Nearly a year ago to this day, I was the victim of sexual assault. For months after, I suffered serious bouts of insomnia and had to spend hours working myself to exhaustion at the gym in order to get even an hour of sleep at night. When I did fall asleep, I was plagued by constant nightmares about the incident, forced to relive it over and over again. I completely lost my appetite and barely ate, and I never left my room at night without a male companion.
My friends all knew that there was something wrong but had no idea what had happened. I couldn’t bring myself to talk about what happened with anyone except my then-boyfriend. But two months later, we broke up—it was clear that my assault had played a large role in pushing him away. After that, I refused to let anyone into my life romantically for nearly a year because I thought anyone who found out what happened would leave me. Being assaulted was the worst thing that has ever happened to me. And getting through months of insomnia, exhaustion and emotional rollercoaster rides was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
My anger has festered for a long time due to developments over the past year concerning sexual assault on this campus and on others. But the despicable reaction of many so-called “male apologists” to the #YesAllWomen campaign and, finally, George Will’s column has prompted me use my personal experience to demonstrate how flagrantly offensive it is to demean the female experience and sexual assault victims. I, like every other victim of sexual assault, should not have to listen to the misguided beliefs of those who believe that women frequently lie about sexual assault, claim that there are “shades of gray” when it comes to consent, and argue that sexual assault is an exaggerated problem.
George Will says that people claim victimhood to obtain a coveted status of privilege. But being assaulted in a world where 54 percent of rapes are not reported and 97 percent of accused rapists never go to jail is not a privilege. Not being able to tell your parents what happened because of their cultural values is not a privilege. Not telling your friends because you are scared that they may doubt your truthfulness or pity, rather than support, you is not a privilege. Not being able to talk to your house masters or resident dean about an assault because they may end your hope of receiving justice is not a privilege. Attending a school in which a professor may have been removed from tenure track because of her mentorship of sexual assault victims is not a privilege. Not being able to continue your studies in peace because your rapist is allowed to stay on campus is not a privilege. Listening to Glenn Beck claim that being drunk excuses men from rape, Rick Santorum explain that rape can be “something that God intended to happen” and Roger Rivards argue that some girls ‘rape so easy’ is not a privilege. Knowing that there will be at least one person who thinks you deserved it because you were drunk or because your dress was too revealing is not a privilege. George Will, like so many others, cannot contemplate that these are just a few of the countless threats facing any women who has been subject to assault.
Unfortunately, George Will is a just one example of a widespread societal problem: society conditions victims of sexual assault to suffer in silence. #YesAllWomen not only revealed the constant harassment that women suffer, but also the ignorance that many men have about harassment and sexism. Will’s piece should only serve to motivate you to disregard, reject and actively combat hateful stereotypes which further victimize those who have experienced sexual assault. If your friend is telling rape jokes at a party, remind them that chances are that one in five women in the room will have been assaulted before they don their cap and gown. Remember that an intoxicated “no” is still “no.” And if you come across a Facebook/Twitter/Reddit/4Chan post from a “male apologist” about women falsely accusing men of rape, remind yourself that only an estimated 2-8 percent of rape accusations are considered unfounded and that rape is already a grossly underreported crime.
It seems almost too obvious to explain that assault victims deserve to be taken seriously. But this was clearly forgotten by George Will’s poor (and confusing) use of sexual assault as an example in his larger diatribe against progressivism. The least that we can hope for is that it does not remain forgotten on our campus.
Note: I originally submitted this piece on June 9 to The Harvard Crimson’s Editorial Board, but received no response from the board’s chairs. On the 18th, I reached out to the president of the Crimson about the delay on the piece. Although I never received a response from the president, the Editorial Board chairs subsequently e-mailed me back for the first time. They explained that they would not run the piece because “with each op-ed we publish anonymously on [sexual assault] we loose a bit of credibility [sic].” I do not take this experience personally, but I worry that it may be a further indicator of the wider, systematic lack of empathy toward, understanding of, and interest in the victim’s experience in matters of sexual assault.
Update, June 23: The note has been reformatted to more accurately reflect the author’s perspective.
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