Excellent article on campus rapes

"Sad Silhouette" originally uploaded by Glendali

Link: Rape victims offer advice to today's college women [CNN]

This is a really excellent article that deserves the traffic it is getting on Twitter today. 

“One in five college women will be raped, or experience an attempted rape, before graduation. Less than 5 percent will report these crimes to officials on or off campus, and, when they do, there's a good chance the system will let them down” - CNN

Rape on campuses takes many forms from an acquaintance who puts his desire first and uses force to a group of athletes who repeatedly beat and rape a girl.  It is so easy to forget that rape is rape and no means no and I don’t believe campus rapists should be viewed any differently from those in the “real world”.  An all-star athlete who participates in a rape on campus is as much a predator and danger to society as any of the drug-crazed monsters that hit our newspapers.  A small-minded, insecure man who decides to exert what little power he has over a woman and rapes her is still going to carry that insecurity and lack of power into the workplace and beyond.

What little doubt I had that perhaps some instances are true “misunderstandings” was forever silenced when I read this:

"And if you are a friend of a person who has been assaulted, all I can say is that though it might be hard, please listen and support that person," continued the former student, who said she was "met with a response that I never expected -- laughter and disbelief. Because of that, I kept silent until my attacker assaulted a friend of mine almost a year later."- CNN

All that happens when you are silent or when you let someone get away with a crime like this is more pain, suffering and violence. 

The article examines the need for trained, dedicated personnel on campuses to deal with such assaults and provide support to victims.