Post columnist Bekki Wyss’ concern Feb. 19 that “Students can prevent rape, sexual assault without federal help” needs more specific information. Who among the “students of color” she refers to are committing most of the rapes? Are they black, brown, red, yellow, pink, or white students? If “one in five” women as well as “a substantial number of men” are being raped, that means that in a relatively small university like OU, 2,000 rapes have been committed. But if “only 12 percent of the student victims report the assault to law enforcement,” the incidence of total rape cases rises statistically to over 16,000 rapes.
If we apply the 12 percent figure to reports that among the 26,000 rapes committed in our military against women and men in 2013, that figure grows to over 200,000 rapes. In a recent PBS story on this issue, the military was labeled a “predatory culture.” Is this true of higher-education life? If alcohol is a factor, are drugs as well? Are they used as an excuse in rape? What the hell has gone wrong in American society?
Is the sex, rape and violence in the movies, TV crime shows and video games contributing to rape culture? Has rape increased since the sexual revolution of the 1970s? Have the reports of “butt dancing” and oral sex clubs among middle school and high school students from the 1990s Monica-Bill era increased the incidence of casual sex, rape and venereal disease? Is the reported higher incidence of bullying at fault? Is rape more prevalent in today’s casual “like-me” Internet culture? Who among our various nationalities, cultures and religions are committing rapes? Are the perpetrators found among all income classes? What other questions must be explored to account for this growing social sickness?
John Spofforth is an Ohio University alumnus.
