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| No college should ever ask for the sexual history of alleged rape victims | No college should ever ask for the sexual history of alleged rape victims |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| When a woman accuses a man of rape she can expect a certain amount of horror to follow: harassment from her community, victim-blaming nastiness about what she was wearing or drinking, the risk of her identity being revealed and the knowledge that her rapist will likely never be punished. Now it seems there’s one more worry to add to the list - that her past sexual partners might be interrogated. | When a woman accuses a man of rape she can expect a certain amount of horror to follow: harassment from her community, victim-blaming nastiness about what she was wearing or drinking, the risk of her identity being revealed and the knowledge that her rapist will likely never be punished. Now it seems there’s one more worry to add to the list - that her past sexual partners might be interrogated. |
| Virginia Wesleyan College is demanding that a former student, known as Jane Doe, reveal all of her past sexual partners in response to a lawsuit Doe filed against the school. The Huffington Post reported that while the school has asked for the names of anyone she’s had sex with, they’re specifically looking for the first person Doe was intimate with after the alleged assault. “This individual, the college insists, could provide ‘details of the sexual encounter’ and help determine Doe’s credibility about trauma she claimed to have endured after being raped,” reporter Tyler Kingkade writes. | Virginia Wesleyan College is demanding that a former student, known as Jane Doe, reveal all of her past sexual partners in response to a lawsuit Doe filed against the school. The Huffington Post reported that while the school has asked for the names of anyone she’s had sex with, they’re specifically looking for the first person Doe was intimate with after the alleged assault. “This individual, the college insists, could provide ‘details of the sexual encounter’ and help determine Doe’s credibility about trauma she claimed to have endured after being raped,” reporter Tyler Kingkade writes. |
| He also reports that the college is seeking to confirm whether Doe was a virgin when she was allegedly raped, as she claimed. Charming, truly. | He also reports that the college is seeking to confirm whether Doe was a virgin when she was allegedly raped, as she claimed. Charming, truly. |
| But as the national conversation on college rape continues and schools are put under a microscope, this may be the kind of pushback we can expect to see when students bring suit. After all, men found guilty of sexual assault on college campuses are already fighting back and attempting to move on without consequence - why not colleges too? | But as the national conversation on college rape continues and schools are put under a microscope, this may be the kind of pushback we can expect to see when students bring suit. After all, men found guilty of sexual assault on college campuses are already fighting back and attempting to move on without consequence - why not colleges too? |
| Doe claims she was sexually assaulted by another student - whom she believes gave her a drink spiked with Ambien - just three days into her freshman year in 2012, and the same night that the college put on a play about drug-facilitated rape. It was a comedy. | Doe claims she was sexually assaulted by another student - whom she believes gave her a drink spiked with Ambien - just three days into her freshman year in 2012, and the same night that the college put on a play about drug-facilitated rape. It was a comedy. |
| As reported in the Guardian, according to the 2013 police report filed, Doe was raped over a period of about five hours and “her shorts, once white, were now crimson with her own blood.” An email filed with the court also shows that Doe told her sorority sister that she could “barely walk for a week.” The student she accused of rape was found responsible for the attack by the school, expelled and then had his status changed by the college to “voluntarily withdrawn” in order to help him get into another school. (Who won’t necessarily know that he was found responsible for rape.) | As reported in the Guardian, according to the 2013 police report filed, Doe was raped over a period of about five hours and “her shorts, once white, were now crimson with her own blood.” An email filed with the court also shows that Doe told her sorority sister that she could “barely walk for a week.” The student she accused of rape was found responsible for the attack by the school, expelled and then had his status changed by the college to “voluntarily withdrawn” in order to help him get into another school. (Who won’t necessarily know that he was found responsible for rape.) |
| Doe is suing Virginia Wesleyan, among other things, for gross negligence and claiming the school fostered an atmosphere that led to her rape. She also claims that as a result of the trauma she is unable to have sex and has a problem maintaining romantic relationships. She’s asking for $10m in damages - which may explain the school’s hardline approach. Doe’s lawyer, though, calls the demand for her sexual history “Neanderthalic.” Agreed. | Doe is suing Virginia Wesleyan, among other things, for gross negligence and claiming the school fostered an atmosphere that led to her rape. She also claims that as a result of the trauma she is unable to have sex and has a problem maintaining romantic relationships. She’s asking for $10m in damages - which may explain the school’s hardline approach. Doe’s lawyer, though, calls the demand for her sexual history “Neanderthalic.” Agreed. |
| Surely there are ways to take Doe’s claim of trauma to task without attempting to shame her by demanding a full list of her sexual partners - especially considering victim’s sexual histories are typically not allowed in court proceedings due to rape shield laws. But if we’ve learned anything these last few years, it’s that we can’t depend on schools to do the right thing when it comes to rape. | Surely there are ways to take Doe’s claim of trauma to task without attempting to shame her by demanding a full list of her sexual partners - especially considering victim’s sexual histories are typically not allowed in court proceedings due to rape shield laws. But if we’ve learned anything these last few years, it’s that we can’t depend on schools to do the right thing when it comes to rape. |
| If colleges are taken to task en masse, as they are starting to be in Title IX suits, they are going to be mired in litigation all semester, every semester. And given so many schools have an historic lack of concern for alleged rape victims, it makes sense that they would go on the offensive - using some creative lawyering to intimidate students who might sue. We should expect this from them. | If colleges are taken to task en masse, as they are starting to be in Title IX suits, they are going to be mired in litigation all semester, every semester. And given so many schools have an historic lack of concern for alleged rape victims, it makes sense that they would go on the offensive - using some creative lawyering to intimidate students who might sue. We should expect this from them. |
| And if we expect it, it means that those of us who have been fighting to battle back against sexual assault are ready for it. Ready to shame them for their tactics, ready to support young women with what they need, ready to make our schools - and our nation - places where rape isn’t tolerated. |
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