The FBI had reported that the second most violent crime in the United States, after murder, is rape (Byers 47). As defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary rape is unlawful sexual intercourse carried out by force. Despite rape being an abominable crime more than half of all victims do not report their rape to authority (Byers 47). Of those victims who do report ninety percent are women (“Scope of”). Among those women, one in five are victims of sexual assault in college (Kutner 31). However, colleges are not doing enough to protect their female student body. The Center for Public Integrity has reported that only ten to twenty-five percent of these campus rapist will be expelled from school in fear that the school's reputation would be tarnish …show more content…
These antirape activists really demanded the government to change the culture on college campuses (Mantel). In the 1970s feminist formed the first rape crisis center (Mantel). In the center, volunteers helped guide victims through interviews with the police, doctors, and prosecutors (Mantel). These women fought against any deficiency in the justice system (Mantel). Two of the earliest campus rape centers were at the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania (Mantel). At the same time rape crisis centers were opening Nixon was signing the Title IX of the Education Amendment Act into law (Mantel). Title IX prohibits sex discrimination at college in athletic programs, S.T.E.M. programs, employment, and financial aid as well as banning sexual harassment (Mantel). As the seventies progressed so did anti-rape laws. In 1974 the state of Michigan was the first to enact Rape Shield Laws (“Law Reform”). In the next twenty years, every state would pass their own version of these laws (“Law Reform”). Unfortunately, the movement hit a low when nineteen-year-old Jeanna Clery was raped and then murdered by a fellow student at Lehigh University in 1986 (Webley). Her death led to the Clery Act in 1990 which required all colleges and universities to publicize statistics on all crime near and on campus (Mantel). Four years later the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was created to hold abusers …show more content…
On the other hand, colleges have now begun to favor the victim to the point that colleges have become discriminatory against men. Since 1993 sexual assault and rape has decreased by seventy-four percent (“Scope of”). Despite that groundbreaking statistics the federal government still felt it was necessary to release the “Dear Colleague” letter to remind schools of their obligations (Kitchen). Duke University, Swarthmore College, University of North Carolina, and a few more colleges did listen and began reviewing and revising their policies (Kitchen). However, schools misconstrued the meaning of the “Dear Colleague” letter into ‘favor the victim’ (Kutner 30). Brett Sokdow, executive director of the Association of Title IX Administrators, stated: “I think probably a lot of colleges translated the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter as ‘favor the victim’,” (qdt. in Kutner 30). Colleges are violating the Title IX amendment which prohibits gender-based discrimination by automatically siding with the victim and not given the accused a fair case (31). Although saying schools are becoming more anti-male sounds absurd it is, unfortunately, true (31). Lawyers are using gender discrimination in their lawsuits for reverse Title IX cases by saying that the school is violating the Title IX amendment which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded schools (31). At