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PR: Public Opposition to Campus Sex Assault Policies is Widespread, Polls Show

Contact: Gina Lauterio

Telephone: 301-801-0608

Email: info@saveservices.org

Public Opposition to Campus Sex Assault Policies is Widespread, Polls Show

WASHINGTON / November 18, 2014 – Three national polls reveal widespread disapproval of campus sexual assault policies implemented in recent years. The polls point to a need to re-think current federal and state mandates designed to curb campus rape, according to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments.

In 2011 the Obama Administration’s Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter requiring campus disciplinary committees to take the lead in resolving sexual assault allegations. This year, controversial Affirmative Consent policies were implemented at colleges in California, New York, and elsewhere.

In 2014, three national opinion polls gauged the level of public support for these new policies.

In January, a YouGov/Huffington post survey of 1,000 adults found only 17% placed “a lot” of confidence in the ability of colleges to “properly handle someone reporting rape, sexual assault, or harassment.” Far greater percentages of respondents trusted law enforcement (37%) and non-profit organizations (51%): https://today.yougov.com/news/2014/02/03/poll-results-sexual-assault/

In July, Fox News-affiliated Gretawire conducted an online poll asking how campus rape cases should be handled. Among the nearly 3,000 respondents, 94.3% said all allegations should be sent to police and prosecutors. Only 5.7% believed colleges should first review the allegation: http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/poll/rape-allegations-where-should-it-go-click-to-read/

In October, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments commissioned a national telephone poll on Affirmative Consent. When asked whether the government should have the “authority to determine how partners give their consent to sex,” 85% of respondents answered ‘No.’ http://www.saveservices.org/camp/affirmative-confusion/survey/findings/

“The message comes through loud and clear — Americans place little faith in the ability of campus disciplinary committees to handle complicated sex assault cases,” explains SAVE spokesperson Sheryle Hutter. “We need to reform the current system which is shortchanging  both victims and the accused.”

Nearly 700 editorials have criticized the Department of Education mandate and Affirmative Consent proposals on grounds of being unworkable, ineffective, and unfair: www.accusingu.org

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is working to promote effective solutions to campus sexual assault: http://www.saveservices.org/

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Eighteen Groups Announce Opposition to Campus Accountability and Safety Act

Contact: Mac Walter
Email: info@saveservices.org
Phone: 301-525-2279

Eighteen Groups Announce Opposition to Campus Accountability and Safety Act

WASHINGTON / September 10, 2014 – Eighteen organizations are today announcing their opposition to the proposed Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA), S. 2692 and H.R. 5354. The 18 groups represent a broad coalition including victim advocacy groups, gender-specific organizations, college trade entities, and media outlets.

Their opposition to CASA arises from the fact the bill does nothing to address the documented inadequacies of campus committees to conduct investigations, hold hearings, and impose appropriate sanctions. Ironically, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act contains no requirements to increase police presence, promote thorough investigations, or strengthen prosecutorial actions.

Under existing Department of Education policies, campus committees are required to adjudicate allegations of sexual assault, but can only expel a person found guilty of sexual assault.

As a result, numerous complaints have been filed by victims of sexual assault alleging the university did not take the allegation seriously.

In addition, over 40 students accused of sexual assault have filed lawsuits claiming due process violations. Last week the U.S. Department of Education notified Brandeis University that it was opening an investigation on behalf of an accused student who was found guilty of sexual misconduct last Spring.

The 18 groups voicing their opposition to CASA include the American Council on Education, Beyond the Registry, Community of the Wrongly Accused, ifeminists.com, National Association of Scholars, Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, Voice for Male Students, Women for Men, and others.
A complete list of opposing groups can be seen here: www.saveservices.org/camp/campus-justice-coalition/

The Duke University Chronicle recently editorialized that the current campus system “has the potential for real, human cost, where innocent students are convicted and guilty ones set free.” The editorial boards of both USA Today and the Los Angeles Times have also come out against universities’ reliance on campus committees to adjudicate felony sexual assault cases.

“The current system represents second-class justice for both victims and the accused,” charges Campus Justice Coalition spokesperson Sheryle Hutter. “CASA is a perfect example of a bill that is full of symbolism but woefully lacking in substance.”

Over 300 editorials have been published this year disputing the notion of “rape-culture” and critiquing proposed legislative approaches: www.accusingu.org .

The Campus Justice Coalition is working to promote effective and fair solutions to the problem of campus sexual assault.

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Press Release Sexual Harassment Uncategorized

PR: White House Report Downplays False Allegations of Rape, Artificially Inflates the Numbers, SAVE Asserts

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

White House Report Downplays False Allegations of Rape, Artificially Inflates the Numbers, SAVE Asserts

WASHINGTON / January 24, 2014 – A leading victim-advocacy group is charging the recent White House report, Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action (1), ignores the growing problem of false allegations and relies on inflated rape statistics. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE) calls on the Obama Administration to fulfill its promise of policymaking based on science, not ideological persuasion.

Three peer-reviewed studies have found the rate of false accusations of rape ranges from 41% to 60% (2). A recent study of prisoners convicted on sexual assault charges found 15% of the cases lacked a DNA match to the victim (3).

Ironically, the White House report was released just days after a Michigan judge sentenced Sarah Ylen to five years in prison for falsely accusing two men of raping her, labeling Ylen’s actions “diabolical” (4).

But the problem of false allegations is ignored by the White House report.

The report makes the claim that one in five women has been raped during her lifetime. But a fine-print footnote reveals many of these women were actually subjected to “attempted,” not “completed” rapes. The category of “attempted” rapes is particularly susceptible to the problem of false allegations, SAVE believes.

More worrisome is the fact that nearly half of the “rape” victims were involved in what the report terms “alcohol/drug facilitated completed penetration.” This broad category encompasses consensual intercourse following a carefree New Year’s Eve celebration, and could even apply to a newly married couple consummating their vows. With such broad definitions, most American adults could become classified as a “rapist” or “rape victim,” SAVE worries.

These elastic definitions can be traced to a 2011 Centers for Disease Control project called the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NIPSVS). The survey has been the focus of repeated criticism.

Columnist Christina Hoff-Sommers has charged the NIPSVS exemplifies “advocacy research” that can lead to “recklessly misguided” conclusions (5). SAVE sent a 12-page complaint to the Centers for Disease Control in 2012, saying the report was riddled with “biases, misrepresentations, and other flaws.” (6).

Knowing that half of the cases in the CDC report do not meet any common-sense definition of rape, and about half of all rape allegations turn out to be false, the actual incidence of rape is closer to 5%, not 20%.

Five percent is an unacceptably high number, SAVE believes, and calls on all sectors of society to respond to the problem. But the White House 20% figure defies reason and undermines the credibility of the nation’s efforts to end rape, SAVE asserts.

“No woman should have to fear rape, and no man should have to live in fear of a false accusation of rape,” notes SAVE spokesperson Sheryle Hutter. “But ignoring the problem of false allegations and inflating the numbers only invite ridicule, confusion, and doubt.”

(1) http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/sexual_assault_report_1-21-14.pdf
(2) http://www.mediaradar.org/research_on_false_rape_allegations.php
(3) http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412589-Post-Conviction-DNA-Testing-and-Wrongful-Conviction.pdf
(4) http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20140117/NEWS01/301170023/False-rape-claims-diabolical-judge-says?nclick_check=1
(5) http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cdc-study-on-sexual-violence-in-the-us-overstates-the-problem/2012/01/25/gIQAHRKPWQ_story.html
(6) http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/CDC-Ltr.1.4.2012-1.doc

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to domestic violence and sexual assault: www.saveservices.org

Categories
Accountability Discrimination Domestic Violence False Allegations Press Release Research Uncategorized Victims

PR: Cocoon of Dishonesty: SAVE Warns Lawmakers about False Information from Domestic Violence Groups

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Teri Stoddard
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: tstoddard@saveservices.org

Cocoon of Dishonesty: SAVE Warns Lawmakers about False Information from Domestic Violence Groups

WASHINGTON / January 6, 2014 – A leading victim-advocacy organization is advising lawmakers to be wary of claims made by domestic violence groups seeking to enact new laws. Stop Abusive and Violent Environments – SAVE — is issuing the warning after the Washington Post’s Fact Checker reported that a claim made by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder turned out to be based on a false statement made by a leading domestic violence researcher.

In 2009, Holder made the startling claim that “intimate partner homicide is the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 15 to 45.” Holder’s statement was taken word-for-word from a 2003 study published by Jacquelyn Campbell, a well-known researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

But Campbell’s statement turned out to be wrong, leading the Washington Post to say the claim could qualify for its notorious “Four Pinocchios” rating: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/12/18/holders-2009-claim-that-intimate-partner-homicide-is-the-leading-cause-of-death-for-african-american-women/

SAVE has identified many other examples of misrepresentations by domestic violence groups.

In the past year, SAVE reviewed the Fact Sheets of seven leading domestic violence organizations for accuracy and completeness. Based on the review, SAVE assigned a letter grade to the information sheet. In each of the 7 cases, the group’s Fact Sheet received a failing grade: http://www.saveservices.org/camp/truth/

SAVE then contacted organizational leaders to advise them about the flawed information. To date, none of the 7 groups has corrected the erroneous statements.

False information is also found in the Findings of proposed bills designed to combat domestic violence. For example, the proposed federal International Violence Against Women Act contains 16 findings, of which only 3 could be verified to be truthful. All the remaining findings were found to be one-sided, misleading, or false: http://www.saveservices.org/dvlp/policy-briefings/i-vawa-2013-findings/

“Victims of partner abuse are not served when domestic violence groups knowingly disseminate one-sided and false information,” notes SAVE spokesperson Sheryle Hutter. “Lawmakers should assure that anti-abuse programs are based on reason and science, not a biased gender ideology.”

Stop Abusive and Violent Environments is a victim-advocacy organization working for evidence-based solutions to domestic violence and sexual assault: www.saveservices.org