Barack Obama targets sexual assault epidemic

PTI | Washington | Updated: Jan 23 2014, 18:18 IST
The report said campus rapes and gang-rapes are fuelled by drinking and drug use that can incapacitate victims. ReutersThe report said campus rapes and gang-rapes are fuelled by drinking and drug use that can incapacitate victims. Reuters
SUMMARYBarack Obama shone a light on a college rapes and gang-rapes epidemic.

President Barack Obama shone a light on a college sexual assault epidemic, including rapes and gangrapes, that is often shrouded in secrecy, with victims fearing stigma, police poorly trained to investigate and universities reluctant to disclose the violence.

A White House report yesterday highlights a stunning prevalence of rape on college campuses, with 1 in 5 female students assaulted while only about 1 in 8 reports it.

“No one is more at risk of being raped or sexually assaulted than women at our nation’s colleges and universities,” said the report by the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Nearly 22 million American women and 1.6 million men have been raped in their lifetimes, according to the report. It chronicled the devastating effects, including depression, substance abuse and a wide range of physical ailments such as chronic pain and diabetes.

The report said campus sexual assaults are fuelled by drinking and drug use that can incapacitate victims, often at student parties at the hands of someone they know. Perpetrators often are serial offenders. One study cited by the report found that 7 percent of college men admitted to attempting rape, and 63 percent of those men admitted to multiple offences, averaging six rapes each.

Obama, who has overseen a military that has grappled with its own crisis of sexual assaults, spoke out against the crime as “an affront on our basic decency and humanity.” He then signed a memorandum creating a task force to respond to campus rapes.

Obama said he was speaking out as president and a father of two daughters, and that men must express outrage to stop the crime.

“We need to encourage young people, men and women, to realise that sexual assault is simply unacceptable,” Obama said. “And they’re going to have to summon the bravery to stand up and say so, especially when the social pressure to keep quiet or to go along can be very intense.”

The report said 33.5 per cent of multiracial women have been raped, as have 27 per cent of American-Indian and Alaska Native women, compared to 15 per cent of Hispanic, 22 per cent of Black, and 19 per cent of White women.

Most victims know their assailants and a vast majority (nearly 98 per cent) of perpetrators are male, according to the report released yesterday. Nearly 22 million American women and 1.6 million men have been raped in their lifetimes, it said.

The report was issued by the White House ahead of a cabinet-level meeting of the White House Council chaired by President Barack Obama on women and girls with the council representatives from each agency to examine the progress made and to renew a call to root out abuse wherever it exists.

The report titled ‘Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action’ outlined the facts surrounding rape and sexual assault and identified key areas to focus on and improve, including efforts towards changing social norms, improving criminal justice response, and protecting students from sexual assault.

Later, Obama signed a Presidential memorandum to set up a task force to protect students from sexual assaults.

“The President believes that the prevalence of rape and sexual assault in our Nation’s schools is both deeply troubling and a call to action. When 1 in 5 young women is sexually assaulted while in college, we must do more,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

According to the report, young people are especially at risk with nearly half of female survivors raped before they were 18, and over a quarter of male survivors raped before they were 10. College students are particularly vulnerable, one in five women has been sexually assaulted while in college, the report said.

Repeat victimisation is common with over a third of women who were raped as minors were also raped as adults, it said.

Men and boys, however, are also at risk, the report said, adding that one in 71 men or almost 1.6 million have been raped during their lives.

Other populations are also at higher risk of being raped or sexually assaulted, including people with disabilities, the LGBT community, prison inmates (of both genders), and the homeless, the report said.

Undocumented immigrants face unique challenges because their abusers often threaten to have them deported if they try to get help, it said.

Read more here — http://www.financialexpress.com/news/shocker-1-in-5-female-students-raped-in-us-colleges-barack-obama-targets-sexual-assault-epidemic/1220052

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