1 00:00:02,380 --> 00:00:08,160 Are American college campuses “rape cultures?” Are they dangerous places where sexual assaults 2 00:00:08,170 --> 00:00:11,379 against women are happening at an alarming rate? 3 00:00:11,379 --> 00:00:18,019 According to many gender activists, academics and politicians, the answer is yes. 4 00:00:18,020 --> 00:00:23,120 Here’s what the Vice-President of the United States, Joe Biden, said in 2014. 5 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:28,040 “We know the numbers: one in five of every one of those young women who is dropped off 6 00:00:28,050 --> 00:00:32,480 for that first day of school, before they finish school, will be assaulted, 7 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:34,880 will be assaulted in her college years.” 8 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,740 Let’s take a closer look at the Vice President’s claim. 9 00:00:38,740 --> 00:00:44,499 Rape is a horrific crime, and rapists are rightfully despised. We have strict laws against 10 00:00:44,499 --> 00:00:49,600 sexual assault that everyone wants to see enforced. But, while rape is certainly a very 11 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:55,399 serious problem, there is simply no evidence of a national campus rape epidemic, and there’s 12 00:00:55,399 --> 00:01:01,959 certainly no evidence that sexual violence is a “cultural norm” in 21st century America. 13 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:07,820 In fact, rates of rape in the US are very low and they’ve been declining for decades. 14 00:01:07,820 --> 00:01:12,460 Why would it be any different on a college campus? Where, then, does the 1 in 5 rate 15 00:01:12,470 --> 00:01:17,940 that Vice President Biden cites come from? Well, it turns out it comes from a study conducted 16 00:01:17,940 --> 00:01:23,180 over the Internet at two large universities, one in the Midwest and one in the South. 17 00:01:23,180 --> 00:01:29,260 The survey was anonymous, no one’s claims were verified and terms were not clearly defined. 18 00:01:29,260 --> 00:01:35,220 In round numbers a total of 5000 women participated. Based on their responses, the authors, 19 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:41,640 not the participants, determined that 1000 had been victims of some type of “non-consensual 20 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,940 or unwanted sexual contact.” 21 00:01:43,940 --> 00:01:50,850 And voila! From one vaguely worded, unscientific survey we suddenly arrive at “a rape culture 22 00:01:50,850 --> 00:01:56,810 on college campuses.” Tellingly, the study authors have since explicitly stated that 23 00:01:56,810 --> 00:02:00,950 it is “inappropriate” to use their survey to make that claim. 24 00:02:00,950 --> 00:02:07,120 Much more comprehensive data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimates 25 00:02:07,130 --> 00:02:13,420 that about 1 in 52.6 college women will be victims of rape or sexual assault over the 26 00:02:13,420 --> 00:02:19,200 course of four years. That’s far too many, but it’s a long way from 1 in 5. 27 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:25,700 The same BJS data also reveal that women in college are safer from rape than college-aged 28 00:02:25,700 --> 00:02:28,120 women who are not enrolled in college. 29 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:34,080 But the truth doesn’t serve the purposes of feminist activists or vote-seeking politicians. 30 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:40,980 Lies work much better. And the 1 in 5 claim is tantamount to a lie. Here are just a few 31 00:02:40,990 --> 00:02:46,090 examples of what this lie has wrought. At Scripps College, Pulitzer-Prize winning 32 00:02:46,090 --> 00:02:51,610 commentator George Will was disinvited from giving a speech. The reason? 33 00:02:51,610 --> 00:02:56,770 He had dared to question the “rape culture” mantra in a column he wrote. 34 00:02:56,770 --> 00:03:01,599 At the all-women Wellesley College, students demanded that the administration remove a 35 00:03:01,599 --> 00:03:08,150 campus sculpture of a sleepwalking man wearing only underpants. Why? Well, because the image 36 00:03:08,150 --> 00:03:13,390 of a nearly naked male could “trigger” memories of sexual assault for victims. 37 00:03:13,390 --> 00:03:19,060 According to Harvard Law professor, Jeannie Suk, students now ask teachers not to include 38 00:03:19,060 --> 00:03:24,430 questions about rape law on exams for fear that such disturbing questions might cause 39 00:03:24,430 --> 00:03:27,210 them to perform less well. 40 00:03:27,210 --> 00:03:32,680 And at Brown University, students were so traumatized by a debate on the subject of 41 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:38,660 campus sexual assault that activists organized a “safe room” equipped with coloring books, 42 00:03:38,660 --> 00:03:43,480 Play-Doh, calming music, and a video of frolicking puppies. 43 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:49,560 No less absurd are the attempts by colleges and legislators to cure this non-existent plague. 44 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,360 In California and New York, students now have to live by so-called “Affirmative 45 00:03:54,360 --> 00:04:00,450 Consent” laws. The California law says that affirmative consent by all parties must be 46 00:04:00,450 --> 00:04:05,540 “ongoing throughout a sexual activity,” while the New York law says that “silence 47 00:04:05,540 --> 00:04:10,340 or lack of resistance, in and of itself, does not demonstrate consent.” 48 00:04:10,340 --> 00:04:16,160 Confused? Pity the poor college students who have to figure this out. If it wasn’t so 49 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:21,400 serious, it would be laughable. But it’s not funny to a growing number of young men 50 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:27,050 who find themselves accused of sexual assault, publicly shamed and then brought before campus 51 00:04:27,050 --> 00:04:33,280 judicial panels that are guided by rape-culture theory. In such proceedings, due process is 52 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:37,620 an afterthought: it’s guilty because accused. 53 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:43,600 But here’s the best way to prove that the 1 in 5 number is phony. Ask yourself this question: 54 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,800 Would you send your daughter to a place for four years where there was a twenty 55 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,180 percent chance she would be raped or sexually assaulted? 56 00:04:51,180 --> 00:04:53,080 Of course not. 57 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:59,760 Good rarely, if ever, comes from lies. The one in five “rape culture” lie is no exception. 58 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:05,080 I’m Caroline Kitchens of the American Enterprise Institute for Prager University.