College Guys Think They're Held Too Accountable For Sexual Violence

Because that's the real problem here.

Stanford
(Image credit: Archives)

Twenty percent of all women will be victims of sexual assault or rape at some point in their lives. Despite women having to live with that startling statistic in the back of their minds, some college men claim that "too much responsibility" for the nation's sexual violence crisis is being place on their shoulders. Bloomberg recently reported that the "hook-up culture" at elite universities like Harvard and Stanford is slowing down because male students are afraid they'll be the subject of a sexual assault investigation. What's more, some male students are even saying that too much responsibility is being placed on their shoulders to prevent sexual violence.

One of the interviewed students, a Stanford University senior, suggested that instead of encouraging men to take responsibility to prevent sexual violence, we should encourage women "not to take on undue risk", such as getting drunk. So a man's responsibility not to rape someone goes hand in hand with a woman's responsibility not to overindulge? The two shouldn't have a correlation. One is an illegal violation—the other is the cause of a bad hangover. One thing is for sure—the interviewees's "woe is me" attitude when it comes to preventing sexual assault and rape on campus should ensure they won't be the object of much female attention come fall.

Diana Pearl
Editor

I'm an Associate Editor at the Business of Fashion, where I edit and write stories about the fashion and beauty industries. Previously, I was the brand editor at Adweek, where I was the lead editor for Adweek's brand and retail coverage. Before my switch to business journalism, I was a writer/reporter at PEOPLE.com, where I wrote news posts, galleries and articles for PEOPLE magazine's website. My work has been published on TheAtlantic.com, ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, PEOPLE.com, GoodHousekeeping.com and in Every Day with Rachael Ray. It has been syndicated by Cosmopolitan.com, TIME.com, TravelandLeisure.com and GoodHousekeeping.com, among other publications. Previously, I've worked at VOGUE.com, ELLE.com, and MarieClaire.com.