Feminists at Occidental College created an online form to anonymously report rape/sexual assault. You just fill out a form and the person is called into the office on a rape charge. The "victim" never has to prove anything or reveal their identity.

tehkaki · 2013-12-18T22:20:42+00:00

you know what this makes the MRM look like? a movement more concerned with taking down women and feminism than actually helping men.

ResearchG · 2013-12-18T18:44:47+00:00

I work in violence prevention. Most people, men and women, who experience violence do not report it, generally out of shame, embarrassment, or a fear of being re-traumatiized in the reporting process. Collecting anonymous reports helps determine the types of violence occurring, the prevalence, locations, situations, etc. allowing administrators to better target education and violence prevention. With the exception of the scared and hateful flamers such as those bombing the OC reporting system, false reports of sexual assault make up less than 5% of reports and generally fall apart quickly under investigation.

woahthereareladies · 2013-12-18T22:40:13+00:00

My cousin is an Occidental student who was featured in the case against the school that brought on these changes. She was raped, became anorexic, and nearly died. Her confirmed rapist barely received a slap on the wrist when the punishment should have been expulsion by university law. She had to face him in classes regularly. When she finally faced her past, she joined the fight. I'm so proud of her for not giving up on herself. Thank you reddit men for fighting her on this. I'm sure your victimization trumps hers.

tohuw · 2013-12-17T05:48:06+00:00

Before everyone goes all torchy, how do we know anyone at Occidental actually responds to this, or how it is responded to? Making a form does not make an institution's policy. I could easily create one of these for Harvard.

I realize there are deans and other email addresses listed there, but has anyone contacted Occidental and confirmed it works this way? Before harassing an institution over this, we should check our facts, or we become what we despise.

OxyCuttin · 2013-12-18T07:51:13+00:00

Alright, I didn't want to step into this shitstorm but I kind of feel compelled to by firsthand knowledge pertinent to the situation. Using a throwaway as my Reddit name is known to certain relevant people.

I was with a girl for several years who went to Occidental and I spent quite a lot of time there visiting her so I saw a lot of what went on firsthand. As of a few years ago, the school was absolutely atrocious at handling any sort of student attacks. A girl was attacked by a stranger and had her face and hand slashed with a knife in the dorm. Not outside in a dark alley, in the fuck-mothering dorm. The school's response? Publish the incident in the student newspaper and allude (none too subtly) that the girl was making it up. She was later basically thrown out of the school.

Students got wind of it and were so angry the admin held a meeting in the dorm where it happened (a meeting that wasn't publicized) to discuss it. Students made suggestions, pointed out problems, and basically got the "just lock your doors" speech and essentially had the attack almost completely blamed on them.

That girl I was seeing at the time was herself attacked (off school grounds) and the resulting stress made school incredibly difficult. I want to differentiate between the administration and the teachers. Many of the teachers were kind, accommodating, understanding, and bent over backwards to help my ex out once they found out why she was missing classes and always looked so stressed. The administration was the exact opposite; they demanded (on pain of expulsion) that she see a therapist that they selected for her and refused to pay for (who incidentally charged about $100 for an hour session). They sent her to the school's wellness center and the doctor there prescribed her anti-depressants (at x4 the normal starting dose and without explaining any potential side effects to her) which were also mandatory for her continuing staying at the school.

Other students who were attacked or raped were handled similarly poorly; either blamed into silence or just outright driven out of the school. Occidental had, at the time I was there, an absolutely atrocious way of handling these incidents and ultimately almost no one was ever prosecuted or punished by the school. Paperwork describing attacks was not kept confidential and investigations consisted of asking the person reporting "are you sure you weren't drunk?" and then asking the person being accused if they did it. If the accuser denied it, case closed it wasn't that person.

This system may not be perfect but I'll take this over their previous system, however official or unofficial it may have been, any day of the week. I saw a lot of people have their lives ruined because the administration basically pretended they didn't have a problem and enforced that fantasy by driving students who conflicted with it out of school.

PerfectHair · 2013-12-17T04:31:08+00:00

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Commercialtalk · 2013-12-17T22:56:41+00:00

Did you "men's right activists" ever think that this might actually help men too?

If it was anonymous, men could also more comfortably come forward.

But no, let's falsely accuse a bunch of random women because activism or something.

Dann01 · 2013-12-17T12:02:39+00:00

Before you guys get your underwear in a bunch, it may help to actually read the fucking document. It literally says this at the top of the form. It is the first fucking paragraph!

This form should be used by members of the Occidental College community who have experienced or have been witness to sexual violence (sexual assault, rape or sexual battery). The information will be used to identify and address troubling trends. If a perpetrator is named, a member of the Dean of Students Office will meet with that person to share that the person was named in an anonymous report, review the Sexual Misconduct Policy, and inform the person that if the allegations are true, the behavior needs to cease immediately. Information shared in this form alone will not result in anyone going through the grievance process.

If you will also direct your attention to to section H of their misconduct policy (gee golly, more reading?), you will see that they have standards and procedures when dealing with false reports which they do not tolerate.

The College will not tolerate intentional false reporting of incidents. The College takes the accuracy of information very seriously as a charge of sexual harassment, sexual violence, stalking or intimate partner violence may have severe consequences. A good-faith complaint that results in a finding of not responsible is not considered a false or fabricated accusation of sexual misconduct. However, when a Complainant or third party witness is found to have fabricated allegations or given false information with malicious intent or in bad faith, the Complainant may be subject to disciplinary action. It is a violation of the Code of Student Conduct to make an intentionally false report of any policy violation, and it may also violate state criminal statutes and civil defamation laws.

I am honestly baffled as to how this has so many upvotes, and how so many of you have failed to check this out rather than just circling up.

I am officially done with this shitty ass sub.

Sharou · 2013-12-17T21:50:14+00:00

You guys who don't understand why Men's Rights activists have such a bad name, please just glance at these comments and you'll understand. Thanks.

overit86 · 2013-12-18T20:37:58+00:00

Wow you guys are the lowest of the low. You do not fight for mens rights. You guys fight for the insane women haters of the world. You are terrorists and deserve a foot up your ass.

I hope you all have a good time being assholes.

2013-12-17T21:59:53+00:00

I actually agree with this. The trauma of having to admit one's rape soon enough to warrant an arrest is probably extremely high, thus anonymity is preferred. HOWEVER, that does not mean that I'm in accordance with actually charging anyone with any sort of crimes based on this.

2013-12-18T02:35:14+00:00

Information shared in this form alone will not result in anyone going through the grievance process.

Y'all are so out of touch.

ignisdjinn · 2013-12-19T04:59:37+00:00

You fucking obnoxious twat. It does more for the accused than any college has ever done: it offers an investigation and due process. It also does more for victims than any other reporting system has ever done. It allows witnesses to name offenders without naming victims, in the case that the victim does not want to be identified. Do you know anything about sexual assault? Do you know anything at all? You stupid shit, I hope you get tossed out.

coldvault · 2013-12-18T05:32:22+00:00

I really wish the men's rights movement was well-organized and productive. So much. Because men do have man-centric problems and I think society should work toward solving its problems. But back when I was a subscriber of MRA subreddits, there was a lot of "feminists are evil and useless" (feminism is definitely flawed, but comparing me to the KKK is a bit much), posting articles about individual women who committed crimes against individual men but weren't properly reprimanded yet or something, and mostly, talking but not doing--a good starting point, but not too revolutionary. So... for now, my philosophy remains egalitarian feminist, but holy shit are the egalitarian subreddits dead.

timbstoke · 2013-12-17T13:12:40+00:00

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Apellosine · 2013-12-17T07:50:27+00:00

Reading helps...

Information shared in this form alone will not result in anyone going through the grievance process.

cygne · 2013-12-17T04:22:33+00:00

If ever you are called in to such a disciplinary 'hearing', take your attorney. CAN NOT stress this enough.

Nevermind04 · 2013-12-17T11:40:25+00:00

On the other hand, it's nice the the gender option isn't autoselected as "male", hey?

Everything_Is_Rape · 2013-12-17T18:42:46+00:00

Rapists have always had the option of raping anonymously, now the victims finally have the same rights. What's the problem?

Charlemagne712 · 2013-12-17T08:47:46+00:00

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Leinadro · 2013-12-18T23:26:04+00:00

Filling out a form does not automatically turn into a rape charge.
Your pal Futrelle has already cherry picked this thread and has done quite a masterful job of selectively highlighting the comments that supposedly call for people to flood the reporting system. Oh and he has also made just enough of mention of conflict here in order to say he didn't ignore it.
Stuff like this isn't cool.

Sharou · 2013-12-17T15:58:41+00:00

Guys read the thing before you react. No one is going to a hearing.

The information will be used to identify and address troubling trends. If a perpetrator is named, a member of the Dean of Students Office will meet with that person to share that the person was named in an anonymous report, review the Sexual Misconduct Policy, and inform the person that if the allegations are true, the behavior needs to cease immediately. Information shared in this form alone will not result in anyone going through the grievance process.

Godspiral · 2013-12-17T14:24:55+00:00

If the claimed restricted consequences for being accused on this form are true, then its not a huge deal. The consequences are hearing a lecture about how rape is wrong and if you are raping you should stop raping.

It would be much more troubling if an anonymous accusation can cause anything more severe to the victim of the accusation.

golemsheppard · 2013-12-17T05:03:57+00:00

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crashusmaximus · 2013-12-20T17:13:13+00:00

Its shit like this that gives reddit a bad name. Don't do this guys. If you do, your being a fuckwit.

shrodingerstherapist · 2013-12-17T09:05:17+00:00

"Hello, my name is Due Process and I've just been raped…"

Simmz · 2013-12-17T08:32:48+00:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc

This is an amazing and funny video by a lawyer explaining that you NEVER speak to police, especially if you are innocent.

This video blew my mind.

married_a_beaner · 2013-12-17T04:38:10+00:00

I think 4chan should see this.

2013-12-17T04:57:35+00:00

Remember, people: his name was Robert Paulson

kill_dano · 2013-12-17T15:01:14+00:00

Feminists at Occidental College created... (citation needed)

ktrachi · 2013-12-20T15:24:24+00:00

Any system can be abused and instead of being a movement "concerned with taking down women and feminism" (as stated in the post below with the answer "that's exactly what MRM is") I'd like to hear proposals so the system is not abused and victims find justice. I understand how it might be misused in order to ruin someone's life; however, I do not understand why MRM does not expose the humiliation most victims have to go through from both the legal system and the society -which has had more negative impact in comparison to the amount of false reports-...I do not think the aim of any group should be that of taking down another one, why not fighting for equal rights for every human being? I also understand that men are treated unfairly but we have to recognize women have more disadvantages; the problem is not feminism or women against men, the problem is perpetuating those gendered roles that create injustices for both men and women and for those who considered themselves of another gender, not gendered, etc.

ktrachi · 2013-12-20T15:39:50+00:00

Any system can be abused and instead of being a movement "concerned with taking down women and feminism" (as stated in the post below with the answer "that's exactly what MRM is") I'd like to hear proposals so the system is not abused and victims find justice. I understand how it might be misused in order to ruin someone's life; however, I do not understand why MRM does not expose the humiliation most victims have to go through from both the legal system and the society -which has had more negative impact in comparison to the amount of false reports-...I do not think the aim of any group should be that of taking down another one, why not fighting for equal rights for every human being? I also understand that men are treated unfairly but we have to recognize women have more disadvantages; the problem is not feminism or women against men, the problem is perpetuating those gendered roles that create injustices for both men and women and for those who considered themselves of another gender, not gendered, etc.

lavender-fields · 2013-12-17T08:38:11+00:00

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MisterDamage · 2013-12-17T07:40:48+00:00

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DougDante · 2013-12-17T05:25:10+00:00

"Gender of perpetrator "

Why not race or sexual orientation?

Because that would be wrong

cough

2013-12-17T10:17:53+00:00

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BenInBaja · 2013-12-17T08:24:10+00:00

I love how the "Gender of perpetrator" allows for the entry of anything. "pan otherkin transpolyqueer"

burntoast101 · 2013-12-17T06:27:51+00:00

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BBQ_HaX0r · 2013-12-17T14:03:23+00:00

Rape should be a criminal matter. Universities should stay out of legal matters until they have been resolved properly.

cuteman · 2013-12-17T06:56:04+00:00

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saint2e · 2013-12-17T19:41:19+00:00

I posted this on another thread, but I thought it was prudent to think this all the way through.

So let's walk through this scenario:

I'm a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted by Gerald.

I'm too embarrassed to press formal charges to the police, what can I do? I know! I'll log it in the college's rape form! That way, there's a record of him raping me, and he'll get a stern talking to.

Wait.

That's all he'll get? A stern talking to? But... if he gets talked to due to a rape claim, chances are he'll know who submitted it.... or at least have a good idea. But because I anonymously submitted the claim, the school will not know who I am, and therefore cannot protect me from any repercussions Gerald may or may not inflict on me.

And to top it all off, because all Gerald got was a stern talking to, no one else is the wiser to his bad behaviour. There's no formal charges laid, so his claim is not public, so he's free to continue his bad behaviour with other women!

Why the hell would I make an anonymous claim then?! For the sole purposes of making myself feel better? That won't last once I think this through and realize that he could seek revenge on me.... Or mistakenly seek revenge on someone else he was intimate with...

This is a bad idea.

mfact50 · 2013-12-20T20:26:19+00:00

A great solution, and middle ground, would be to put a 3rd party in charge of reviewing the data. I think some companies already do this. It would allow the school to collect aggregate data and the 3rd party company can report individual information to the school in the rare cases the anonymous report is actionable. It can even do the likely ineffective "stop raping people if you are" thing via letter or phone. This way the scarlet letter effect of being labeled a rapist (which can happen even if the official grievance process isn't started and can be problematic particularly at small schools) is avoided.

megaphonehellion · 2013-12-17T12:21:38+00:00

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C0ltFury · 2013-12-17T15:31:11+00:00

I read the article, doesn't look like you get charged for anything. It just looks like they bring you in to investigate further.

Still, this is a fucking stupid concept. Do they disclose your name to the public if you are brought in? That would be outrageous.

phySi0 · 2013-12-19T16:47:13+00:00

Let's calm down, take a step back and assess what's happened here!

When I first came across the post, I was upvoting both sides, the ones advocating flooding and the ones saying it's wrong. There are a bunch of criticisms of the attack that I'm gonna address.

This is the original post.

Criticism: Many are claiming that to make false accusations when it's the very thing we fight against is hypocritical (not to mention, ironic). Hold on a second.

Response: It's ironic, I'll give you that. However, hold on a second.

Many of the false reports used false names and some were blatantly false ("I was assaulted by Occidental College", "I was assaulted by Fatty McFatfat"?).
We fight against false accusations because they can ruin lives. The whole point of this exercise was to demonstrate just how easy it is for a system like this to be abused. If you're putting in real people, you're doing it wrong. That's like, as one poster somewhere put it (can't find it now), "lighting a chip shop on fire just because you can". Except…
The whole point was to be found out (not personal details, but the fact that it was orchestrated). This would have been useless otherwise.

Criticism: None of the accused were going to be convicted. They were simply going to have a talk with the dean.

Response: This is a joke, right? As mentioned elsewhere, what victim would report their rapist, knowing they get near-zero repercussions and might actually exact vengeance in response? Not to mention, this just invalidates the previous argument (not necessarily your argument, but the argument) that us falsely accusing people is hypocritical. If they aren't convicted and their names aren't published, then our false accusation has no effect. If they are, it would have been 400 bogus claims. Most people would cotton on that it's fake. As mentioned, that was the point. If they didn't know it was false reports, then how the hell have we demonstrated how this can be abused?

Criticism: This would have helped men, since a lot of men are scared of coming forward due to sexist societal attitudes. This anonymous tool could help.

Response: If that's true, by your logic, it would have helped actual raped women too. That's irrelevant. First of all, as mentioned, no, it just makes them open to revenge. If we assume it does help them, that doesn't matter. One of the things we fight against is anonymous reporting of rapes from women against men. It would be supremacy to stop fighting against anonymous reporting of rapes if it all of a sudden started helping men. We don't just fight for equality. Though that is our main goal, most of us here are against anonymous accusations towards men or women, coming from men or women. If you're going to put a name out there, yours should come out too.

falselyaccused13 · 2013-12-27T14:35:52+00:00

My ex anonymously contacted my employer, claimed she was a fellow employee and alleged that I'd been sexually harassing her over a period of two months. For proof, she provided some risky pics. I'm currently suspended with pay as they're investigating. This is/was the best job I've ever had and I excelled in it.

She created an e-mail account and e-mailed and called to talk to HR. She had contact information for HR and my boss because they'd e-mailed my private account with the offer letter. My "accuser" stated that I boasted about soliciting prostitution while on a business trip. When I came back from a trip, my ex (I was still with her at the time) combed through my search history and saw that I'd clicked on an escort site. She left a voice mail message threatening to tell my boss unless I called her back. This was a few months ago. I'm going to meet with HR to play the voice mail. I hope that they recognize her voice and that clears me. Regardless, this can't but damage my career path with this company.

Any thoughts on how to defend this/react?

s1500 · 2013-12-17T16:43:03+00:00

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femaletrash · 2014-01-03T04:37:47+00:00

late post but lmao at "men's rights" groups. what sort of rights are you fighting for? the right to rape and objectify the opposite sex without being held responsible?

Godspiral · 2013-12-17T06:17:30+00:00

"Hello Occidental, I'd like to report a rape. My roommate totally raped my cookie stash. How can I file a formal complaint about this?"

NightSingerDayCaller · 2013-12-17T10:07:24+00:00

This is a similar situation to that college committee that ruled that someone wasn't a rapist in which the victim was contesting it. (a couple of months back, can't remember the exact details).

No university has this level of authority or responsibility over its students. This is a criminal matter, and it is the responsibility of the police to conduct an investigation (because they have the actual authority to do so)

This sort of thing actually creates a rape culture. society doesn't respond well when a crime becomes associated with innonent people being wrongly accused.

olddirtymongrrel · 2013-12-17T14:37:45+00:00

I am surprised, do they not realize that this is open to abuse, yes we want those sexist assholes who abuse women to be brought to justice and punished, but this is the wrong way to go. How many innocent men will have their lives ruined, just a bad idea.

CosmicKeys · 2013-12-17T07:15:39+00:00

so what happens if someone really does get raped or sexually assaulted and now they cannot report it? Good job.

2013-12-19T00:08:36+00:00

Here's my question:

I'm honestly curious why someone would want to treat sex-crimes differently than other crimes?

If there was a way to anonymously post accused murderers for a warning from the dean, that would seem a little off right? I understand that this isn't an issue that Occidental is having, so the comparison isn't perfect, but if murder was "common-place" on the campus, they would be educating students on personal safety techniques and call in the police. And perhaps therein lies the problem; that sex-crimes are not taken as seriously? I feel that anonymous accusations only furthers the trend of under-emphasizing the seriousness of rape.

I know that these forums attract trolls, willful and negligent, but I promise I am not one. I sincerely feel that to reach equality for both genders and justice, we cannot distract ourselves with steps in a hazy direction.

Perhaps this online form will help, and I hope it does, but I would rather hear that victims are being empowered to help lead to criminal convictions, than to be misled into thinking an anonymously backed education session will help reduce further crime from a serious rapist.

One final word on those posts concerning fear of false accusations: The hypothetical examples given can go extreme in either direction, but my concern is that either way, its a huge problem for the following reason. If the online form system exceptionally well, those 1% falsely accused would be assumed to be guilty by those involved in the education session. If it works terribly, the 1% rightfully accused can sleep safe knowing no one actually thinks they've done something wrong. Clearly for this to be a success, one would hope the ratio of rightful-to-wrongful accusations would be 99-1. So the fears of being wrongfully accused should be in fact very serious fears indeed by those who feel it will be a successful system.

I know I kinda rabbit-trailed that last thought, but my point is that it's a lose-lose situation for SOMEONE either way.

Disclaimer: I don't know that I'm right, these are just my initial thoughts... I'd love some feedback! Let's all work together for gender-equality and the destruction of sexism and discrimination, especially in relation to sexual crimes.

-Ootini95

ScullyNess · 2013-12-17T14:53:58+00:00

I'm a woman and agree with you this is utter horrid nonsense! !!! !

chipmonkster · 2013-12-17T16:50:59+00:00

As alarming as this whole thing is, I can't get over the fact that they have text boxes for gender instead of radio buttons...

Your_Bacon_Counselor · 2013-12-17T13:23:34+00:00

Looks like there is an epidemic at Occidental, particularly female-on-female assault.

Even though most of these will be scrubbed, I promise the numbers will be kept and used to justify programs.

Youareabadperson5 · 2013-12-17T15:20:58+00:00

I don't see this being brutally abused by any one on the internet at all. One could almost say that the internet is going to ... rape ... the form.

imfineny · 2013-12-24T21:35:19+00:00

I wonder if Occidental College were to publish a tool where whites could anonymously report violence by blacks so that black violence could tackled would receive the same kind of understanding?

How about an online form where men could anonymously report and track which women were sluts or liars?

How about a form where people could report illegal aliens posing as legal residents?

How about a form where students anonymously report administrative waste?

It's apparent that those running Occidental simply don't have moral education to do so.

20rakah · 2013-12-17T16:40:35+00:00

Why not break the form by reporting everyone attending to point out the stupidity of it?

Phototoxin · 2013-12-17T07:50:12+00:00

Need some way of cross-linking this with /writing or something.

nignignignig666 · 2013-12-18T02:50:17+00:00

Gender of Survivor

At least that's a nice change of pace.

Comments