A few days ago, the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault released its first report.

http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1149920/white-house-report-on-campus-sex-assault.pdf

NOT ALONE
The First Report of the White House Task Force to
Protect Students From Sexual Assault

Excellent critiques can be found

http://www.mindingthecampus.com/originals/2014/04/the_white_house_joins_the_war_.html
http://www.thefire.org/fire-responds-to-white-house-task-forces-first-report-on-campus-sexual-assault/

What struck me when I read the report is the recognition of how much alcohol and drugs plays a role in these assaults. It also states most of these happen to women who are almost certainly under the legal age of drinking.

One in five women is sexually assaulted while in college. Most often, it happens her freshman or sophomore year. In the great majority of cases (75-80%), she knows her attacker, whether as an acquaintance, classmate, friend or (ex)boyfriend. Many are survivors of what’s called “incapacitated assault”: they are sexually abused while drugged, drunk, passed out, or otherwise incapacitated. And although fewer and harder to gauge, college men, too, are victimized.

And yet, nowhere in the report, not even in the section titled "Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus" is there any discussion whatsoever of reducing alcohol or drugs amongst these college women.

Page 9

II. Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus

Participants in our listening sessions roundly urged the Task Force to make prevention a top priority. Some even suggested that if prevention and education efforts don’t start earlier, it’s too late by the time students get to college. While we certainly agree that this work should begin early, the college years, too, are formative. During this transition to adulthood, attitudes and behaviors are created or reinforced by peer groups. And students look to coaches, professors, administrators, and other campus leaders to set the tone. If we get this right, today’s students will leave college knowing that sexual assault is simply unacceptable. And that, in itself, can create a sea change.

Federal law now requires schools to provide sexual assault prevention and awareness programs. To help colleges and universities in this endeavor, we are providing schools with new guidance and tools.

  • Best practices for better prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a systematic review of primary prevention strategies for reducing sexual violence, and is releasing an advance summary of its findings. CDC’s review summarizes some of the best available research in the area, and highlights evidence- based prevention strategies that work, some that are promising, and – importantly – those that don’t work. The report points to steps colleges can take now to prevent sexual assault on their campuses.

Among other things, CDC’s review shows that effective programs are those that are sustained (not brief, one-shot educational programs), comprehensive, and address the root individual, relational and societal causes of sexual assault. It also includes a listing of prevention programs being used by colleges and universities across the country, so schools can better compare notes about effective and encouraging approaches. 13

  • Getting everyone to step in: bystander intervention. Among the most promising prevention strategies – and one we heard a lot about in our listening sessions – is bystander intervention. Social norms research reveals that men often misperceive what other men think about this issue: they overestimate their peers’ acceptance of sexual assault and underestimate other men’s willingness to intervene when a woman is in trouble. And when men think their peers don’t object to abusive behavior, they are much less likely to step in and help. Programs like Bringing in the Bystander work to change those perspectives – and teach men (and women) to speak out against rape myths (e.g., women who drink at parties are “asking for it”) and to intervene if someone is at risk of being assaulted.

o To help enlist men as allies, we are releasing a Public Service Announcement featuring President Obama, Vice President Biden, and celebrity actors. The message of the PSA is simple: if she doesn’t consent – or can’t consent – it’s a crime. And if you see it happening, help her, don’t blame her, speak up. o To help keep these conversations going, we are providing a basic factsheet on bystander intervention.

  • Developing new prevention strategies. More research is needed to develop and evaluate evidence-based programming to prevent sexual violence on campus. And so:

o In Fall 2014, the CDC, in collaboration with the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women and the Department of Education, will convene a panel of experts to identify emerging, promising practices to prevent sexual assault on campus. o The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) is developing a multi-year initiative on campus sexual assault which, among other things, will test and evaluate prevention programs used by its campus grantees. o In 2015, the CDC will solicit proposals to identify, and fill, gaps in the research on sexual violence prevention.

Now to be a hip young modern feminist means to award feminist karma points and unlock achievements for alcoholism, binge drinking and blackout periods. To be a hard partier.

But I am struck by how the section on Preventing Sexual Assault on Campus, the entire report actually, is completely aimed at having men taking responsibility for the women. Not asking the women to take a single step to protect themselves.

And especially not demanding the colleges crack down on underage drinking and drug consumption.

It's all just a given. We mustn't demand our undergrads act like responsible adult members of society. We cannot crack down on alcohol abuse. We mustn't slut shame women. We cannot even in the name of preventing sexual assault recommend a reduction in the alcohol culture (much less the booty call culture.)