TO THE EDITOR:
In a “quick hit,” The Daily Tar Heel asserts that George Will said “being a victim of sexual assault is a coveted status,” calling this the sexist rant of a crazy old man.
Actually Will said that “when they make victimhood a coveted status that confers privileges, victims proliferate.” He was criticizing the claimed epidemic of campus rapes and the absurd claim that “one in five women is sexually assaulted while in college.”
He also deplored the low standard of proof now required — “preponderance of the evidence” rather than “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
We can replicate Will’s argument by looking at UNC statistics. Of about 18,000 undergraduates, about 60 percent are female. University statistics gave 19 reported forcible sex offenses in 2010. If only 12 percent are actually reported as has been claimed, there would be about 158 actual offenses, or 632 in four years.
With 10,678 female students, this means that the chance of rape at UNC is one in 17, far less than one in five. If the 12 percent reporting rate is too low, the chances of rape on campus could be far lower. The “preponderance of the evidence” standard means that up to 50 percent of innocent men could be convicted.
Isn’t this carrying political correctness too far? Shouldn’t rape be considered a crime and left to the criminal justice system?
Elliot Cramer
Professor Emeritus
