'Dubious facts' lessen impact of rape prevention programs

I am writing about Katie Koestner's visit here and the associated newspaper articles which were in the paper last week. Please excuse me if I seem insensitive or callous; I am not. I think that rape is a horrible crime. I am simply trying to point out the shortcomings of Ms. Koestner's speech. This is meant to be a constructive criticism.

First off, I question the veracity of many of the claims that were made by Koestner and were echoed by the associated newspaper articles. She said that according to FBI statistics, only 2 percent of the rape cases in the United States are false reports. According to Alan M. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor, rape is "the most falsely reported serious crime in America. According to FBI statistics, more than 8 percent of all reported rapes are unfounded." It is obvious that the FBI statistic is not both 2 percent and 8 percent.

Another claim which she made was that one in four of all college women in the U.S. have been raped. I'm not sure where she got these statistics from, but I am assuming that it is from the infamous Ms. Magazine report (Conducted by UA's own Dr. Mary P. Koss). The fact that these statistics are widely disputed was never brought up. For example: "Only 27 percent of the women counted by Koss as rape victims labeled their experience as rape," and "42 percent of the (alleged) rape victims return to have sex with their (alleged) rapists" (Congressional Quarterly, Nov. 4, 1994). These facts alone leave Koss's research methods questionable.

Simply put, Koss and Ms. Magazine have an agenda, in the same way that the 700 Club and the Ku Klux Klan have agendas. They twist the facts to suit their theories with the intent of misleading the public. If CARE, OASIS, and Katie Koestner use these dubious facts, then they are also misleading the public.

It is a current zeitgeist that accepts male-bashing and disrespects female-bashing. In Katie Koestner's monologue, she told several stories unrelated to the topic, generally characterizing men in a negative way. Although Ms. Koestner made several concessions to the men in the audience, I feel that her overall attitude was contemptuous of males. This conflicts with her goal of getting men involved in date rape prevention. Why would men want to get involved with a movement that hates them?

If CARE, OASIS, and Katie Koestner are truly serious about preventing date rape, then they must act in a more dignified and respectable manner. They should:

1: Stop misleading people with dubious statistics. Rape is a bad thing no matter how often it happens. The act of misleading the public detracts from the importance of rape prevention. An honest way to present uncertain data is to say (while presenting it) that it is uncertain.

2: Eliminate male-bashing speech and behavior from lectures about rape prevention. Rapists are first and foremost criminals. Whether or not they happen to be male is incidental. Men are the brothers, fathers, husbands and co-workers of this society. It is not OK to bash them, or anyone, because of their gender.

By Eric Raunig
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 11, 1997