More and more men and women
are overcoming their shame
and fears of reporting
date rape.
because people are suddenly willing
finally talking about date rape," said
to report it. And, as more people
Steiner, who believes that being open
report it, more and more cases end up
about the subject is the first step to
in court.
preventing it.
"I've had an enormous number of
The subject has become the tren-
these cases," said Judge Gage. "Peo-
dy topic in magazines and on daytime
ple used to be willing to accept what
TV interview shows. "Before all this
happened, but now they're saying, 'I
talk," said Steiner, "people didn't
said no and I meant NO."
mention date rape. They figured that
In the case of Lisa and David, the
rape was only with a crazy man who
jury sided with Lisa, finding David
leaped out of the bushes with the
guilty of third degree criminal sexual
knife. It couldn't be with that fine,
conduct — guilty of forcible penetra-
well-dressed guy who goes to class
tion, but without any signs of per-
with me or lives in my dorm."
sonal injury. He is now subject to a
The result of all the media atten-
maximum of 15 years in prison.
tion on date rape is showing itself in
"I don't care if they know each
court where a record number of cases
other or how well they know each
are coming before the bench. On col-
other," said Judge Gage. "The ques-
lege campuses, where the issue was
tion is, does she have a right to say
long ignored, offices such as Steiner's
no and expect the man to honor her
are opening at a rapid rate. There is
wishes. She has a right to be free from
already an office at Michigan State
anybody assaulting her. It's not a sex
University and attempts are now be-
crime, it's an assault crime. It's a
ing made to open another one at Cen-
violation of her body."
tral Michigan University. Clearly,
The statistics on date rape, only
women once ashamed to discuss date
recently compiled by Mary P. Koss of rape are suddenly talking about it
Kent State University and others, are - openly and candidly.
nothing short of startling. Date rape
At the U-M, the student govern-
has traumatized one in eight women
ment has called for more education
and strikes virtually every U.S. col-
about rape in fraternities and
lege campus. In fact, 85 percent of col-
sororities. Their resolution came a
lege women who were sexually
day after the acquittal of a U-M stu-
assaulted in 1985 were assaulted by
dent charged with raping a woman at
someone they knew. Half of those
a fraternity party last spring. Griffith
assaults occurred on a "date" or dur-
Neal, 22, was found not guilty on a
ing what could be considered a
first degree criminal sexual conduct
romantic situation. More than 90 per-
charge following a week-long trial in
cent of women who said they had been
Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
sexually assaulted said they did not
Neal was accused of raping a U-M stu-
report the crime. Officers at the Troy
dent in his room at the Phi Gamma
Police Department estimate only
Delta fraternity house last March.
about a third of the acquaintance
Meanwhile, he has filed a libel
rapes in this area ever get reported.
lawsuit against the girl and claimed
"Date rape is the most under-
she consented to have sexual inter-
reported crime:' said Julie Steiner,
course with him.
director of the University of
The case, which received
Michigan's Sexual Assault Preven-
widespread coverage, was only one of
tion and Awareneness Center which
scores of similar cases now in courts
opened last year in response to the
throughout the state on an issue
problems of rape and date rape on
that's finally coming out from under
campus. "The problem is not new. It
the sheets.
just wasn't talked about."
In a recent article by Dr. Joyce
In its first year, Steiner's office
Brothers, Parade magazine reported
has received 45 reports of sexual
date rape as "a growing threat." But
assault on campus, compared to the
other experts say this is not the case.
15 reports received by the U-M securi-
Rape and date rape have been around
ty office during the same period.
since the beginning of man and
"In the last three years, people are
woman. There are even traces of it in
the Bible in the book of Genesis, when
Dinah, the daughter of Leah and
Jacob, was defiled by Hamor the
Hivite, the prince of the land, who
"saw her, seized her and lay with her."
But throughout the ages, rape re-
mained a forbidden topic.
"Date rapes have been in the
shadows;' said Steiner. "And now, as
we bring it out of the shadows, women
who have been raped on dates are
coming forward to get assistance and
counseling and reporting it to the
police."
One of the main problems causing
women to resist reporting the cases is
the ambiguous territory between
what is considered sexually permissi-
ble and what is forbidden. A
Washington State University survey
found that five percent of women and
19 percent of men did not define for-
cible sex or coercion as unacceptable
behavior. Rather they indicated that
under certain circumstances, it might
be acceptable for a man to force sex
on his companion. Such instances in-
cluded: When the couple had been
together for a long time, if she had let
him fondle her and if she wasn't a
virgin or had "led him on."
One out of 12 men questioned by
the Kent State survey admitted to
having fulfilled the prevailing defini-
tion of rape or attempted rape, yet
none identified himself as a rapist.
"Sometimes the woman feels
obligated to be sexual," said a
counselor from Harbor, a toll-free
crisis line located in Lansing that
counsels the victims of sexual assault.
The woman asked to remain
anonymous for fear of breaking the
confidence of those victims she
counsels. "Usually women will call
here who are afraid to report it to the
police because they believe that only
bad women are raped. And wives who
have been raped by their husbands
will call here because they may feel
they can't do anything else. Michigan
law says rape isn't a crime when
you're married. People seem to have
a stereotype of who gets raped and it
isn't correct. It could happen to
anyone?'
Though it happens anywhere, the
date-rape hotspots are areas with a
higher number of adolescents or
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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