This email is in response to the article “1 in 4 College Women Are Not Sexually Assaulted: The dubious statistic and its consequences.” Reading The Spectrum this morning, I was disappointed to find this article that degrades the topic of sexual assault. Sexual assault is a very prominent and serious thing that happens on college campuses, and to find an article that just dismisses this is just offensive. There is substantial credible evidence backing the findings that multiple women (and men) are sexually assaulted on college campuses every year. There are years of research, studies, and surveys backing these statistics.

Sexual assault awareness is also not a hypocritical feminist ideology or a radical idea that feminists use to gain attention in a “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy,” it’s something that actually happens to thousands of people across the U.S., and even the world, in a year. Sexual assault is any type of forced or coerced sexual contact or behavior that happens without consent. Sexual assault includes rape and attempted rape, child molestation, and sexual harassment or threats (Joyfulheartfoundation.org). It’s not “considers certain activities to be sexual assault,” because it already is sexual assault.

I was very disappointed to read an article like this in a school affiliated paper, because this article is filled with inaccurate information, and it also dismisses the idea that sexual assault is as prominent as it is on campuses. I hope that the next time an article is written about sexual assault, it’s filled with correct information, that has been backed by research, and that it doesn’t downplay an issue like this, but rather bring awareness to it. A wonderful place to start looking for information is the documentary, The Hunting Ground, which is filled with statistics backed by scholars, and (inter)national foundations.

Thank you for your time,

Leah Trosper, sophomore in human development and family science