Girl who cried wolf

On average, 293,066 people ages 12 or older will be raped or sexually assaulted this year.

Those numbers are provided by RAINN – the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.

The statistics are staggering. Every 107 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. Those aren’t random figures. They are provided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey.

Sadly, many assault cases go unreported. Victims go untreated and perpetrators escape conviction.

Rape is a crime that cuts to the core of one’s being. It’s society’s dirty little secret that too often punishes those who do bravely come forward. “She asked for it” is a common chorus. She put herself in the wrong place, trusted in the wrong person or behaved in the wrong way, making herself a prime target.

Understandably, America took notice when Rolling Stone magazine published an article Nov. 19 narrating a unnamed source’s claims that she had been gang raped on the University of Virginia campus.

The story’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, and, consequently, Rolling Stone, put their faith in the source’s report that several member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity repeatedly sexually assaulted her at a frat party.

The story made national headlines the day the Rolling Stone issue was released.

Nearly as quickly, the magazine began distancing itself from the reporting as the narrative began unraveling. By week’s end, the story had been pulled from Rolling Stone’s website. The Columbia University School of Journalism was called to investigate the article. Its report is expected to be released in April.

In the meantime, authorities have extensively investigated the alleged incident and, according to Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo, could not confirm several key details in Jackie’s claim.

The way this story was recklessly reported makes one wonder if it was intended to promote Erdely versus any real dialogue about sexual assaults on college campuses. Abuse victims deserve better from the media.