Rolling Stone Mistake Could Prove Detrimental To Sexual Assault Victims

Sexual assault is a topic very few are willing to discuss or come forward about.  

Fewer than half of sexual assault survivors report being assaulted to authorities because some believe what happened to them is not important enough to bring to the attention of campus police, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

Law & Order: SVU aired an episode entitled Devastating Story in early April that drew parallels between a fictional university and the rape allegations put forth by a student named “Jackie” at the University of Virginia in a Rolling Stone article published last November.

In the Rolling Stone article, Jackie recalled the nightmare of what occurred, back in September of 2012 to Rolling Stone’s Sabrina Rubin Erdely.

She said that “Drew,” who was a junior at the time of the incident, asked her on a date after working as lifeguards on campus together.

He invited her to a dinner party at his fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi. During the party, the accused asked the victim if she wanted to go upstairs.

She followed him into a dark room and panicked when she quickly realized they were not the only occupants.

It is then where Jackie says that she was pinned down, hit in the face, and raped by several fraternity brothers as Drew looked on.

After her horrific ordeal, she ran out of the Phi Kappa Psi house and called three close friends who came to her aid after the attack.

Jackie tells Erdely that she did not come forward to police then because her friends convinced her to remain silent.

As Jackie’s story was further investigated, police and Rolling Stone began to see her details did not hold up to fact-checking.

Many people are now asking what the effects of this story will have on future reporting of other on-campus assaults.

Erdely is now under fire for not verifying Jackie’s story before publication.

She failed to follow up with the accuser or even the friends that were with the victim.

Jackie’s friends believe something really did happened to her that night but are uncertain if it is the account she has given.

Rolling Stone has lost some credibility and may have potentially discouraged other victims in coming forward because of their neglectful reporting.

Sexual assault is a serious issue on college campuses and more must be done to protect those affected.

An important lesson to learn from this ordeal is that journalists hold real power that can change the course of people’s lives.

We cannot be blinded by a sense of justice without giving everyone a fair shot at sharing their side.

Granted, the extra attention we have recently seen placed on college sexual assaults should not be abandoned.

There are countless students whose voices are silenced, through unjust school administrators, fear, or any number of reasons.

Those stories still deserve to be told.