Butler column neglects to address emotional, healing issues in reporting rapes

Kristin Butler's column "The worst, kept secret" (Feb. 6) was a painfully misinterpreted response to the specific alleged rape case that has overtaken the Duke campus this past year and not a thoughtful analysis of the universal process of reporting sexual assault. It may be easy when fellow students have likely been falsely accused of rape to begin to question alleged victims' rights based on a small percentage of disturbed individuals who have ruined lives with their fictitious allegations.

However, Butler's statistics are missing one obvious point-the majority of retracted reports are not due to false allegations but the emotional stress that going through a rape investigation and trial puts on victims after recently having been through one of the most traumatic events that one can experience. The choice to retract a rape claim to concentrate on healing is one that we must respect but unfortunately allows too many assaults to go unpunished and rapists to go free.

So while it may not be "really fair" for the press to publish the names of the accused and not the accuser in the case of false allegations, as Duke students we must look beyond our latest scandal and realize that upholding the rights of victims and alleged victims is necessary to begin to change the culture of rape that is all too present in our society today and the harsh social stigma that victims still have to face.

Michelle Stansbury

Trinity '07