
Harvard student pens letter about lack of response to sexual assault - superduper33
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/harvard-student-slams-school-lack-response-sexual-assault-article-1.1741921
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QuantumChaos
I don't support the existence of institutions that operate parallel to the
legal system.

If they favor the victim, then they will tend to punish people who would not
have been found guilty of a crime in a court of law, and so it is very hard to
determine if the accused was given due process.

If they favor the accused, then they direct complaints away form the legal
system and thereby protect criminals.

I think that the support system that the university provides should be more
oriented towards directing people who consider themselves to be victims
towards the legal system, not trying to replace the legal system. Then there
would be no expectation that Harvard define sexual assault or rape in a
particular way, and the responsibility for defining these things would fall
where it belongs: with lawmakers and the courts.

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ars
Why in the world do colleges have their own police force for this kind of
thing?

Is the some reason she can't call the police about this?

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angersock
There's some great utility in having campus police forces--a great many sorts
of dumb things are better handled with a softer touch than you'd get were you
to use the normal cops.

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MetaCosm
Which, in the end just sounds like an extension of privilege given to those
who can attend universities.

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angersock
Yep--your point?

I can maybe see a case for forcing them to use the same police departments as
everybody else, in hopes that it would motivate the parents and community
involved into maybe actually fixing a broken system.

More likely, though, you'll end up with worse enforcement, because why would
cops deal with "stupid college kids" when they could be stopping real crimes?
I'd bet they'd just be ignored.

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Gigablah
Cue victim-blaming in the article comments.

~~~
yummyfajitas
Cue activists attempting to suppress rational discussion with cute but
meaningless catch-phrases. The alleged-victim may or may not, in fact, be at
fault. Labeling and demonizing those who don't mindlessly support her adds
nothing to the conversation.

Also, exactly what does this article have to do with HN?

