Monday, July 8, 2013

UNC-Chapel Hill's Mistreatment of Rape Victims

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill is now facing a third federal investigation into its sexual assault policies. This time, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating allegations that UNC inappropriately retaliated against Landen Gambill, a sophomore at the university, after she publicly came forward about her rape. 
Gambill was one of several students who filed a federal complaint against the university at the beginning of the year, alleging UNC has created a “hostile environment” for rape victims attempting to report sexual crimes. In February, the sophomore faced an honor code violation that claimed she “intimidated” her alleged rapist by publicly sharing the story of her sexual assault — even though she never named him, simply referring to him as an “ex-boyfriend.” Later that year, even after the male student in question had been found guilty of sexually harassing Gambill, he was reassigned to a dorm building “in close proximity” to hers. 
The new investigation will attempt to determine whether those two actions — subjecting Gambill to UNC’s honor court and moving Gambill’s assailant closer to her — constitute inappropriate retaliation. The honor code charge against Gambill, which could have resulted in her expulsion, has since been dropped.
There's an old saying that goes something to the tune of "It isn't the crime, it's the cover-up." I believe this applies here. I honestly can not even begin to fathom how the university, if the allegations are true, would go to such lengths against a victim of rape. I'm assuming some of these officials have daughters. Chances are that they would not stand for such actions against their own children, so why do it to someone else's? This really goes to show how soulless some people can be, in case what happened at Penn State was not indication enough.


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