Montana Standard
6.16.15 | Franke Wilmer
Jon Krakauer’s book Missoula is not about Missoula; it’s about being a young adult in a culture that puts young women at risk of sexual assault and enables a small number of young men to feel entitled to assault them. Neither of these problems is unique to Missoula.
Between 10 percent to 20 percentf women college students will be assaulted before graduating; many sexual assaults go unreported. A total 104 institutions are currently under investigation by the Department of Education for serious problems of sexual violence. However, Krakauer is clear -– although the cases in his book are all college students, all young people are at risk, in or out of college. College campuses are just petri dishes for sexual assault. Universities and colleges are not causing the problem, but many are also not dealing with it in ways that make our campuses safer by reducing and preventing sexual assault and violence. Most could do better.
Ninety percent is an important number to remember for two reasons. One is that 90 to 98 percent of sexual assault reports are true. Since overwhelmingly most sexual assault reports are true, they should be believed unless evidence proves otherwise. The second reason to remember 90 percent is that 90 to 94 percent of young men do not commit sexual assault. Not only do all young men suffer from the stigma caused by the violence committed by a very small number of them, but most of the 6 to 10 percent who do commit sexual violence are repeat offenders. A 2011 study found that repeat offenders perpetrated more than 90 percent of assaults, a fact that makes reporting and early investigation all the more important.
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