In a recent speech at New York University, Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared to suggest that only women can be victims of sexual assault and that only men are perpetrators.
“Every woman should know that — that they have more rights than they had before,” Cuomo said. “And every male should know … you’re not getting away with what you got away with before.”
Yes, women are more likely to report being sexually assaulted. They’re also more likely to report that a man was the perpetrator. But there are male victims of sexual assault, and there are female perpetrators.
Part of the lack of male reporting may come from the stigma of being a male victim. One sees it most prominently in cases involving high school students and their teachers. When a male teacher has sex with a female student, the story is reported as a helpless underage woman being taken advantage of by a man in a position of power. But when a female teacher has sex with a male student, it is suggested he wanted it. You know, because the assumption is that all that men want is sex, all the time.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the governor’s office for clarification but has not heard back.
Such bias against male students is prevalent on college campuses, where an alleged epidemic of sexual assaults on female students has led to an evisceration of due process rights and a guilty-until-proven-innocent mentality.
Cuomo’s remarks come as he promotes his latest campaign to combat this alleged epidemic. Known as “Enough is Enough,” Cuomo’s campaign included a law that makes “yes means yes” the preferred consent policy on New York campuses. The campaign and associated laws are also redefining how colleges adjudicate sexual assault, which, remember, is actually a crime.
At Columbia University, for example, new rules that were designed with input from women’s groups include no new due process protections for accused students. The makeup of the hearing panel has been changed, and students who are suspended or expelled — based on no more evidence than an accusation — will have a permanent notation on their transcripts.
The most important thing for male students to learn from comments like Cuomo’s is that college campuses do not care about the truth, they care only about looking tough on sexual assault.
