When a Student Confides a Rape, Should a Professor Have to Report It?

[moriah]

119. I went to college as a minor. Still 16 when I had my first class, lived on-campus.

Kids in college aren't always adults. And it's not like they magically go from "child" to "adult" in any sense except legally -- there's no real maturity difference between a 17 and 364 day old "child" the next day when they're an 18 year old "adult". Most still aren't of age to drink alcohol, for example (though I have to wonder why you can fight and die for your country but can't have a beer) while in college, we acknowledge that they are not sufficiently mature enough to make all decisions for themselves, and that they should still be guided.

While I agree that going through legal channels is best, and anyone who discloses should be guided toward those channels, often times law enforcement doesn't have enough evidence to convict -- clothing wasn't torn, etc (and yes, I know what it's like to report a rape to the police when there's not enough evidence). Or the victim doesn't want to go through a trial. They should still have the option to not have to go to school with their rapist without having to change schools themselves. I had to move to a different town because I was too afraid of running into him.

And since the boards are so fucking useless, it's not likely that if the victim doesn't want to push it that they'll do much other than record that the event was alleged to have occurred.