When an individual is raped in this country, more than 90 percent of the time the rapist gets away with the crime. With the current discussion about sexual assault, punishment (or lack thereof), privilege and college campuses, especially in light of the recent appallingly weak sentencing of the Stanford swimmer who raped an unconscious woman on campus, this is a book that should be at the very top of everyone’s reading list. I hadn’t heard of Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town when it was published in 2015, but in following the Stanford rapist case I read a quote by Jon Krakauer, one of my favorite authors, and wondered why they would be interviewing him for this story. And then I discovered his book and thought I’ve got to read this, it’s so relevant right now and he’s a great investigative author.
Missoula is a non-fiction book that discusses sexual assaults that occurred between 2010 and 2012 at the University of Montana, a huge, public, football-obsessed university (not unlike the University of Florida, where I went to school) located in the small town of Missoula, Montana. Krakauer investigates these sexual assaults and the responses to them by the police department, the university, the county attorney’s office and the public. And he paints a disturbing picture that is unfortunately probably not an outlier in the way that sexual assaults are handled in college towns, and one can only imagine in other facets of society as well.
Krakauer, well known for his bestselling books Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, which were both also adapted into wildly popular movies, is an excellent investigative author. I first read his book Under the Banner of Heaven, which dives into the world of fundamentalist Mormons and in particular a horrendous crime committed by two FLDS brothers in the name of this religion. I couldn’t put the book down, it was so interesting, albeit extremely disturbing, and so well researched and written. Krakauer delves into the subject matter of his books, exhaustively researching the story, interviewing throngs of subjects, and making sure to evaluate many sides of the story. In Missoula, while he concludes that the justice system in Missoula has failed victims of sexual assault in many ways, he has not painted a one-sided story. He interviews accused perpetrators of the sexual assaults and their families, and he takes into account, considers and describes input from those who do not believe the crimes were committed. He interviews those members of the police force, county attorney’s office and university who are under attack by the press and public for their supposed failures to respond appropriately to these assaults. In doing so, he paints a complete picture of the environment in which these sexual assaults are occurring and it is hard to dispute that there is a BIG PROBLEM. It is at times a difficult book to read, learning the details of sexual assaults that have occurred and the harm caused to the victims; but it is an important conversation that we need to have. And Krakauer doesn’t hesitate to engage in this difficult and oftentimes uncomfortable discourse.
According to Krakauer, there is an especially big problem when it comes to student athletes with celebrity, god-like status, on college campuses, who are accused of sexual assault. “We’re disinclined to believe that someone who’s an attentive student or a congenial athlete could also be a serial rapist.” This seems to be exactly what happened in the Stanford rapist case. Victims of sexual assault are often doubted, their stories disputed, and it comes down to a he-said/she-said situation. When you add to the mix that the “he-said” part of this equation happens to be an outrageously successful and worshipped athlete who brings fame and fortune to the university and its town, county and state, and you’ve got an all too common situation where a victim will continue to be harangued and harassed, disbelieved and disputed, living her nightmare over and over and over again. Krakauer interviews numerous such victims and compassionately and factually tells their stories, which sound all too familiar from the nightly news. We have seen example after example of exactly this scenario, and how difficult it is to hold the perpetrators accountable. It is no wonder so many victims of sexual assault don’t bother to report these crimes, choosing instead to devastatingly try to deal with it on their own.
Krakauer describes the standards for prosecuting sexual assault, for police investigating these alleged crimes, and for university officials to investigate these crimes if they take place within the confines of the university. The standards that each such organization are held vary in important and distinct ways, causing much tension and dysfunction between these three agencies that should actually be working together to collectively get to the truth of the matter. He describes the wide latitude and discretion into investigating and pressing (or not pressing) charges in such crimes held by the police and prosecutors. As an attorney myself, I can’t help but be absolutely appalled by some of what he has uncovered in this book. “The foremost issue for police and prosecutors should be that you have a predator out there. By reporting this rape, the victim is giving you an opportunity to put this guy away. If you decline to pursue the case because the victim was drunk, or has a history of promiscuity, or whatever, the offender is almost certainly going to keep raping other women.” Unfortunately, the most important factor in the decision of whether to prosecute seems often to be the likelihood of winning, rather than whether in truth a crime did happen.
Missoula describes acquaintance sexual assault, instances when women and men are sexually assaulted by someone that they know – which is a much more common crime than “stranger” sexual assault. And these crimes can also be much more difficult to prosecute in the “he-said/she-said” game that these crimes often become. Krakauer seems to nail it when he said “The problem is, most officials who are responsible for holding rapists accountable don’t consider guys like [these students] to be dangerous criminals. And even when they do, too many of them are reluctant to file charges and prosecute perpetrators of acquaintance rape, because they’re convinced that the odds of convicting acquaintance rapists are slim— too slim to justify the immense investment of time, money, and emotional capital required to mount a full- scale rape prosecution. Prosecutors justify this reluctance to prosecute by pointing out that their sworn duty is to act in the best interest of the state, not to serve as personal attorneys for victims of rape or any other crime.”
We have got to do better as a country and a society in fighting sexual assault. “A meticulous, expertly conducted investigation that begins by believing the victim is an essential part of prosecuting and, ultimately, convicting those who are guilty of rape. It also happens to be the best way to exonerate those who have been falsely accused.” When many people think about sexual assault on college campuses, the story that comes to mind are the false accusations of gang rape by fraternity members at the University of Virginia, fallaciously and harmfully reported by Rolling Stone magazine without regard to fact checking and verifying these serious allegations. And the harm that this publication did to the sexual assault discourse cannot be underestimated. Let’s turn the conversation back to the real issue: that sexual assault, on college campuses and elsewhere, is a real problem that needs to be addressed.
And that starts with educating ourselves about the true environment in which we are operating. We need to understand exactly what is going on, how we as a society are responding to it, and we need to continue the dialogue, loud and clear, about how we are going to fix this invasive and far too common problem. And that all starts with educating ourselves. Read this book, it is important; whether you are a man or a woman, no matter your age; this is an issue that will affect nearly every one of us, directly or indirectly. “Rapists rely on the silence of their victims to elude accountability.” So let’s educate ourselves, stop sweeping this issue under the rug and silencing the victims, and have this difficult but imperatively important discussion.
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
BLOGGED FROM the Oregon coast
