Discredited rape account concerns advocates

Associated Press

BALTIMORE

With the account of a purported gang rape at the University of Virginia debunked by police, advocates for sexual-assault survivors are worried a movement that gained tremendous momentum in the past year could suffer a setback.

A Rolling Stone article about a student identified only as “Jackie” described a purported rape on campus and a culture of binge-drinking and looking the other way when students filed sexual-assault complaints. The story intensified the national conversation about rapes on college campuses and prompted changes at the university, but on Monday, Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said a monthslong investigation turned up no evidence of a sexual assault, or any wrongdoing by the school.

“One false report should not diminish the seriousness with which we take on the challenge of sexual assault on campus,” said Daniel Carter, director of 32 National Campus Safety Initiative and an advocate for sexual-assault survivors for more than two decades. “I do think, unfortunately, that such a high-profile discredited story will have negative impacts on people’s willingness to believe survivors when they come forward.”

Police said Jackie refused to talk to them after the article was published in November.