This article is pure opinion, and if anyone who is female disagrees with my point of view simply because of my gender, please excuse yourself. I am simply writing this article due to the high volume of sexual assault cases against Donald Trump, all of which were dropped as far as I know. I am also writing this as a means to express my opinion on a matter that becomes very hard and sensitive for a man to talk about, because expressing any opinion against rape culture is seen as me condoning rape by most women. My argument will revolve around the fact that rape culture is not as prevalent as many women leading the feminist movement might think. Now, I am not saying feminists are all around wrong about this. They are open to opinion, but your opinion can be taken more seriously when you include facts.

For the past few weeks, specifically right after Trump’s win, women all across the country are screaming that Trump be held accountable for his sexual assault charges. Protests are taking to the streets right now, and I, a man, am very much taken aback by the suggested “Rape Culture” branded on every man’s forehead that comes with it the assumption of plain disrespect for women. Hearing constantly from women that men are the sexual predators, men are the rapist, men are the ones that condone violent nonconsensual sex, it becomes overwhelming for men and for me who considers myself none of the above. What can men do to their girlfriend in public that won’t be considered “sexual harassment”? The statistic “one of five women are raped in college” is a statistic that becomes trivial when you look at how that statistic was conducted. I only bring this up because it is the front line chant of most rape culture activists. The term “sexual assault”, according the Justice Department, which conducted the survey, considered something as simple as “forced kissing” and even “attempted forced kissing” as sexual assault. Now when any of us hear the term sexual assault, we usually think of unwanted intercourse, and thanks to the term rape culture, men are always the culprit. But this “1 in 5” statistic takes into account for a lot more than that. The Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Violent Victimization of College Students report does not at all coincide with the “1 in 5” statistic. It claims that female rape has been on the decline since 1995, specifically by 60%, and that one in forty college girls are sexually assaulted. This study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics disregards the claim of Yale student activist Alexandra Brodsky that campus rape is an “epidemic”.

Numerous college campuses have already put into place policy changes after rape culture activists successfully pushed for change. These policies are said to protect women from sexual assault and harassment, but it has also caused quite a negative environment for those men who are falsely accused on daily basis.

Caleb Warner, a college student at University of North Dakota, was accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student on campus and was suspended by the school and not allowed to set foot on campus for three years. Both the school and the police received the same evidence. The police came to the conclusion that there was no sufficient evidence of sexual harassment. The police actually signed for a warrant for Warner’s accuser’s arrest for filing a false police report, but she ended up leaving town and did not answer to any of the chargers against her. A year and a half later, UND came out and stated their evidence was “unsubstantiated” and Warner was allowed back on campus.These types of events happen to college men all across the country, yet no one speaks of it or reports it to the media. Why? Because it conflicts with the narrative that rape culture is a thing and men are the main culprits.

Most people don’t know this, but campus judiciaries are mostly composed of only a few students, sometimes only three. Compare this to a court of law, where there are safe guards that protect against biased jury selection. These campus panels have no safe guards regarding a fair and balanced jury, and most often than not, they are handpicked by women due to volunteers being solicited through email to serve on the sexual harassment and assault panels. Campus judiciaries also do not need as much proof of evidence for sexual assault cases as what would normally be required in a court of law. In fact, it is considered a “dangerously low standard of proof”. This comes from a change in the Department of Education due to federal mandates. As of 2011, institutions are required “to consider cases of sexual conduct under a ‘preponderance of evidence’ standard [rather than a ‘higher clear and convincing standard’…]”. In other words, this means that if most of the committee believes it is slightly more likely that sexual assault took place, the committee must side with the accuser, even with insufficient evidence.

As a man, who has a great relationship with a girl who means so much to him, I find it hard to swallow the idea that somehow I am invasive of my girlfriend, or that by me complimenting her looks is somehow disrespecting her, or that I am the sexual predator. I agree that rapists and those who take advantage of both men and women should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, but putting men who have not partaken in such acts into the same group as rapists is absurd.