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"ICYMI: Survivors of sexual assault who speak up are just seeking &amp;quot;coveted status that confers privileges,&amp;quot; according to Washington Post columnist George Will. You know, like that shiny gold star you get when you report a rape on campus and then are stigmatized, judged because you shouldn&amp;#x27;t have had those drinks and/or worn that short skirt, and then you&amp;#x27;re told there&amp;#x27;s no evidence to prosecute your attacker and/or he plays football so you should probably just be quiet. All of that, just so you can get the &amp;quot;privilege&amp;quot; of being labeled a slut and seeing him on campus for the next four years! Washington Post columnist George Will Will seems outraged that the Obama administration has taken action by releasing guidelines for colleges and universities to combat sexual assaults on campus. His column not so helpfully explains that this privilege of victimhood is the reason for the high number of sexual assault reports on college campuses of late. Not, you know, the fact that it&amp;#x27;s a serious problem or anything. He goes on to refer to the &amp;quot;supposed campus epidemic of rape, a.k.a. &amp;#x27;sexual assault.&amp;#x27;&amp;quot; (Yes, that&amp;#x27;s &amp;quot;sexual assault&amp;quot; in quotes). Will&amp;#x27;s ignorance hasn&amp;#x27;t gone unnoticed: his Washington Post colleague Alyssa Rosenberg wrote a response to the column, taking Will to task for his &amp;quot;deeply troubling assumptions.&amp;quot; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who has been a champion of sexual assault victims seeking justice everywhere, expressed her disappointment in Will&amp;#x27;s column in an email to her supporters. &amp;quot;I&amp;#x27;m confident that no survivor of sexual assault would characterize their experience as beneficial in any way,&amp;quot; Gillibrand writes. &amp;quot;When people disparage survivors and downplay this nationwide crisis, they turn back the clock on the progress we&amp;#x27;ve made.&amp;quot; So how do we keep the progress going? Annie E. Clark, cofounder of End Rape On Campus tells Glamour that the important thing is to keep speaking up. &amp;quot;Will&amp;#x27;s reasoning is beyond ludicrous, but it is unfortunately not uncommon. As school systems and communities, we need to educate and have critical conversations with young men and boys before they enter their college years.&amp;quot; And the conversations are now flowing online, thanks to the latest feminist hashtag, sparked by Will&amp;#x27;s column: #survivorprivilege is being used by people everywhere to tell their own sexual assault stories. Hopefully, the more brave women speak up, the fewer George Wills we&amp;#x27;ll have to deal with. Wouldn&amp;#x27;t that be nice? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/inspired/blogs/the-conversation/2014/06/hey-george-will-rape-victims-a>