US-Unis: Welle der sexuellen Gewalt?

Liest man in dieser Woche Blätter wie die "Zeit", könnte man glauben, an amerikanischen Unis gäbe es eine Epidemie von Vergewaltigungen. Bei einer solchen Hysterie spielen die Bedürfnisse von Medien und von Feministinnen einander in die Hand. Aber die vorliegenden Zahlen stützen diese Aufregung nicht:

On Tuesday, the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report on school crime and safety. The most widely reported finding of the 200-page study has been that the number of reported sex crimes on college campuses has increased by 51 percent, from around 2,200 in 2001 to around 3,300 in 2011. Headlines like “College Sex Crimes up by 51% Even as Other Crimes Fall, Study Finds” and “Report Sees Surge in Sex Crimes on College Campuses” proliferated.

Have sex crimes on American college campuses increased by 51 percent? In fact, the report shows no such thing. The reported 51 percent increase is based on raw numbers of reported offenses and fails to take into account the fact that college enrollment has increased dramatically since 2001. When the report’s authors accounted for this, they found that reported forcible sex offenses have increased by a much smaller margin — from 1.9 per 10,000 students in 2001 to 2.2 per 10,000 students in 2011.

Hier geht es weiter mit dem sehr analytischen Artikel. Eine hohe Auflage oder erfolgreiche Propaganda erzielt man mit "2,2 Fälle pro 10.000 Studentinnen" statt "Jede vierte Frau!!" natürlich nicht.