Open letter stirs controversy for blasting ‘believe the victim’ approach to campus sex assaults

Article here. Excerpt:

'About a dozen attorneys and professors in and near Philadelphia have signed an open letter calling “believe the victim” approaches to sexual assault investigations “junk science” that risks wrongful convictions.

The letter, spearheaded by the Maryland-based group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments, or SAVE, claims that the victim-centered practices that now guide campus rape investigations hearken back to history’s hasty responses to public health crises that presumed the accused’s guilt.

“This trend is disturbingly reminiscent of the 1980s and ‘90s satanic daycare child abuse ‘witch hunt’ during which investigators were instructed to ‘believe the children’ without scrutiny,” the letter states.

The letter, signed by nearly 140 people from across the country, was just the latest wrinkle in a growing debate about how colleges and universities investigate campus sexual assault allegations.'