加拿大多伦多新飞扬留学
New numbers, released on Sept 21, confirm a long-held belief: that sexual assault on US campuses is widespread.
9月21发布的新数据证实了人们长久的担忧：性侵害正在美国校园蔓延。
According to a survey by the Association of American Universities (AAU), over 26 percent of female students in their senior year suffered unwanted sexual contact while attending university.
据美国大学协会的一项调查显示，超过26%的大四女学生在入学之后曾遭受过非自愿的性接触。
The statistics were even higher for transgender students and those who defy traditional gender categories – a group rarely studied by researchers. Over 29 percent said they too had endured sexual contact without consent.
这一数据在变性学生和颠覆传统性别分界的学生中甚至会更高，而他们往往容易被研究者忽略。29%的这一类学生表示自己曾经经历过非自愿的性接触。
The scale of the survey made it unique. In total, the survey collected 150,072 responses, from a mix of men and women, upper and lower classmen. Twenty-seven schools took part, including top institutions like Harvard and Columbia.
该调查的范围之广史无前例，总计收集了150,072份问卷，受访者有男有女，各个年级的学生皆备。全美27所高校参与了调查，其中包括像哈佛大学和哥伦比亚大学这样的顶尖名校。
The survey spurred outrage among many activists and politicians, who felt it was further proof of “rape culture” in the US. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal called for swift reform to stop this “egregious epidemic”.
这项调查也激化了社会活动家和政客们对性侵害的愤怒，他们认为这进一步证实了美国有“强奸文化”。民主党参议员理查德•布鲁门塔呼吁尽快着手改革，消灭这种“臭名昭彰的传染病”。
“The horrific trends confirmed in this report are what I have heard all too often: alarmingly high rates of assault, shockingly low rates of reporting [...] and general confusion among students regarding resources and remedies on campus,” Blumenthal said in a statement.
布鲁门塔在一项声明中说：“报告中证实的恐怖趋势正是我经常耳闻的：性侵害发生率极高，但被报道的却极少……消息的来源和大学的补救措施常常令学生摸不着头脑。”
Other observers are more skeptical. In a column for the Washington Post, journalist Stuart Taylor Jr. calls the statistics “more hype than science”.
另外一些观察者则对此持怀疑态度。记者小斯图尔特•泰勒在《华盛顿邮报》的专栏上称这些数据“耸人听闻却并不科学”。
The AAU admits its statistics don’t represent all students. Individuals could choose whether or not to participate in the survey. While “150,072 students” seems like a big number, it is a mere fraction of the total number of students attending the 27 schools surveyed.
美国大学协会承认它的数据不能代表所有学生。每个人都有选择参加或拒绝调查的权利。而“150,072名学生”看起来是个庞大的数字，实际上却只是参与调查的27所大学在校人数的九牛一毛。
Moreover, only certain types of students feel comfortable answering questions about sexual assault. “Non-victims may have been less likely to participate,” the study said.
此外，只有一部分的学生能自如地回答性侵害的问题。“非受害者可能并不愿意参加，”该研究认为。
For critics like Taylor Jr., the survey’s weaknesses only add to the “exaggerated” debate around sexual assault. He believes that the US has entered “an era of hysteria about the campus sexual assault problem”.
对像小泰勒一样的批评者而言，这项调查的缺陷仅仅是为夸大其词的性侵害辩论推波助澜。他确信美国正在进入了“对于校园性侵害癔病的年代”。
In recent years, campus sexual assault has become more visible, igniting a fierce public debate. The media closely covered cases like that of Emma Sulkowicz, a 2015 Columbia University graduate.
近年来，校园性侵害越来越被公众所知，也引发了一场激烈的公共辩论。媒体密切关注这类案例，如2015年哥伦比亚大学毕业生艾玛•苏考维兹事件。
As a student, Sulkowicz was famous for carrying a dorm-room mattress around campus, as a protest against the classmate she says assaulted her. Her accusations were never proven.
作为一名学生，苏考维兹因背着寝室床垫在校园内抗议室友对其进行性侵犯而出名。她的指控从未被证实。
Meanwhile, universities have struggled to respond to claims that they were too soft on sexual assault. Rape and other acts of sexual assault can be hard to verify, and often go unpunished – or unreported altogether.
同时，大学也尝试回击那些称它们在性侵害问题上软弱无能的指控。强奸和其他性侵害行为很难取证，往往不了了之，甚至被新闻报道忽视。
But tougher rules also face controversy. Last year, when Harvard tightened its policies for dealing with sexual harassment, 28 of its law professors condemned the new rules as being unfair. They wrote that, under the new system, the odds were “overwhelmingly stacked against the accused”.
但采取更加严格的规定也面临争议。去年哈佛大学加强应对性骚扰的政策时，该校28名法学教授就谴责过新制度有失公允。他们写到，在新制度下，可能的后果是“压倒性的制裁被告”。
Part of the debate centers around the expanding definition of sexual assault. The AAU’s survey, for instance, included incidents of forced kissing and groping alongside more severe acts of assault, like rape. What should, and shouldn’t, be considered sexual assault remains a key part of the debate.
还有些辩论集中在如何扩大性侵害的定义。以美国大学协会的调查为例，它包含了强迫接吻、揩油和情节严重的性侵害，如强奸。哪些行为应该或者不应该被纳入性侵害依旧是辩论的核心问题。
