Panel Debates Date Rape Policy

Student leaders and activists debated Harvard's policy dealing with date rape before more than 50 people last night at the Kennedy School of Government.

The panelists spoke about different issues relating to the definition of rape adopted by the Administrative Board, which necessitates active dissent for rape to occur, and the definition originally proposed by the Date Rape Task Force, which would necessitate active consent by both parties for consensual sex to occur.

Panelists included Naomi M. Hamburg '93, a member of the Date Rape Task Force; Malcolm A. Heinicke '93, chair of the Undergraduate Council; Minna M. Jarvanpaa '93, co-president of the Radcliffe Union of Students; Dianne M. Reeder '93, editor of the Harvard Salient and Monica Salamon '95, the assistant director for general affairs for the Civil Liberties Union of Harvard (CLUH).

Panelists discussed the potential for false accusations of rape at length. Jarvenpaa said statistics showed a low number of false accusations of rape, but Salamon reiterated that any law must work on the assumption that the accused is innocent until proven guilty, thus leaving the burden of proving guilt on the accuser.

Reeder said she believed the Ad Board has no right to try date rape cases. Such cases, she said, should be taken to an actual court, not a board of the University.

But Heinicke defended the right of the Ad Board to try such cases in place of an actual court if the accuser wishes.

"The most important thing we can do is to encourage people to come forward and to not force them to criminal justice system," said Heinicke.

He called for official workshops educating students about date rape, as did Jarvenpaa, Hamburg and Salamon.

Reeder agreed on the need for education but disagreed on the need for mandatory workshops, calling instead for more general education of others. But she said she would support workshops free of the political bias that she believes is often present in Harvard workshops.

Jarvenpaa and Heinicke both focused on the need for education of students at large, while Salamon emphasized the need to distinguish between education and legislation, the latter of which she said is practiced by the Ad Board.

But Reeder questioned the need for a specific category of date rape, calling rape a crime no matter who the rapist is. She also took issue with the idea that women should receive special treatment in a case of potential date rape. "Do women really need to be protected or do they need to grow up?" she said.

The debate, moderated by Jeremy C. Horowitz '94, was sponsored by the Harvard Political Union.