Women Get Payout From University Following Terrible Response To Rape And Sexual Assault Reports

In America, one in five women will be raped or sexually assaulted while they're is at university, research shows. This statistic, plus the fact that half of universities don't properly deal with reports of rape and sexual assault, is exactly why we're meant to be happy for the five women at the University of Connecticut who just won $1.3m (£760,000) after complaining about the university's way of dealing with rapes and sexual assaults.

Erica Daniels and Rosemary Richi both claimed that the university had failed to consider the evidence they brought to their sexual assault cases. Carolyn Luby wrote an essay on rape culture within the school's sports teams and was subjected to harassment and stalking as a result. Kylie Angell alleged she was raped, and someone was found 'responsible', but he was only temporarily kicked out of the school (for two weeks in total) and ended up raping another student a year later, and Silvana Moccia claimed she was kicked off the hockey team after saying that a male player had raped her. All of the women bar Moccia will be given payments from $25,000 to $125,000, (£14,640 to £73,180) whereas Moccia has been awarded $900,000 (£528,700).

Now, we're not legal experts, so don't hold us to it, but in the UK, a lot of these incidents could result in criminal suits, which would result in someone being sent to jail for eg negligence, dereliction of duty, perjury. But in America? They get payouts.

The girls were satisfied with the outcome of the trial, according to their lawyer Gloria Allred, who called them 'courageous'. She told* The Boston Globe* following the ruling: 'Our clients are moving forward with their lives in a positive manner with full knowledge that they have made a difference.'

'I hope that other students who are victims of sexual violence on college campuses throughout this nation will hear about the positive results in our case involving UConn and be inspired and encouraged to report rape and sexual assault.'

In return for the payout, the girls are no longer allowed to say bad things about the university. Seriously. As part of the agreement, they have to drop their case, and they acknowledged that the school has been trying to step up to the mark when it comes to prevention of and response to sexual assaults.

Lawrence McHugh, chairman of the University of Connecticut's board of trustees, said: 'It was clear to all parties that no good would have come from dragging this out for years as it consumed the time, attention and resources, both financial and emotional, of everyone involved.'

The US Department of Education's investigation into the handling of sexual assault in many universities, including the University of Connecticut, is ongoing. If it is found that the college's learning environment is unsafe, it could lose government funding.

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Picture: PA

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.