The Left's different standards for sexual assault perpetrators

By Ashe Schow

Monday, January 11, 2016

In today's New York Post, I argue that officials in Europe are "enabling a rape culture" by rushing to crack down on speech critical of asylum seekers, and by telling women how to act to avoid future sexual assaults rather than immediately addressing the issue that led to the assaults.

When scores of women (police reports have topped 500 at this point) reported being groped, robbed and even raped by men of Arab or North African descent in a flash-mob action, Germany (where such attacks happened in at least three cities on New Year's Eve) initially tried to downplay the immigration connection. The mayor of Cologne — where the initial reports came from — suggested women follow a "code of conduct" to avoid future attacks. The "code" included the suggestion that women walk with an arm's length between themselves and strangers.

German government officials announced they would crack down on "hate speech" directed toward asylum seekers, who were initially believed to be responsible for the assaults. It turns out those fears may have been justified, as more than half of alleged suspects have so far been identified as migrants.

It took a week for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to propose changes to the country's immigration policies. But Merkel (who was Time magazine's 2015 person of the year) isn't protecting German citizens by making it more difficult for dangerous people to get into the country. No, the proposed changes to the country's immigration policies are to make it easier to deport migrants after they have committed crimes.

The main issue here is how the reported sexual assaults were handled. As David Frum noted on Twitter, "If the Cologne attackers had belonged to a fraternity, their coordinated sexual assaults would be the biggest story on earth right now."

That's not to say the attacks that took place in Cologne and other European cities aren't big news — they certainly are — but Frum is right that if the alleged perpetrators had been anyone other than asylum seekers, the response would have been devastating and swift.

But that's how it works in the Left's "pyramid of grievances." Women alleging sexual assault and rape take a back seat to asylum seekers from certain parts of the world. They also take a back seat if the man they accuse is a popular Democrat, like Bill Clinton.

I really hope sexual assault victims see this for what it is: Politics. Victims (and accusers) are only useful when their attack fits a preconceived narrative. Accuse a white fraternity brother or an athlete, whether it's a lacrosse or football player, and it's front-page news, no questions asked, no evidence necessary. But accuse a Democrat or someone from the Middle East or North Africa? Sit down and stop getting yourself raped.

And yet somehow, those who expect to see evidence with such charges are accused of being "pro-rape," but not those who are willing to overlook all the evidence so long as the alleged perpetrator comes from a preferred background or demographic group.