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'Men's Rights' groups report 400 fake cases of sexual violence to LA college

'Men's Rights' groups report 400 fake cases of sexual violence to LA college

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occidental-college
occidental-college

Internet trolls have abused a Los Angeles college's sexual assault reporting system to report more than 400 false accounts of rape. So-called "Men's Rights Activists" — males upset by their perceived victimization in an increasingly equal society — attacked Occidental College's anonymous reporting system after being prompted by users of Reddit's /r/MensRights subreddit. Additional support in falsifying the records, Gawker reports, came from 4Chan.

Occidental College's director of communications, Jim Tranquada, confirmed the anonymous sexual violence reporting system received around 400 separate claims of assault in 36 hours. The surge in reports started shortly after a Reddit user named "ShitlordDon" suggested the attack. The college was singled out for the apparent ease with which authorities could be notified of sexual assault, with "ShitlordDon" suggesting that as "the 'victim' never has to prove anything," men could be falsely accused of rape. Blogger David Futrelle captured the first incitements with screenshots, as Reddit users spoke of reporting "female-on-female assault," and suggested accusing "every 'Feminist' at Occidental College" of rape.

Reddit users suggested reporting "every feminist" at the college for rape

Unrelated to the spam campaign, the US government confirmed earlier this year that it would be investigating Occidental College for failing to disclose more than 20 sexual assault allegations in 2010 and 2011. A report from The LA Times published earlier this month uncovered evidence of at least 27 other attacks that were also not disclosed. Gawker says the Google form the spammers used to report their invented crimes "does not appear to be sufficient to bring a rape complaint against an Occidental student," but Tranquada confirmed that the school would sift through each report carefully, in case they found a legitimate cry for help among the hundreds of fake complaints.