During a discussion on Fox News’ The Five about concealed carry on campus, liberal co-host Bob Beckel demonstrated his complete ignorance regarding the sexual violence women face, particularly on college campuses.

“When was the last time you heard about a rape on campus?”

 Just because each and every rape on campus does not receive widespread media attention does not mean it’s not happening.  Here are just a few statistics from NYU’s Student Health Center, Mr. Beckel:

–          One in 5 college women are raped during their college years.

–          Most survivors of sexual assaults are full-time students. Approximately one-third of them are first year students between 17-19 years old.

–          In a recent study by the National Institute of Justice, survivors of rape knew their attackers as:

o   Fellow classmates (35.5%)

o   Friends (34.2%)

o   Boyfriends or ex-boyfriends (23.7%)

o   Acquaintances (2.6%)

–          81% of on-campus and 84% of off-campus sexual assaults are not reported to the police.

–          35% of men report some likelihood that they would rape if they could be assured they wouldn’t be caught or punished.

Also disturbing was the fact that Beckel seemed to downplay a woman’s right to self-defense in cases of date rape. Regardless of who is attempting to rape a woman on a college campus, or anywhere, she should be entitled to defend herself, and university policies ought to reflect as much. As Katie reported yesterday, an emergency call box and safe zones do nothing to help victims of rape.

Update: Beckel issued this “apology”:

“It’s a horrible, horrendous issue. And it’s simply put, this, rape is rape. Whether it’s date rape or it’s somebody coming in off the campus trying to rape somebody else. I very strongly feel that way. And so, I just want to straighten the record out on that. I simply was trying to make — there was not a distinction to make here. It simply was that  date rape is rape. And that is, by any other definition, rape is rape.”