美国国家公共电台 NPR How Smartphone Apps Could Change The Way Sexual Assault Is Reported

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

By most accounts, the majority of people who experience sexual harassment¹ or assault never report what happened to them. High tech may have a solution - apps that can help survivors² come forward. NPR's Tovia Smith reports.

TOVIA SMITH, BYLINE³: It's easy to understand the many reasons why alleged⁴ victims don't want to report. There's the worry they won't be believed, fear of reprisals⁵ and embarrassment⁶.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: That was really hard for me to think about - telling another person, especially someone you've never really had contact with before.

SMITH: This woman, who asked that her name not be used to protect her privacy, says she was sexually harassed⁷ at college by another student. And even though it was making her depressed⁸ and anxious, she couldn't bring herself to tell authorities at school.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Because I was afraid of being blamed for it.

SMITH: It wasn't until spring break when she was back in the comfort of her own home, literally⁹ under her covers, that she mustered¹⁰ up the resolve to finally get it out not face to face but through an app on her laptop.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: It was almost like building courage behind a computer screen because nobody is judging you at that moment. So you can get it off your chest without questioning if somebody's going to believe you.

SMITH: The app she used called Callisto lets users send an encrypted report directly to school officials or to keep it on hold until they're ready. Users can also choose to hold a report unless and until someone else accuses the same person. That's big for survivors who fear going it alone and for those who may question whether what happened was just a misunderstanding or a one-time misstep, as Ryan Soscia once did. Years after he says he was molested¹¹ as a kid, Soscia says he reported it just recently on a brand-new app he developed himself called JDoe.

RYAN SOSCIA: You can either pretend it didn't happen, or you could say, I'm going to make sure you pay for this.

SMITH: Soscia says the real inspiration for his app came a few years ago at a high school graduation party when a friend revealed he'd been molested. Within hours, Soscia says nearly 10 others disclosed the same person did the same thing to them. And only after realizing their strength in numbers did his friends go to the police. That got Soscia thinking about how technology could help ensure those kinds of discoveries are no longer left to serendipity¹².

SOSCIA: We can find those connections exponentially faster. So the hope is we're going to be able to prevent these types of crimes from happening. And the idea that that could have stopped this from happening to 10 other people - that's really powerful.

SMITH: While the Callisto app can only be used by people whose colleges or companies buy in for what could be $10,000 to $30,000 a year, the JDoe model allows anyone to use the app for free. Funding comes instead from a stable of attorneys who pay anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 a year for access to potentially lucrative¹³ civil cases. The lawyers all agree to take the cases on contingency¹⁴. JDoe also gets a kicker if they win. But clients pay nothing upfront.

JAMES HALL: It's a win-win-win.

SMITH: Attorney James Hall was among the first to sign up. He says survivors end up with stronger cases. Instead of he said, she said, they're he said, they said. Lawyers get better odds¹⁵ of winning and bigger payouts. And defendants¹⁶, Hall says, get reassurance¹⁷ that bogus claims will be screened out.

HALL: If it's a frivolous¹⁸ case, most lawyers are going to recognize that there will not be any money at the end of the day, that it's not going to be profitable. It's going to waste your time and should not be brought.

SMITH: But others worry that getting everyone to lawyer up from the get-go might hurt more than it helps. Peter Cappelli, a professor of management at The Wharton School, also questions the basic concept of survivors deciding whether to report based on what others have done.

PETER CAPPELLI: I think what you want is to tell people the criteria¹⁹ are policy related. They're not personally related. And you should bring forward anything that fits the criteria and not, you know, whether you feel enough other people have made the complaint or not.

SMITH: Cappelli and others also raise concerns about due process.

CYNTHIA GARRETT: You know, it's a permanent registry of unsubstantiated #MeToo-style accusations²⁰. And the reports will remain even if a student was found not responsible.

SMITH: Cynthia Garrett is with a group that represents accused students called Families Advocating for Campus Equality. She worries that complaints can be filed without the accused even knowing. Then it would take only one new claim to match with the old unfounded or untried ones, she says, to ruin a career.

GARRETT: And when somebody down the road makes this complaint for, oh, God, he made a sexual joke that was inappropriate and the app shows up, oh, there's been previous reports, an employer will interpret that as more than it may have been. But the problem is that decades later, they have no way to defend themselves.

SMITH: Developers dismiss those concerns, saying reporting apps are just a kind of tip line for allegations that will ultimately be vetted²¹ by humans. As the student who reported her harassment by app says, the apps are neither judge nor jury.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: It's not a verdict. That's where a campus comes in. They can do a full-blown investigation²². And if the investigation comes out as false, then it comes out as false. And if it comes out as true, then we take further action.

SMITH: In her case, school officials issued a mutual²³ no-contact order, and the harassment stopped. If her only reporting option was walking into a stranger's office in some campus administration building, this student says, she probably would still be suffering in silence. Tovia Smith, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF RACHEL BOYD'S "BACK IN YOUR BOX")

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

5 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

7 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

8 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

10 mustered   

v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发

参考例句：

• We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我们极尽所能为这项计划寻求支持。
• The troops mustered on the square. 部队已在广场上集合。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 molested   

v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵

参考例句：

• The bigger children in the neighborhood molested the younger ones. 邻居家的大孩子欺负小孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He molested children and was sent to jail. 他猥亵儿童，进了监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 serendipity   

n.偶然发现物品之才能；意外新发现

参考例句：

• "It was serendipity all the way,"he says.用他的话说是“一直都很走运”。
• Some of the best effects in my garden have been the result of serendipity.我园子里最珍贵的几件物品是机缘巧合之下意外所得。

13 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

14 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

16 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

17 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。

18 frivolous   

adj.轻薄的；轻率的

参考例句：

• This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。
• He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

19 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

20 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

21 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

22 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

23 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。