According to a study published by the University of Michigan, chances are as high as 80% that the man Girls star Lena Dunham claims raped her has and will repeat his crime. As of now, there is no word that Dunham plans on filing charges to get “Barry” off the street.
The alleged rape dates back to when Dunham was a 19-year-old college student (she’s now 28) at Ohio’s Oberlin College. According to Dunham, she was drunk and high on Xanax and cocaine when Barry (whom she describes as a campus Republican) sexually assaulted her.
Dunham says she had no idea she had been raped until she described the incident to others, including her roommate at the time, and years later to the writers for her HBO show Girls. Dunham says it took years to come to terms with the rape. Only now is she able to discuss it publicly.
No one who hasn’t been through such an ordeal can or should judge Dunham for the time that’s lapsed between the incident and now. The psychological effects of a sexual assault of this kind are complicated, heartbreaking, and well documented. It’s for this reason that the statute of limitations for sexual assault often lasts decades, which is the case in the state of Ohio.
Now that Dunham (who according to Time is a “fierce advocate of campus reform when it comes to matters of sexual assault”) has shown the courage to talk openly about the assault, for the sake of future victims, let’s hope she will take the steps necessary to get “Barry” off the street.
The statute of limitations for sexual assault in Ohio is 20 years. The chances “Barry” has and will rape another woman are almost certain.
John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC