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Something Was Wrong is intended for mature audiences and discusses topics that may be upsetting. This season discusses sexual, physical and psychological violence. Please consume the following episodes with care For a full content warning, sources and resources for each individual episode, please visit the Episode Notes. Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Broken Cycle Media. The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice. Thank you so much for listening. In our fourth and second to last chapter of season 25, we meet Survivor Allegra Allegra was a ballet major and member of Greek life at Western University when she was sexually assaulted. Multiple studies and surveys have found that Greek affiliated students often experience higher rates of sexual assault or harassment than non affiliated students. For example, a large 2009 survey of undergraduate women at a public mid sized university reported that sorority members experienced sexual assault during college at about four times the rate of non sorority women. Relatedly, as a 2005 study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence highlights, men in fraternities are roughly three times more likely to commit sexual assault than non fraternity men. Also eye opening is the fact that fraternity houses themselves are frequent sites of assault. In the same 2009 survey, more than one third of the rapes reported occurred in fraternity houses. In 2016, the trial of Brock Turner drew national attention after he sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a dumpster following a fraternity party at Stanford University. Two graduate students intervened and held Turner until police arrived. He was later convicted on three felony counts, but what followed shocked many. Despite the severity of the crime, Turner was sentenced to just six months in county jail. He served three. During sentencing, much of the public conversation and even the court proceedings focused not on the survivor, but on Turner himself. His father described the assault as 20 minutes of action and warned that his son's life had already been deeply impacted. The judge cited concerns about the impact a longer sentence would have on Turner, a promising young athlete. This response is what some experts refer to as a cultural tendency to extend disproportionate sympathy towards male perpetrators of violence, particularly when they are seen as young, successful, or having a bright future. Meanwhile, the survivor, who later became known to the public as Emily Doe, delivered a powerful victim impact statement that was read by millions around the world. Her words shifted the national conversation, drawing attention back to the realities of sexual violence and the harm survivors endure, not just in the assault itself itself, but in the systems that respond to it. The trial sparked widespread outrage, led to the recall of the sentencing judge and renewed scrutiny of how institutions, including universities and the legal system, handle sexual assault. Experts believe heightened risk in Greek life settings can be attributed to a few factors. Some include increased alcohol consumption, male controlled social spaces, power imbalances, and peer and social standards that can normalize harmful, misogynistic or abusive behaviors. Allegra's experiences were also highlighted in Dr. Nicole Badera's book on the Wrong side, though in the book Allegra is referred to by a different pseudonym, Marissa Dr. Badera's book highlights how common the deep institutional betrayal is that Allegra faced while navigating the Title IX process. I'm Tiffany Reese, and this is Something was wrong.
