More men named in college sex assault cases are taking their accusers to court

The Charlotte Observer reports:

As the debate over campus sexual assaults continues to shadow universities throughout the Carolinas and beyond, more accused male students have started taking their female accusers to court.

In the past three years, male students accused of sexual misconduct have filed hundreds of lawsuits, charging that they were the victims of both false allegations and school procedures that failed to properly vet the claims.

And while there are no exact figures, in dozens of those cases male students also have sued the women who lodged the original allegations. One out-of-state attorney says he has filed more than 15 defamation complaints nationwide on behalf of male students against their accusers.

Locally, lawyers used the threat of defamation complaints against female accusers in sexual-misconduct cases at both Davidson College and UNC Charlotte. Meanwhile, an Appalachian State University student has pending lawsuits against the school and his former Union County girlfriend after he was suspended in 2015 for “unlawful entry” into her dorm room.

Critics of these lawsuits say they can place assault victims on trial, further suppressing an already under-reported crime.

“When a woman tells you she’s been assaulted, believe her,” Davidson College President Carol Quillen wrote in an Observer guest editorial earlier this year. “Although the unicorn exception gets a lot of press, the overwhelming majority of women do not make up rape.”

Attention American higher education: taking one dollar from the federal government does mean that the Bill of Rights applies to your institution.