Bogus statistics provide the basis for quite a few leftist manias, such as the claim that “Women only earn 77 cents on the dollar compared with men!” and “One in five women is raped during college!” The latter statistic has become the rallying point for the current frenzy about the supposedly overwhelming “rape culture” found at most American colleges and universities.

A few people dare to challenge it, and one of them is Wendy McElroy. In this piece published on The Hill on December 24, she cites Bureau of Justice Statistics figures that are greatly at odds with the “one in five!” chant. Those numbers show that rape is much less frequent, closer to one in fifty. Furthermore, women are safer on college campuses than elsewhere and sexual assault overall has been declining for the last 15 years.

“The data raise an awkward question,” McElroy writes. “What if the rape culture does not exist? What if it is a political construct used to impose gender policies and cement voting blocks?”

That’s exactly it. Statists need a constant procession of “issues” to keep people clamoring for government officials to do something! I would not expect any of the “rape culture” advocates to look at the statistics and say, “Oh, never mind. I guess we don’t need to throw away due process of law after all.”