As a teenage girl looking toward college, Rolling Stone’s choice to retract its story about University of Virginia rape policies scares me. Most of the responses to Rolling Stone’s action deal with journalistic mistakes, but that isn’t the real issue here; the real issue is the safety of young women and the culture that allows rape to happen every day.

The story, published in mid-November, graphically detailed the alleged experience of a UVA freshman who was gang-raped at a fraternity social event. The victim, who requested to be unidentified and was referred to as Jackie, implied that the rape was part of frat hazing. Now Rolling Stone claims it no longer trusts Jackie as a credible source and says it should have checked out her story more thoroughly.

However, Jackie’s story was only a third of the article; the rest was about how UVA’s Sexual Misconduct Board deals with rape victims. After Jackie came forward with her story, the dean in charge of the board offered Jackie the usual options: to file a complaint with the school, to file a police report or to meet with her attackers and talk about the incident. Jackie decided, as many victims do, not to file a report.

This is the routine procedure for rape incidents at UVA and other colleges. I realize that these options give the victim the choice to do what she or he feels comfortable with, but I also believe that an adult in a position to deal with rape victims should want the attackers to be punished. Victims of sexual assault are often terrified of coming forward, and even more terrified of pressing charges, because of the stigmas associated with rape and the fear of retribution from their attackers.

Jackie was 18 when she was allegedly assaulted; she was traumatized and deeply depressed. It was the responsibility of her dean to try to convince Jackie of the necessity of reporting the crime. The number of rapes on college campuses is much higher than the number of reported rapes because victims are often encouraged to “move on” by not reporting an attack. This keeps the official number of sexual assaults on campus down, which makes a college look safer to prospective students.

Rolling Stone included statistics about UVA from last school year — that out of 38 students who reported sexual assault, only nine submitted a complaint. Whether or not you believe Jackie’s story, this fact is disturbing. UVA also does not make public any data from the few Sexual Misconduct Board meetings it holds to judge alleged perpetrators. Again, even if you do not believe Jackie’s story, this is fact.

The article also included other stories of women who reported being raped while at UVA. Liz Seccuro was attacked at a frat party in 1984 when she was a freshman. Her attacker actually admitted to the rape 20 years later as part of a 12-step program and informed Ms. Seccuro that she had in fact been gang-raped by him and two other boys. That story was corroborated by the attacker himself.

Then there’s the UVA frat song “Rugby Road.” It is uncontested that the song explicitly talks about partying, drinking and drunken girls who will have sex. One line states: “You supply the liquor, and she’ll supply the lay,” implying that if you can get a girl drunk enough that she can’t say no, you can use her body. This is an example of the rape culture that permeates college campuses and especially fraternities.

Rolling Stone editors apologized for their article because they began to doubt Jackie’s story. Why? Because the fraternity accused in the article sent out a letter saying that it hadn’t had any parties on the night in question, that no member of their frat was a lifeguard (which had been one detail of Jackie’s account), that sexual assault was never a part of hazing and that, after talking with alums and members, no one had supported the story.

Rape victims, as do any trauma victims, often have difficulties remembering exact details of the attack. So maybe Jackie got the day wrong. Maybe she forgot what frat her attacker was a part of. Does that matter?

Even if her story wasn’t true, the other stories in the article are. So are the descriptions of UVA’s protocols, the statistics, the fight song. Women are still being raped on campus and nothing is being done about it. And I am disappointed in Rolling Stone for abandoning the entire article, bowing to the pressure coming from the rich and time-honored fraternities, and fueling the rape culture that blames the victim and lets the attacker go free. Acccording to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly one out of every five female college students will be sexually assaulted during her four years at school.

By apologizing for this story, Rolling Stone has provided yet another reason for rape victims to fear reporting their stories. They know that they’ll be picked apart by the media and by those around them, that they’ll be called liars, that the world would be happier believing that rape victims make up their stories than acknowledging that rape happens.

I’m afraid to go to college. I’ve been looking forward to it since I started high school, and I’m working very hard to have the opportunity to go to the school of my choice.

But I am still scared that I won’t be able to maintain control of my own body while I am there. I am scared that I’ll be too busy worrying about my safety to attend social events. I am scared that I will be raped and receive no justice. Rolling Stone’s actions this past week have only contributed to my fears.

Carrie Mannino is a junior at Winchester Thurston High School and lives in Squirrel Hill.

First Published: December 9, 2014, 5:00 a.m.