To the editor:

As I began to read the first in the series of articles about Lincoln, Nebraska’s initiatives to combat high-risk drinking among college students (Journal-World, March 9), I was taken aback by some terminology in the sidebar “About this story.”

The second sentence noted that initiatives have led to fewer reports of “unwanted sex, murders, drunken-driving arrests and binge drinking.”

Has “unwanted sex” become a more palatable term for sexual assault and rape? “Unwanted sex” sounds like a nuisance along the lines of “unwanted interruptions” or “unwanted chin hair” rather than the trauma-inducing felony it is.

Terming sexual assault/ rape the more benign “unwanted sex” seems to me like putting lipstick on the proverbial pig. Sexual assault victims haven’t been merely inconvenienced, they’ve been brutalized, and the terminology should reflect that.