ASHE SCHOW: Differing definitions of rape create opening for misuse.

Different federal agencies define rape differently, and activists looking to make it look like there’s a rape “epidemic” occurring across the country can take their pick of data related to those definitions.

The Government Accountability Office, in response to a request from Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, discovered the disagreement among federal agencies of what is and is not rape. McCaskill herself is one of the biggest advocates for basing draconian legislation on of a broad definition that results in flawed statistics.

The GAO found “at least 10 efforts to collect data on sexual violence, which differ in target population, terminology, measurements, and methodology.” It also found “23 different terms to describe sexual violence.”

These definitions lead to vast differences in the number of victims of rape and sexual assault. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting system found 84,175 American rape victims in 2011, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — using a much broader definition in a self-reported survey — estimated there were 1,929,000 victims in 2011. That’s a 2,200 percent increase.

While the FBI used actual reported crime statistics based on the legal definition of rape, the CDC used a definition so broad it included things like stolen kisses or merely “unwanted contact” that could have been the result of misread signals.

Of course, those pushing an agenda that sexual assault and rape — especially on college campuses — has reached “epidemic” proportions will use the broader definition, even if it is only backed by a self-reported survey. They use this information to promote bills like the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, which insists all accusers be believed and takes steps to ensure accused students have no ability to defend themselves.

Kangaroo courts.