Are America’s college campuses rape culture incubators? Are they scary, dangerous places for young women?

If you listen to feminists and politicians, you’d believe the answer to be yes. The rape culture rhetoric continues to spread like wildfire on America’s college campuses. This overheated rhetoric has led to various campus initiatives and state-mandated affirmative consent laws.

President Obama said, while pandering to the Council on Women and Girls at the White House in January 2014, that “It is estimated that 1 in 5 women on college campuses has been sexually assaulted during their time there—1 in 5.”

Vice President Joe Biden, being the good uncle that he is, used this same rhetoric when he said, “We know the numbers: one in five of every one of those young women who is dropped off for that first day of school, before they finish school, will be assaulted, will be assaulted in her college years.”

As a young female, who not long ago graduated from a state university, I must admit, when I first heard the alarming “fact” that 1 in 5 college women are sexually assaulted I was slightly scared.

But is “rape culture” a legitimate thing? The answer, if you care about actual statistics, is no. The infamous “1-in-5” lie is just that–a misguided, inaccurate figure that leftist, feminists, and politicians use to push their progressive agendas and institute more government programs to tackle this rape culture “nightmare.”

With simple investigation into the 2007 study that so many reference when pushing their rape culture agenda, one will find the “facts” that progressives love to reference, are based on obscure findings from an obscure survey.

As Prager University outlines in its new video, the figures often used to push the rape culture narrative derive from the Campus Sexual Assault (CSA) Study. That’s right, the entire rape culture agenda is based on a single, anonymous, unverified, internet-based survey performed at just two college campuses more than eight years ago.

The authors of the study have even stated it is "inappropriate" to use their survey to make these highly inaccurate claims.

For those who want accurate statistics: according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1 in 52.6 college women will be victims of sexual assault. Additionally, according to the FBI’s annual crime reports, actual rape numbers have been on steady decline in the United States, and college women are actually less likely to be sexually assaulted than women who are not enrolled in college.

So, why then do leftists continue to site these inaccurate numbers?

Because the truth doesn’t support the rhetoric and doesn't allow the agenda of activists or vote-seeking politicians to move forward. Scare tactics and citing false statistics certainly has though, as is evident by such initiatives like the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign and the New York State Affirmative Consent Law, “Enough is Enough,” that Gov. Cuomo signed last fall.

[RELATED: Cuomo’s ‘Enough Is Enough’ gets it half right]

As Caroline Kitchens asks, “Would you send your daughter to a place for four years where there was a 20% chance she would be raped or sexually assaulted?”

I know my helicopter dad’s response would be a resounding “NO!”

Sexual assault is a serious issue and the 1 in 52.6 statistic is entirely too high, but rather than using lies to push a false narrative, our schools, states, and country must readjust its focus and address this issue with reason and logic.

Women are strong; we don’t need yet another government mandated program to empower or protect us.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @SummerRatcliff