I never ask to be attacked – regardless of what I’m wearing, how intoxicated I appear or even by flirtatious, or venerable, behavior. Yet, this is what the DU community has suggested with responses to this year’s campus muggings and sexual assaults, through a campaign of subtle, but subversive, victim-blaming policies.
We, as a university, owe it to college women to educate them on the risks of foolish choices and naivety, and I believe women should take it upon themselves to be strong, alert and assertive. But I also believe no weakness is punishable by sexual assault or armed robbery in a civil society.
In each crime alert sent out to the DU campus this year, there was a list of “Safety and Security Tips.” They included taking Rape Aggression Defense classes, remaining alert to surroundings and carrying a safety whistle and cell phone. I don’t discourage any of these actions. But notice there were no tips for if you witness an assault or see someone who is likely to be victimized, other than calling a phone number. These emails should include ways to keep each other safe, not just ourselve yet, the responsibility falls entirely on the victims of the assaults for failing to follow the rules.
The DU community is not entirely insensitive to the intense shame associated with attacks of this nature. This week, DU will be participating in the Clothesline Project, a national program that helps address the issue of violence, especially sexual assault and domestic violence against women.
Women tell their stories on a T-shirt, which is hung on a clothesline as an educational tool for viewers – in a sense, cleaning their “dirty laundry” for all to see, while empowering other women to break the silence. But the project begs the question: Why is it still the woman’s job to do the laundry? Is it really the victim’s job to wear their struggles for all to see, bearing the stigma that accompanies it?
No. And while awareness is the first step in breaking the stigma around gender violence, it is not enough. Where is the anger, the neighborhood watches, the rallies of sympathy, the cries for justice? Why are these victims alone, except for a few cotton T-shirts? A list of “Rape Prevention Tips,” posted on sites like canyourelate.org, provide a dark, satirical view of the way we approach sexual assault as a society.
The list includes tips like, “don’t put drugs in women’s drinks,” or “when you see a woman walking by herself, leave her alone,” and “if you pull over to help a woman whose car has broken down, remember not to rape her.” It sounds ridiculous to put the entire responsibility of a sexual assault on the assaulter. Why doesn’t it sound equally as ineffective to put all responsibility on the victim, who has even less control over the situation?
Escort services started on campus by fraternities like Theta Chi respond to this disparity. But with some studies showing that one in four college women are victims of sexual assault or violence, we can hardly justify stopping at a single fraternity. Students, many of whom are living alone in a large city for the first time, need to learn the responsibility and self-reliance that accompanies adulthood, including avoiding robbery and assault.
They also deserve the opportunity to learn responsibility through mistakes and education – not through trauma and violence.
I believe there are many more good-hearted students at DU than there are robbers and perverts. It only stands to reason this violence is not a problem of numbers or force – but of gross apathy on the part of the student population. Only when students, male and female, participate in educational campaigns that not only reveal the prevalence of violence, but actively discourage it, seek to prevent it and bring perpetrators to justice will there truly be an end in sight to this onslaught of campus attacks.
