Task force's approach to violence is misguided

Editor,

I was deeply disturbed on Friday when I was walking in front of the SUB to find the campus organization Students for Life using cases of rape and sexual assault to push their anti-choice agenda.

I was even more disturbed to find out that some of these students are part of the Sexual Violence Task Force on the UNM campus.

This group is using the UNM administration and cases of rape and sexual assault to push their own anti-choice agenda, complete with tactics of fear, shame and victim-blaming. They had incorrect facts and were handing out “rape whistles,” which further perpetuates the idea that the prevention of rape should fall in the hands of the victim.

How can the administration be working alongside these students to push an agenda so obviously degrading to women? As a victim of sexual assault, I am still in shock and reeling from such a triggering experience.

If a woman is raped, the last thing she needs is a lecture about how shameful abortion is. If a woman becomes pregnant as the result of a rape, she should not be forced to carry the pregnancy to term. As a university, we should not be shaming women into these anti-abortion ideals and resources. As a campus, we should be offering students all of their options, not pushing an agenda on them and judging them for their decisions, no matter what those may be.

As I write this letter, I am ashamed of UNM and its inability to understand issues of sexual violence and consent. Student groups should not be allowed to use women’s bodies, women’s experiences and victims of sexual violence to further their agendas on campus, especially when those groups don’t seem to be very educated on the ways in which rape and sexual assault aren’t about sex, but about power.

By using issues of sexual violence to shame women out of abortion, this group has not only triggered victims on campus (which, statistically, will be 1 in 5 women), but has set a precedent that says it is okay to invalidate women’s personal experiences. All across the country, colleges seem to be making an effort to curb this kind of ignorance, but I guess the UNM administration is behind the times, and unable to see the many ways in which this is harmful, hurtful and offensive to students.

In the future, UNM needs to make sure that when groups are talking about such a serious matter, there is enough appropriate oversight so as to not push personal agendas and further ostracize victims (which not only lifts up rape culture, but deters students from seeking services and reporting).

Sincerely,

Shaya Rogers

UNM student