trigger warning: this article talks about sexual assault and violence
Editor,
Police remind students to travel in groups (aka the buddy system) when possible, in case you are unable to stop yourself from harassing, assaulting, raping, or attempting other illegal activities, and to call police dispatch if you are worried you might assault someone.
No, that’s not the message we are typically offered by the news or crime alert systems. Generally, we are offered a myriad of suggestions on how to protect ourselves from being violently/sexually assaulted. Less common are messages that target the source of the assault and the people around them who witness, participate and/or encourage them. Typical “guidelines” and “tips” for assault prevention give complete obligation to the potential victim to protect themselves and operate under the assumption that violence is a given. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, a woman’s chance of being raped in college is about 1 in 5, yet we continue to spend time and money telling women how to prevent rape rather than telling people not to rape.
These messages perpetuate rape culture and we have an obligation to initiate conversations on campus on how to end it.
Maybe you think our campus is immune to rape culture, or simply doesn’t participate in it, but try spending a few minutes on the very popular UNM Confessions Facebook page and I’m sure you will get a glimpse. Confession 274, for example, shares a description of a “freshman year” moment where a drunk student has a night of “raucous pounding” with a woman who was in a “drunken state.” The post continues, graphically:
“The next morning, I awoke to a horrible stench, and looked down to see the white sheets soiled to f***. Lying in my own s***, I had to think fast. This couldn’t be solved with any explanation.
With my quick thinking, I carefully picked up the little pieces of poop, and smeared it slowly across her naked pert bottom. And upper thighs. On this note, I left and made my way home.”
Just to be clear, you cannot have sex with someone unless that person is able to consent to it. Having intercourse with someone who is so drunk that they do not feel someone smearing feces on them is rape. Certainly smearing feces on someone who is unconscious is not only irrational and inhumane, but also displays what is seen in sexual assault crimes: dehumanization of women for personal gratification. Perhaps more disturbing is the grand tally of 225 likes on the Facebook story. According to the Department of Justice, about 95 percent of women don’t report sexual assault on campus. What percentage of people do you think report when they plan to (or do) sexually assault someone? Even if the story shared in Confession 274 is fake or from a movie, why is it okay to encourage it?
We are 1 in 5 women in college, and we will not accept messages that tell us we should expect to get raped on campus. It’s time students and departments come forward and become active participants in changing the way we talk about sexual violence on campus and around the world.
Ambar J. Calvillo
Mentoring and Leadership Graduate Assistant at the Women’s Resource Center
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