Editor,
On Friday the Students for Life were outside providing information, at a quick glance, on rape. With further exploration it became clear that their table of information and handouts was littered with pregnancy resources, birth control information and anti-abortion literature and available services.
While their large banners read “What About RAPE?,” none of the information provided was associated with resources for victims of sexual violence. From a campus safety perspective, this was poorly thought-out and put-together.
As we know, sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes; therefore, pushing anti-abortion agendas, offering rape whistles and posting large signs that say “RAPE” can have serious negative effects on a large proportion of our UNM community.
It is estimated that one in five college women will experience sexual assault while in school, although one is entirely too many in my opinion. How dare a student organization, or anyone for that matter, use rape and sexual assault as a tool to wedge in a conversation about abortion?
Talking with students about sexual assault should be about supporting one another, regardless of personal decisions, and providing the appropriate services such as counseling, academic and legal assistance, prophylaxis and emergency contraception if the victim so chooses.
For this group to mention working with the Dean of Students while only pushing their organization’s anti-abortion agenda is not just a slap in the face to all victims, but also to the Dean of Students, the entire University and the Task Force they are now representing. Providing students and victims with resources is about just that: providing resources. Shaming women, particularly victims of rape, into keeping a pregnancy is not a decision that should be made by anyone other than the victim.
A study done by Holmes, Resnick, Kilpatrick and Best (1996) estimated that 5 percent of rapes result in pregnancy. What about the other 95 percent of women who are raped? What services are being offered to them? Or do they not matter because their assault did not result in a pregnancy? This group, along with their agenda and lack of accurate information and resources, is a disgrace to the UNM community, administration and all those affected by sexual violence.
As a member of the UNM community, I am deeply saddened and disappointed in these efforts that are taking place, particularly at a time when sexual violence on college campuses are gaining national attention. We need forward momentum in an effort to support victims’ varying methods of healing, regardless of our own beliefs and value systems.
Sincerely,
Angela Catena
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