Last week was Sexual Assault Awareness Week at Loyola. Sexual assault awareness, however, still needs to increase on campus, especially in the key areas of methods of prevention and the resources available to victims.
Though Loyola offers many options to victims of sexual assault, including counseling, police involvement, university review and medical assistance, most students are unaware of them when they are needed most.
While Loyola might do everything right on paper and have good practices in place, there seems to be a lack of consistency in carrying out these standards for individual cases.
The most important thing that we as a university need to remember is that these cases should be handled with sensitivity. Victim’s reactions are not uniform. Since no two victims will respond in exactly the same way, individual care and attention is important, something that is difficult to do, especially given the frequency of sexual assaut.
More people than you think might be victims. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, one out of every six women and one out of every 33 men will be a victim of sexual assault in her or his lifetime. This is four times more likely to happen to college-aged women and men.
Treating this crime as a taboo topic only leads to a perpetuation of the attitudes that underlie the ubiquity of sexual assault. As Karen Reichard, director of the Women’s Resource Center, said, “Sexual assault doesn’t happen in a vacuum … sexual assault happens in a context of women being devalued.” What Reichard is talking about is a culture of victim blaming.
We agree with the sentiment that people shouldn’t put themselves in dangerous situations. No one should drink her or himself into oblivion, especially without friends present. No one should walk alone at night, especially in high-crime areas.
However, sexual assault can also happen in broad daylight while walking to the drug store. Furthermore, no victim of sexual assault should ever be blamed for it due to her or his drunkenness, manner of dress, etc. No one deserves to be sexually assaulted or in any way “asks for it.”
If all of this is scary, there are things you can do. As always, don’t make decisions that will put you in dangerous situations. Take self-defense classes, like those available from University Police. Invest in compact weapons of self-defense like pepper spray. Empower yourself and don’t be afraid to defend yourself if threatened. No means no.
And, although you will hopefully never have to go through this situation, if someone sexually assaults you, don’t be afraid to report it. There are numerous resources available. You are not alone.
