The recently published CW article, “Consent on Campus an Issue,” subsequent backlash from the campus community, and the University’s official response has me deeply disturbed. Many of the commenters on this article attacked victims of sexual assault, blaming the high instance of rape and sexual assault as a result of a massive population of college women falsely reporting rape. In actuality, false reporting of rape coincides with false reporting of all crimes, roughly 10 percent.
I like to think the blame too many are putting on victims and accusing them of false reporting stems from a belief that such violence can’t happen in our community. But we as a community need to realize this type of gender-based sexual violence is a pervasive problem on campus. Statistically, one in three women will be raped, beaten or sexually assaulted in her lifetime.
When hearing that statistic, it is easy to think these women are only in an unnamed war-torn developing country full of religious intolerance. That is not the case. Don’t get me wrong, gender-based violence is happening in that unnamed war-torn developing country and it is atrocious, but it is happening here too. We need to stop allowing this epidemic to continue on in silence. But before we can begin addressing sexual assault and rape, we need to realize this is also a problem at home. We do no one any favors by protecting the guilty.
In the United States, 80 percent of sexual assault victims are under the age of 30, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, putting college-aged women at a higher risk. Taking a closer look at the college setting, approximately 15 to 20 percent of female college students have experienced rape, according to the 2005 Violent Victimization of College Students report.
For those not good with numbers, of the 18,481 female students on this campus nearly 4,000 have been victims of rape, not including other types of sexual assault and violence. Furthermore, cross-culture studies have shown that incidences of rape rise on co-ed campuses with a large sports culture, high rate of alcohol use, and significant membership in all-male groups such as fraternities, according to the 2005 Campus Violence White Paper. The University of Alabama fits in all of these categories.
This is an epidemic on our very campus. It is happening, and through ignoring the problem, we allow the rape, sexual assault and violence to continue unchecked. While only perpetrators of such violence can choose to stop the cycle, the rest of us can choose to not sit passively by. As the bystanding population to gender based violence and sexual assault, we can choose to not ignore signs of violence, we can choose to not blame victims for their attack, we can choose to educate ourselves on violence against women, and we can choose to petition our legislators for laws that help protect victims.
I challenge members of our campus to community to truly study and find out more about sexual assault and rape on campus rather than forming uninformed opinions based off of things they think they know. It is easy to not talk about gender based violence because it is easy to ignore. Words like rape and vagina make us uncomfortable. But we need to talk about it we need to talk about the fact that the half of the population with vaginas must live in fear of rape or sexual assault every day. Through bringing the issues to light and educating ourselves on violence against women, we can work to end it.
Through speaking out against violence, I am not condemning the male population because the reality is that most men are loving and caring and nonviolent. I have a boyfriend, a father, a brother and many male friends who do not perpetrate violence. But, it is the responsibility of all community members to hold each other accountable for their actions and to educate one another on non-violence, especially toward women.
One billion women will be raped, beaten or sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. This is not something we can afford to continue ignoring as a community.
Zoe Storey is a senior majoring in history and a member of the Student Leadership Council.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Alabama men’s golf leads at Puerto Rico Classic after opening round
Frozen Tide to move on to to national tournament after defeating South Carolina, Arkansas
