According to a 2013 study done at Oklahoma State University, sorority women are 74 percent more likely to experience rape than non-Greek women. Some academicians have suggested this is due to their higher levels of interaction with fraternity men, who are three times more likely to commit rape than non-Greek men. However, OSU’s researchers found that even after controlling for alcohol consumption and attendance at fraternity functions, sorority women were four times more likely to experience sexual assault.
With sororities whose memberships outnumber the famous Spartan “300,” why are sorority letters still more likely to be interpreted as easy target rather than no fly zone? Considering the statistics, the 300 new best friends the Greek system promises young women should be the most powerful education and bystander intervention force the world has ever known.
Instead, research shows sorority women to be more likely than non-sorority women to be accepting of rape myths, traditional gender norms, male dominance and victim blaming. While two of the above may be considered part and parcel of the ideal Southern lady, all of the above increase the risk of both sexual assaults being perpetrated and of assailants getting away with their crimes.
Unfortunately, Greek culture and the symbiotic relationships between fraternities and sororities at the individual and organizational levels deter prevention, intervention and reporting of cases involving sorority women. Sororities’ perceived dependence on their favored fraternities exerts a strong social deterrent from reporting against fraternities. On an organizational level, sororities need fraternities to assist with Homecoming competitions and Greek Week, to hold joint parties and to support each other’s philanthropic efforts. Individually, many sorority women have a vested interest in protecting the reputation of their brother, friend or boyfriend’s house and would view any sister who threatened that reputation with suspicion or outright hostility.
Worse still, many sorority freshmen, who are at the highest risk of assault due to their age, being in the “Red Zone,” and inexperience with alcohol consumption, are not equipped with the knowledge to even define an encounter as sexual assault, let alone know how to handle the aftermath. Sororities spend eight to 10 weeks educating their new members on how to act, dress, learn and succeed on campus, but most will never bother to teach the definition of rape to 18 year olds in danger. Even the guidelines preached to freshmen such as “no see-through shirts,” “no going upstairs at fraternity houses,” and “watch your drink at all times” shift responsibility to potential victims and only marginally protect against a danger that officers are unwilling to explicitly state exists.
How can you expect a student to report a rape she doesn’t know is rape, doesn’t know how to get a post-trauma medical evaluation and doesn’t know how to report? Even if she knew all of the above, how can you expect her to report when she rationally fears backlash from her own sisters for exposing their Greek brothers?
For the time being, I will give risk management chairs and new member educators the benefit of the doubt and hope they have only been unintentionally rather than willfully negligent in this matter. The Women’s Resource Center has an excellent Speaker’s Bureau available for utilization by all student organizations. I urge executives at every house, fraternity and sorority, to make their New Year’s resolutions to educate all members on how to identify and report sexual assault, as well as implement bystander training to make all members aware of their responsibilities to intervene.
Together, we can be the first and best line of defense.
Leigh Terry is a junior majoring in economics.
