Before I began university, sexual assault was never on my radar. I knew it happened, but it joined the collection of dark topics in the back of my mind that I refrained from thinking about too much. Within my first week at McGill, however, I was exposed to stories from friends about sketchy taxi drivers trying to touch them when drunk and alone. I was forced to think about it again when I read about Emma Sulkhowitz, a Columbia student who is carrying her mattress with her everywhere until her rapist is no longer enrolled at the school.
When Rolling Stone came out with its shocking article titled “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA” on November 19, I read it quickly and grew more angry and frustrated with each sentence. The first couple of paragraphs made me cry. I could see myself and so many other girls reflected in Jackie, a smart girl who was exuberant to attend her first frat party that ended so horribly, horribly wrong for her through no fault of her own.
While I recommend that everyone read the article, there were a couple of topics that resonated and stuck with me as a 19 year old girl, or perhaps just as a human being. The victim-blaming, the reluctance to expel those accused of committing such atrocities, and the clear need for a message against sexual assault to be sent across the nation.
No girl should ever have to come home to her roommates and friends from being sexually assaulted, but she especially should not have to hear how it might have been her own fault or that she should not talk about it. When the fear of not getting into a frat party drives young adults to try and persuade rape victims from speaking up about their attacks, as mentioned in the Rolling Stone article, you know there is something very wrong. Blame it on bad friends or whatever, but some young adults clearly need to reprioritize and find some compassion. After experiencing sexual assault, a victim needs support and love, and it is horrifying to me that it seems too many are getting the exact opposite.
There needs to be justice for those that are accused. I do not want to live in a world where rapists remain on campus and cheaters do not, a point made by Susan Russel, whose daughter was sexually assaulted at UVA.
She says, “Think about it. In what world do you get kicked out for cheating, but if you rape someone, you can stay?”
I cannot even imagine how hard it must be for women like Jackie and Emma who have to live in fear of seeing their rapists every day. College is supposed to be some of the greatest years of your life, but for some people it is tarnished. For those whose attackers remain roaming on campus, their night of horror can manifest into a constant replay of fear.
I want change. I want society to accept that it does not matter what a person is wearing, how intoxicated they are, or how attractive they are—nothing justifies sexual assault in any capacity. It needs to be made clear that no one can get away with these disgusting acts. I’m less worried about myself than my three younger sisters who will be off to college in the next few years. I hope that when they arrive at their dream schools they feel safe and that they, their friends, and classmates never have to experience any of the horrors that people like Jackie and Emma have, because no one should.
Images obtained from:
http://themissinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/WEB-Sexual-Assa…
https://thebodypacifist.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/awot-pic.jpg
Sources: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/a-rape-on-campus-20141119