Did you know that majority of sexual assault cases go unreported because of either lack of evidence or lack of confidence from the victims? But on March 21, 2016 a sophomore at Howard University became extremely agitated once she saw a picture posted on Instagram of her rapist and her coworker that she confided in. Quickly students on the campus of Howard University turned this into a protesting event outside of a dorm on the campus in Washington, DC. The hashtag #TakeBackTheNightHU and #RapeAtHoward quickly spread around Twitter and her colleagues immediately began to support their fellow classmate, friend, and even students from other University’s quickly chimed in.
Allegedly a sophomore at the University was raped by her co-worker where they both worked as Resident Assistant’s in the on-campus residence hall. She tweeted about how she stayed silent and thought it was her fault, but once the picture on Instagram surfaced of him and the person she confided in, she quickly reacted. She tweeted, “Could you imagine me seeing the GA I confided in, my rapist, VP of Campus Apartments, & my GA all in one pic?”. She also released him name and from there on the news of her alleged rape widely spread through the campus of Howard University & also Twitter.
Many news outlets began to pick the up the story as the students on campus began to protest. Not only was the alleged victim upset about her assailant’s Instagram post, but also his ability to roam free around campus with little to no consequences. She stated how she was not only fired from her job on campus but was asked to move off campus, and he also was not removed from her classes. She felt as if Howard was protecting their reputation and image, and not the safety of their students.
Quickly as his name spread around students from other Universities had their fair share of altercations as well. There was an incident report from the UCLA that expelled him from campus for impersonating a student, but there were other women that came forward with their own sexual assault experiences as well. It then became clear to me that once this man stepped foot on the campus at Howard University no precautionary measures were taken to make sure he was of substance.
Cases like these effect everybody’s college experience. Sexual assault should be taken seriously and it does not happen to just women, but men also. Other Universities, not just Howard, should protect their students at all costs to make sure that each and every student feels safe to avoid situations like these. What happened at Howard was heartbreaking but #NCATStandsWithHU.