This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Point Park chapter.
When sexual harassment or assault happens to you, it’s a tough decision to speak up about your experience or stay silent and try to heal by yourself and pretend it never happened. It’s already unbearable to see your harasser everyday if they go to the same school as you – you imagine it would be more difficult if more people knew.
Why Victims Stay Silent
A sexual harassment or assault experience can be very jarring or shocking and take a while to process and understand what happened and why. Your mind is clouded with confusion and panic, analyzing every word and move, what could’ve been avoided, how it may have been your fault (it never is) or justifying what happened. Victims feel embarrassed to share terrifying, non-consensual intimate experience of vulnerability. They also feel they will be blamed for their harassment/assault, based on what they were wearing, where they were and with whom, their actions or words and most especially if legal/illegal alcohol or drugs were involved. Victims think that their experience will not be taken seriously or thought to be lying, brushed off by authorities and justice unserved. Parents or other students finding out might cause a victims to feel judged and stressed. All of these fears are valid – but speaking up is the most important thing you can do to help yourselves and other that have been harassed or assaulted.
Why To Speak Up
The problem of harassment and assault will never be lessened, let alone solved if instances are not recognized and reported – some people still think that such instances are uncommon. Every instance reported gets us one step closer to eradicating harassment and assault, justice for yourself and others and awareness. Sharing your story is very difficult but immensely important. Keeping the pain locked inside of you will never help you or anyone else. No experience is ever too small or unimportant to go unreported. Every shared story makes a difference and encourages other victims to speak out too – there is power in numbers!
How To Speak Up
Report any and all instances of harassment or assault that make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe. As soon as you can, write down in detail what you remember happening. Screenshots of messages and pictures can be a very powerful tool in your defense. Report your experience as soon as possible. Telling a friend, RA, school counselor, psychologist or calling a hotline first can be less intimidating than going to campus police, but it’s best to tell the police as soon as you can.
You can still speak up against harassment and assault even if it hasn’t happened to you. Welcome others to confide in you about their experience and encourage them to report it. Check out national organizations like Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (rainn.org), Date Safe Project (datesafeproject.org), Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (paar.net) or Strong Women Strong Girls (swsg.org) if you live in Pittsburgh. Volunteering for these organizations or for a hotline can help victims immensely.
If you or someone you know is assaulted or harassed, call RAINN’s 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1(800)-656-HOPE(4673) or their online hotline at rainn.org at the top right of the page.