TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE, SEXUAL ASSAULT
If schools won’t do anything to protect their students from these events, then the least we can do is explore and create resources together.
It’s a haunting tale as old as time. Person goes to a party, has something to drink, or doesn’t, someone takes advantage of that. You can infer the rest. Sexual assault, especially on college campuses, is entirely too normalized. Mental health should be taken seriously no matter the context, but universities often do not have enough resources to specifically help victims of sexual assault. If schools won’t do anything to protect their students from these events, then the least we can do is explore and create resources together.
- The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is an organization whose mission is to assist victims of these circumstances. Its mission statement is to “carry out programs to prevent sexual violence, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.” RAINN offers consulting, statistics, a live chat feature, and information about public policy regarding sexual assault in all 50 states. The people who volunteer and work for this organization are available at all hours of the day to help victims. For more information, visit https://www.rainn.org/resources.
- Share Your Story is a Instagram page that college students all over the country are beginning to utilize more often, it allows them to click the Google Forms link in the Instagram’s bio and anonymously share their sexual assault stories to be posted on the page. You are able to share as little or as much as desired, a lot of people use this page to expose their assailants without having their own names out there. This might be a good resource for someone who just needs to get their story out there for their own conscience and to warn other students of these predators. If nobody at your university has started a page and you feel that it could be positively used, you could do. If you or a friend would like to share a story about a situation here at Temple University, follow @ShareYourStoryTU on Instagram.
- If you are not at the point where you want to share your story with the world, find a confidant that you can talk to about the situation. This can be a family member, best friend, boss, anyone you believe will listen to your story and be okay with how you want to handle it. Sometimes it is even easier to confide in a stranger because you know you’ll never see them again. Whatever the case, talking to someone about your trauma can relieve a lot of stress.
According to RAINN, 26.4% of female and 6.8% of male undergraduate students experience sexual assault or rape through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. These statistics are extremely high, and should read 0%. In addition to using the resources listed above, we should continue to put pressure on college administrators to educate students about sexual assault and rid campuses of these assailants.