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The responses to the ‘rape chant’ that has come to light as a part of the Sauder FROSH event have ranged from shock, anger, humiliation, disappointment, disinterest and in my case, gratitude.
I know what you’re thinking – this may seem an inappropriate response; after all, disrespectful attitudes towards sexual abuse are certainly not something an upstanding university wants to have to deal with. The fallout from the exposure of the YOUNG chant (the graffiti incident that occurred on September 18th, as well as the resignation of the CUS President and Vice-President, for instance) has obviously had deeply negative effects on our university community.
But I for one am grateful for the exposure of the chant, even though it has adversely affected the image of UBC. Though the chant itself is incredibly disrespectful and I am in no way condoning its use as a tool to “take people out of their comfort zone and bring them together” (as stated in the Fact Finding Report offered by UBC) I am glad that the chant has been so publicly displayed. While of course I would prefer it didn’t happen, it remains that this is an indicator that attitudes towards rape are a subject that needs to be addressed. We as a community have now been given an excellent opportunity to talk about it.
Everyone I have spoken to about the ‘rape chant’ has something to say, whether they think that the situation has been grossly blown out of proportion or that the no amount of apology can make up for these actions. Regardless of what your opinion is, the fact that nearly everyone has one is important. I am relieved that we now have a reason to voice these views at all; even in a university setting, where being opinionated is encouraged, it’s kind of taboo to talk about rape.
The first step to changing that is to do it anyways.
Those involved on the UBC campus – from students, to professors, to the employees – that keep everything running smoothly have a right to be upset about the chant and the events following its exposure, because it affects all of us. Whether you think the ‘rape chant’ is actually an issue of sexual abuse is irrelevant because it’s not just about the embarrassing thing that happened at the CUS FROSH anymore. Instead of playing the blame game with Sauder, we should face the fact that the attitude towards sexual abuse is a problem that we as a university community need to deal with.
No one should ever be made a target for standing up against sexual abuse, regardless of the form that it takes. If someone perceives an immature, disrespectful and outdated chant as support of sexual abuse, they should be celebrated for wanting to talk about it, not torn down or put off for rocking the boat.
Everyone has heard the terrible statistics of sexual abuse and knows that rape is wrong; that isn’t the problem here. The problem is that sexual crimes are something we don’t like to think about, much less talk about in a public way. Whether we like it or not, we need to start these conversations, because the only way to prevent sexual abuse is to spread awareness and offer support to those who need it.
The rape chant is terrible, but so is rape. So let’s talk about it.
- If you want to find out more about the details of the Sauder incidents or to read some other people’s opinions, check out some of the articles from The Ubyssey and news.ubc.ca. For more information on how to start the conversation, check out the Sexual Abuse Centers website at www.gotconsent.ca