April was sexual assault awareness month and the Women’s Center in partnership with the EOU athletics program hosted an annual march for awareness in support of this annual observation of sexual assault. This year’s march was held on April 27, 2005, in observance of Lee Denim day. As a student, I was asked why we make such a big deal out of this issue.
Rape is not just a woman’s problem. Nor is rape something that happens to someone else, somewhere else. It happens everywhere, every day, and every minute to girls and women of all ages and it even happens to men (on our campus).
Family and friends of victims are affected.
We are all affected: rape is the result of a culture that promotes male dominance and views women as inferior beings. It’s the extreme expression of a continuum of sexist behaviors that inhibit women from having equal access to opportunities; these behaviors range from sex-role stereotyping and sexist remarks and jokes to sex-based discrimination and, ultimately, to actual sexual harassment and violence against women.
The university has a responsibility to make the campus safe for women, and to provide a study and work environment free from intimidation. A Sexual Assault and Harassment Policy and grievance procedures are in place, however, questions remain about whether or not they are effective; a committee of our colleagues and peers are working on it now.
The key to successful policy innovation is to aim for incremental change and work within the system: student leaders, faculty, and staff have the ability to effect change in this way. On invitation, the PCSW has provided a collection of powerful voices to help equalize the terms to be sure that the criteria are reasonable for women. We have also worked closely with the Student Affairs on the revisions to the student code of conduct policy (which helps to make violators of policy more accountable through interdepartmental communications), and we have become members of the campus Sexual Assault Campus Advocates.
The National Victim’s Center says 1 out of 4 women in college will be sexually assaulted, yet, no instances of rape on this campus have been reported since 1999, and only 4 instances of any kind of sexual assault have been reported (EOU Security report). The FBI uniform crime report states that rape is possibly the most underreported crime in the US: with about 85% of rapes going unreported there is certainly a demand for Sexual Assault Awareness.
Women need a failsafe support system for issues of sexual harassment and sexual assault. We need our voices heard LOUD AND CLEAR because sexual assault does happen. Although the statistics say we are invisible, WE ARE NOT INVISIBLE.
That is why we do it.
Cierra Olivia Thomas,
Student Member of the PCSW and Women’s Center (Fan, Advocate, and) Volunteer
April 28, 2005
(From a speech I delivered yesterday)