I remember during last semester, over Thanksgiving break, my uncle (also one of my BFFs) asked me a variety of questions about how safe Penn State actually was. Do you ever have to walk alone at night? And if so, is it well lit? Do they have blue boxes placed all throughout the campus? After I answered these questions and tried to reassure him that whenever I felt uncomfortable at night I always called someone, he then asked me, “Do you carry mace?” and well my answer was no. I always was taught that it was good to have, just in case, but I never got around to actually buying it. Well, surely enough I got mace pepper spray that year for Christmas and have kept it in my book bag ever since.
After being advised to watch a 25 minute documentary on sexual assault on college campuses, this week instead of discussing women’s rights in other countries I want to discuss women’s rights, or more specifically sexual assault and rape, that occur here, at The Pennsylvania State University. A Penn State student, Stephanie Wain, created this documentary and I have to say that it is beyond impressive and points out crucial issues that deal with sexual assault. Throughout the entire video she notes certain statistics that make you realize how terrible sexual assault is and how much it harms the victims.
Victims of sexual assault are 3 times more likely to suffer from depression, 6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, 13 times more likely to abuse alcohol, 26 times more likely to abuse drugs, and 4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.
1 in 4 women will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate from college. 80% of sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim-survivor knows. 48.8% of college women who are victims of rape do not consider their assault to be rape and only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police.
If you ask me, those percentages are concerning. I feel like a lot of people don’t fully understand the severity of sexual assault. It is a problem when 1 in 4 women will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate and it is a problem that only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police. Wain interviewed a couple women in her video and the one was sexually assaulted and wanted to talk to her sister about it. She emailed her sister and said “you know, if something like rape would happen to me I wouldn’t be able to tell you” and her sister responded by saying, “Well if you didn’t dress the way you did…” and the victim then stated that that turned her away from wanting to tell anyone and for a while she blamed herself. But here is the thing; no victim ever asks to be raped. Some people think that since a female, college student wears a short skirt or drinks and gets drunk then they are asking to be raped or sexually assaulted but that is by no means the case. It’s wrong that guys assume just because women do either of those things that they want to have sex. By people blaming the victims for the way they act instead of blaming the attacker is not helping to solve the issue at hand. Why would people blame the victim for getting raped? Rape means that the woman was FORCED to participate in sexual intercourse. The key word is forced, meaning that she didn’t consent; no women asks to be raped otherwise it wouldn’t be rape because the intercourse would be consensual. No doesn’t mean maybe or yes, no means no, no matter how drunk or how short the woman’s skirt is.
Wain addresses these issues and brings up a very good point: “Why are women being taught to protect themselves from rape? Why aren’t men being educated on asking for consent?” Her point could not be truer. Personally, I was taught how to try and protect myself by carrying my keys in my hand, talking on the phone, having a ‘rape whistle’, and even having mace. But when have the men (99% of the time men are the assaulters and women are the victims) learned to ask for consent before they completely tear a woman’s life apart? Sure, men know that rape is bad but have they ever been taught about sexual assault and rape like women have? Do they understand the damage that they are causing when they have sex with a woman without consent? Do they even truly understand the meaning of consent?
Wain further talks about this issue by saying that Penn State needs to make a mandatory general class so that students fully understand the concept of asking for consent so that tragic situations can be avoided. I believe this is a genius idea. If Penn State has mandatory physical health classes so that students know how to be healthy, then it makes sense that they should have a class so that students know how to ask for consent. Wain states, “If men don’t know what sex is and what consent is, then how can they look for it? If a class on this subject could even present the slightest possibility of solving that problem, then why wouldn’t we do it?”
This issue has got to be recognized and something has to be done about it. My uncle shouldn’t have to worry about my safety so much that he bought me mace, and parents of other students shouldn’t have to either. Sexual assault is a serious issue, these women’s lives are being torn apart and 48.8% of them don’t even know that they have been assaulted. Just think about all your classes for a second… 25% of the females in your classes will be victims of rape or attempted rape. Now that is a scary statistic. It is equally as scary that women (potential victims) are taught how to try and avoid rape but men (potential attackers) aren’t taught how they can avoid getting involved in that type of situation. It is time for that to change, and I think Wain came up with a promising solution.
Link to website/video:
http://onwardstate.com/2013/03/08/penn-state-student-takes-a-stand-against-sexual-assault/
Excellent blog!!! I agree, I think implementing a course on sexual awareness is at least something to consider, especially when you consider the statistics. I was walking on campus earlier tonight, walking home from my 6 – 9 class to be exact, and I thought about how great it is that I don’t have to worry about my safety in a place like State College. I compared our cozy college town to the other schools I considered, such as Temple for instance. In that moment of reflection I felt really happy about being in such a safe, secure place. But, when I think about this, it really gets to me. Sexual assault/rape is a silent danger that no one talks about, so, if a class would get people talking, I say let’s do it!
We talked a lot about this kind of “rape culture” today last semester in my English class. We need to change the way rape is viewed. Why stress so much over protecting women from rape, while we neglect to tell men the seriousness of their nonconsensual actions. If Penn State were able to design an interesting, well-liked class about this serious issues, big potential changes could be made on campus.
These statistics really are disturbing and clearly illustrate that there is a serious problem. Rape is the leading cause for PTSD in women and you are right an event like this can completely destroy a woman’s life. I don’t think all men truly understand the consequences something like this has on a woman’s life and that is something I agree everyone needs to be educated on. It also makes me absolutely livid beyond words when people say the woman was asking for it!! Now ok maybe if a woman goes out in a mini skirt dressed provocatively she shouldn’t expect to meet prince charming but what if she just wants to meet a man she is attracted to! Men can do this whenever they want why should we not have that same right. Just because a woman wants to be a little provocative very once in a while does not mean she is asking to be raped no one ever asks for something like that! It also, like you said, keeps so many women from reporting the terrible things that happen to them. It is time that men realize women should be free to express their sexuality without being frightened that every man takes that as a sign she wants them, even if she says no.
1 in 4 women being victims of a sexual assault is absolutely terrible and it is so sad that every time I am walking alone at night I am on the defense because I can’t help but to think about this kind of threat. Something needs to be done and I think education is a really good step in fixing this issue.
I’ve never really thought of it that way; I have taken a women’s self defense class before, keyword women’s. The fact that there is a necessity for these kinds of classes, yet no classes on how men may go about asking for consent, is appalling. Personally, I am extremely comfortable in State College as opposed to my home town, but one can never be too careful.
This really is an issue at Penn State that needs to be brought to the forefront. Most people don’t hear about the amount of sexual assaults that occur in State College, but the numbers are very high. And many more go unreported. I personally carry a rape whistle with me at all times, maybe I will get pepper spray.