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UConn Community Brings National Attention To Sexual Assault Issues

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Jessica Kline
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Hillary Coombs
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bryant chapter.

October marks domestic violence month according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.  The intent of this month is to connect battered women advocates across the nation working to end domestic violence.  Unfortunately, this article has nothing to do with domestic violence. 

Sexual Assault Awareness Month is not until April in the United States; however, one school in particular is bringing a lot of national attention to sexual assault—The UConn.

Monday, October 21st, seven current and former female UConn students stepped forward with attorney Gloria Alfred to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights alleging a violation of Title IX rights of equal protection between the university and its students.

Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities which receive Federal funds or assistance.  If Title IX violations are found, UConn may lose federal funding and/or face hefty fines.

UConn is being held against Title IX violation due to its lack of fair treatment to sexual assault cases—which has indirectly formed a rape culture on the campus.  It’s not enough for this institution to have policies restricting sexual assault and people supporting it if nothing is being done to enforce it or actually stand against it.  The words rape culture seem to be passed around UConn freely to describe the normalization of sexual assault on the hustling campus but it seems to never be taken seriously or treated fairly.  Many students are aware of “myths” at UConn like the rape trail but never actually believed it existed.  However, sexual misconduct is absolutely no stranger to this institution.  According to the CT Post, from 2009 to 2012, 42 reports of forcible sexual assault were listed on UConn’s annual security and fire safety report.  The current count is not yet publicly documented but State Police have recently investigated 2 reports earlier this month.  Countless students have tried to step forward with their sexual assault case and it was deemed as something which never happened or just brushed under the rug, so we are sure these numbers are not accurate.

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One of the women who stepped forward Monday said that after she was raped by a classmate in her dorm, a campus police officer told her that “women need to stop spreading their legs like peanut butter or rape is going to keep on happening till the cows come home”.  How violating?

How does any student expect to feel safe on a campus whose first line of defense against a situation like sexual assault make women feel vulnerable and at fault for others actions?

Bryant’s campus?  The most recent Bryant annual fire and safety report reported having a total of 20 forcible sex offenses, which may include rape, over the past three years.  The term forcible refers to acts committed against a person’s will, or where the victim is legally incapable of giving consent because of his/her temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity or because of his/her youth plus the noted requirement for that particular crime.

Bryant defines the statutes against sexual assault and rape in the student handbook as noted below:

We may be a safer campus when it comes to sexual assault but it doesn’t make it any less just for it to happen on another campus.  UConn’s Student Government Senator, Abdullah Hasan, addressed the rape culture on the campus on his Facebook stating, “I ask fellow men the following questions
Have you been told to never walk home alone at night? Have you been told to always go to a party with a friend? Have you been told to take self-defense classes? Do you walk around with your keys in between your fingers (known as the ‘bear claw’) ready to defend any attacks? Do you, or have you ever been told to, carry pepper spray on you? Now ask these same questions to your sister, mother, girlfriend, wife or female friend. This is ‘rape culture’: to be under constant threat of rape or sexual assault. Imagine living your life with constant fear. Imagine constricting your every action because your safety is not guaranteed.”

Prior to reading that statement, many women may have never even thought about why it is they always ask for one of their girlfriends to come to the bathroom with them, why walking back from the bar is never something done alone, or why taking a self-defense class seems like a good idea.  Many girls may never have second-thought it because from when they were small, they were taught these things.  Society taught us that our safety is not guaranteed.  Now with one of the nation’s most recognized institutions behind held liable for violating Title IX, it brings attention to the issue.

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Here at Bryant, we do not think we have to fear any sort of rape culture forming on campus.  However, it doesn’t exclude the fact that sexual assaults do occur here—and many other places.  Our safety is not 100% guaranteed and these seven brave women who stepped forward on Monday have experienced that, understand it, and want to change it.

As Her Campus, let’s stand together and fight this.  Whether that is supporting these seven courageous women from UConn and their efforts to change the rape culture, learning how you can get involved with centers and organizations on your campus which do not stand for violence of any sort, or just by simply writing an article like this to raise awareness.

On Bryant’s campus, we want you to speak up, get involved, and support stopping this violence.  If you are, or know someone who has been, a victim of sexual assault please speak up.  The procedures for doing so are noted below from the annual fire and safety report:

 

Bryant also offers multiple resources on campus to speak up to about these unfortunate events:

  • The Gertrude Meth Hochberg Women’s Center – 401-232-6855
  • Women On Call – 24/7 Hotline – 401-258-4209
  • Counseling & Services – 401-232-6045
  • Health Services – 401-232-6220
  • Campus Ministries – 401-232-6119

 

There are also multiple off-campus resources which can be used 24/7:

  • Day One Resource Center – 401-421-4100
  • Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island – 401.274-1100
  • Rhode Island Hospital – 401-444-4000

 

Never feel like you are at fault or vulnerable to a situation like this.  Stand tall, fight back, and speak up.  To the seven women who stepped forward on Monday, thank you.  Thank you for being true to you and finding a voice which millions of women a year cannot.  Thank you for being courageous enough to show your face, give the public the chance to understand what happened and continues to happen, and for fighting back.

You are braver than you will ever know and you have an army of girls standing behind you with support.  Don’t ever forget that bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.  You’re scared and so are we, but that’s what makes bravery.  Keep adjusting your sails to the storm, looking forward, and standing together.  You got this.

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Jessica is a senior at Bryant University where she is majoring in management and double minoring in marketing and communication.  She holds the position as Editor-In-Chief of Her Campus Bryant and was actually one of the first founding members!  Beyond Her Campus Bryant, she is the Vice President of the Bryant Marketing Association and a MyPath Mentor.  She loves working at the Amica Center for Career Education where she manages their marketing and social media efforts but also enjoys her time at the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership and the school's bookstore. When at home in Connecticut, she loves to watch movies with her family, play with her dog, have bonfires with friends, sleepovers with her sister, and scrapbook! Jessica aspires to one day manage her own department of a fortune 500 company, or even run her own company with a little bit of writing on the side!  Upon graduating this coming May, she will jump-start her career at EMC as a Marketing Development Associate in the Marketing Development Program.
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Hillary Coombs is a junior at Bryant University studying International Business and Marketing minoring in Chinese and Spanish. She works during the summers at Westminster Tool blogging and updating all social media accounts as well as interning in the International Affairs office. During the fall of 2012, Hillary studied abroad in Salamanca, Spain where she held a marketing internship and perfected her Spanish language. At Bryant, she works in the Office of Planning and Institutional Research gathering crucial university data and presenting it through documents to the President, Deans, and other faculty members of Bryant University. Aside from working and studying Hillary is a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority and Omicorn Delta Kappa. Hillary finds peace of mind staying active and running in local 5K races.