As students frolic around backing in the light of free sex toys and porn start debates, the more serious side of relations should be remembered.

From issue #5 Love, Sex, and Sexuality

By Sunny Kim

According to the newly released statistics from the Bureau of Justice, an average of 3.8 per 1000 persons in college are raped every year. If we project these statistics to Yale we learn that, unless Yale is a statistical anomaly, the annual numbers reported for sexual assault should be closer to 20 per year than to the five documented. Had I been writing this article a year ago, Yale’s reported numbers would have been even lower. In 2004, Security on Campus, Inc., a watchdog organization, filed a complaint with the Department of Education about Yale’s violation of the Clery Act. The Jeanne Clery Act is a federal law that requires colleges and universities to keep and report accurate crime statistics, which must be released yearly. Perhaps luckily for Yale, the system within the University through which a survivor of sexual assault must navigate is decentralized to the point where every victim might receive unique treatment with- out the benefit of knowing all of her options.

One could approach a freshman counselor, a residential college dean, Yale police, the Dean of Student Affairs, or a variety of other administrators. The problem with the existing system is that victims offered such widely different procedures can be easily confused about the best manner by which to pursue justice. Survivors of sexual violence are encouraged to file complaints with the Sexual Harassment Grievance Board, which is not even a disciplinary body. Only the Executive Committee is empowered to mete out punishment in cases of student-to-student conflicts. And while cases of physical assault go immediately to ExComm, cases of sexual assault are considered under guidelines whereby punishment is often along the lines of a temporary restraining order that is hard to enforce and far from reassuring.

Harvard instituted its Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (OSAPR) in 2003 in order to address similar issues. Their new system consolidates resources and centralizes the institutional process thereby relieving some anxiety for survivors. This office also educates the college community about sexual assault, prevention, and its larger impact. In addition to this, certified rape crisis counselor-advocates are available at OSAPR to accompany survivors through the complicated search for justice and to provide support. OSAPR has led to an increase in accurate reporting at Harvard. Their statistics now match national averages.

While it is tempting to believe that Yale is a sainted place, the reality is that the amount of sexual violence that takes place here is much more than what is reported, and something needs to be done to combat the misconception that rape does not happen at Yale. This is not an attempt to demonize Yale. The resources available at Yale are good, but they are poorly advertised and under-used by its undergraduate community. It would serve Yale better to be seen as an institution that cares about the safety of its students and is willing to provide better models of response to this nation-wide problem, than to present questionably low statistics.

The culture of silence about rape and sexual violence needs to be dispelled. A rape crisis center would send a powerful message about Yale’s commitment to protecting its students. These changes could be instituted by working closely with existing resources at Yale University Health Services.

del.icio.us! | Share on Facebook

See Also:

No related posts

<-->

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 5:54 am and is filed under Voices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.