The Facts: The annual Take Back the Night event was Wednesday night, one night after a girl was sexually assaulted on campus. Approximately 350 out of 10,000 female students will be raped each academic year on a college campus. Statistics also show one in seven men will experience sexual assault. Our Opinion: Sexual assault is not merely something to be brought up at freshman orientation. This is a serious topic N.C. State needs to deal with. Further incidents can be prevented by spreading awareness, educating people on this issue and actively working to change the culture where this is the topic of jokes. Rape and sexual assault is a very real issue on college campuses all over the nation. Victims and their friends and families are forever scarred and affected by these events. Their lives suddenly are seen through the lens of what happened to them. The solution to the most violent crime on college campuses in America is to inform our peers of the severity of this issue, and promote a culture that is intolerant of sexual assault. As a community, it is our job to foster an environment where victims feel safe to come forward, as well as spread awareness to prevent future incidents. It is our responsibility because it’s not just the victims’ problem, it’s the entire community’s. We are the Wolfpack, and we need to provide a unified front against these issues. Students promote such incidents by the language they use. The use of derogatory terms outside of the original context they’re intended fuels what the N.C. State’s Women Center calls rape culture. This is where our society uses certain language and actions that could make an attacker feel their actions are justified. This type of culture is the exact opposite of what we as a community need to be promoting. We can counteract these ideas by not supporting or tolerating images and people who promote them, such as, Tucker Maxx, the well-known author and self acclaimed a-hole who described his many sexual encounters with women he cared nothing about. These negative influences are not only detrimental to our environment, but also just in bad taste. By supporting people and images like this we are indirectly fueling the acceptance of rape culture and sexual assault. Administrators should also take this issue seriously and promote the same safe environment. A environment of tolerance and public safety needs to be emphasized. This would not only support the fight against these abusive ideals, but also benefit everyone on campus. We can promote a safe environment at N.C. State by offering more classes and support groups for those who have experienced such crimes and work to change our campus culture. We can show our support by taking a self-defense class and sharing our knowledge. Think if it were your friend or a family member. Would you not want to give them all the support you can? We must do this as a community. As students we can make a difference. We must act, for our safety as well as the safety of others. The issue of sexual assault must be combated with awareness within our community. This issue is not new, and it’s not going anywhere, so we need to be active as we look to change our attitudes.
