Editor’s Note: This column previously contained unverified data. That data has been removed.
On Monday morning, we all woke up to another WolfAlert warning of sexual assault in a fraternity house near campus. Yet again, sexual assault occurred in our NC State community and the world kept turning.
If you think that the constant college rape controversy in the news is getting a bit monotonous, good. From the University of Virginia’s recent fraternity rape allegations, to the student who was caught mid-rape by campus police at Stanford and, recently, the student who raped and abused a fellow student and claimed he was reenacting a scene from “Fifty Shades of Grey,” we see an increase in absurdity and intrigue with each new sexual assault case.
When hanging out with girlfriends, a popular topic of conversation is situations we have been in where men have tried to take advantage of us. Whether it occurred at a frat party, at a bar, on a date, at work or maybe just interacting with some guy who lives down the hall, it has happened to the vast majority of my friends. Few of us label these experiences as sexual assault or attempted assault; instead it is something we expect from men.
It is a frustrating world to live in. As a woman, I am constantly forced take precautions to avoid assault or unwarranted sexual attention. I am sick and tired of the victim-blaming, the mainstreaming of unwanted sexual advances (Barney Stinson, I’m talking to you) and people trivializing the trials women face. I’m sick of rape culture, as everyone should be.
The NC State crime statistic report provided by the University Police for 2013 notes only six “sex offenses” for the year.
According to a 2014 White House task force report, one in five women experience sexual assault on college campus.
The number shown in the crime logs is much lower than we should expect. This isn’t because NC State students are more morally upstanding people than average college students; in fact, sexual assault isn’t publicized as it should be, and proper disciplinary action is rarely taken.
If I were a parent, I would be more comfortable with sending my child to a university with honest rape and sexual assault statistics than a school that chooses to brush the truth under the rug to get more admissions. Such is the case with most universities. With honest statistics, I would know whether a university openly acknowledges the problem it needs to address.
While the WolfAlerts about sexual assault depress me, they are also wonderful, as they signify that someone was brave enough to report it. I counted four WolfAlerts about sexual assault this school year, which is more than I remember having last year.
Let’s work toward a world that doesn’t have jokes about freshmen students being issued rape whistles on move-in day, a world where parents leave pepper spray off the college packing list and women don’t have to always go out with a large pack of friends by their side to feel safe.
Rape on college campus is a crisis, and has been long before the recent media attention it has garnered. Every WolfAlert about a sexual assault is a horrible victory—horrible because it happened, but a victory because it was reported and got the attention such a serious issue merits.
Most of all, we shouldn’t shrug off the campus sexual assault crisis because some view it as third-wave feminists tooting their horns. We need to acknowledge this issue immediately and universally, in the media that cultures boys to grow into men who will rape, in the fraternities that only allow hordes of freshmen girls into their parties and in university statistics and reports that are fair depictions of what it is like to be a female student at their schools.
