Here is a staggering statistic: 1 in 4 women will be a victim of a rape or attempted rape before she graduates. And according to another statistic, women ages 16-24 are more vulnerable than any other group to experiencing violence, specifically intimate partner violence.
I know those statistics can be downers but they are sadly the truth. I recently came across an article titled “Back to School, Back to Rape” by Amy Siskind. The article talks about how rape of college women is a huge problem but that it is being underreported and not being dealt with on a large scale. Siskind points to victim-blaming as one of the major reasons why young women aren’t reporting assaults and she gives a widely publicized incident as evidence: “When Chris Brown beat up Rihanna, almost half of teens surveyed thought Rihanna was to blame. They wondered things like: ‘What did Rihanna do to upset the mild mannered Chris Brown?’ Who do we imagine these teens will blame if they themselves become a victim one day?”
In the rest of her article, Siskind talks about how we need to start educating girls early, especially since teen dating violence is more prevelent than ever, and she suggests including dating violence information in the high school curriculum as one possible solution.
I agree with Siskind’s main points. I have always believed in comprehensive sex-ed which includes education about dating violence and sexual assault, and I also agree with the fact that victim-blaming is such a part of our culture that many women feel like the rape is their fault or that no one will believe them; consequently, they don’t report it.
Along with victim blaming and the lack of education, there have been some recent stories about colleges not handling reports of sexual assault well. Recently, a mother of a girl who committed suicide after being raped at a college party is suing the university that her daughter attended. The university failed to take action towards the males who commited the crimes but also failed to reach out and help the girl, one of their own students.
Sadly, stories of young women finding themselves in bad situations on college campuses are too common and even more upsetting is that some colleges don’t have the resourses to help victims. Like Siskind said, there needs to be a change in how we view victims but there also needs to be more programs and schools that are equipped to deal with these situations. Maybe then young women will feel like they can come forward and get the support they need.
Hopefully UMKC women feel like they can come forward because we are lucky enough to have great resources and support. The UMKC Violence Prevention and Response Project focuses on providing victim support services for sexual assault and dating violence survivors on campus. The main mission of the Violence Prevention Response Project is to strengthn campus and community response to gender-based and sexual violence through education, victim support services, advocacy, and training. They work together with the UMKC Police, other campus departments, and community organizations to make sure that instances of violece and assault are handled with the victim’s best interest in mind.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault and you are unsure of what to do: Contact Michelle Kroner, Victim Services Adjudication Advisor at 816-235-1652 or kronermm@umkc.edu or the UMKC Police at 816-235-1515 (or 911). For more campus and community resources, click here.