Feminists Elaborate: F--kRapeCulture is here for survivors of sexual assault

With multiple reports of sexual assault to OUPD this past week and the arrest of a former Ohio University student for drugging women's drinks at local bars, our community has been reminded of the rampant rape culture that lives on our campus. But, for many that face these fears daily, this week's events are just another reminder that no place; not our dorms, our classrooms or even our student center are safe places free of violence. 

Rape culture has left its mark on Ohio University through the fear of women, non-binary and trans people fear while walking through campus. To the catcalls from the frat houses, the predatory banners hung every move-in weekend. We know rape culture is thriving on this campus regardless of the many reports received each week as we know only a small fraction of survivors report assaults they’ve experienced. Your decision as a survivor to report or not to report is one that only you can make. However, many ask why so many survivors do not report the assaults they’ve experienced.

There are many reasons as to why the number of reported assaults are so low compared to the assaults committed, and it begins with the police and our university officials' ineptitude in properly addressing sexual assault. The process survivors, especially those who are already targeted by the police, are forced to endure through a reporting process that can be traumatizing in and of itself. 

The white men who just arrested a group of students fighting for a safe campus for all students cannot possibly be the same white men who are going to listen and advocate for you after you’ve been assaulted. The processes students have experienced at Ohio University and other universities have involved a lack of privacy, victim-blaming and more trauma and violence. In addition to the inadequacy of our campus police department to address survivors of sexual assault, rapists on college campuses around the country have very rarely been held accountable for their crimes at either the university level or court level. Sometimes the pain and risks associated with reporting an assault outweigh the possible benefits.

To survivors: F--kRapeCulture is here for you. We see you, we will fight for you, we believe you and support you. Please let us know how we can help you and we will continue to struggle to make sure that what happened to you will never happen again. To co-survivors and friends of the survivors, the most important thing you can do to support your friends is to listen, believe them and support them if and when they choose to confide in you. 

To those who feed this rape culture and make it grow: administrators, coaches, all-male spaces, media, police, innocent bystanders who choose to stay silent; shame on you. Let’s recognize your part in being complicit in a culture that brutalizes and then dismisses women and other genders. Let’s resist the dominant messages of this culture, recognize the brutal dehumanization of members in our Bobcat family, actively work to end this culture and replace it with a culture that refuses to conflate sex with violence, that values joyful affirmative consent and that respects bodily self-determination for all.

The Survivor Advocacy Program’s 24/7 hotline to speak with an advocate is 740-597- SAFE(7233)

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Have questions for F--kRapeCulture? Meet with them every Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the Women's Center.