Sexual offenses on Ohio University campus sparks conversation from columnist Erin Davoran.
This week, I wanted to write about dorm life. Or the awful speed of the campus Wi-Fi. Or how jealous I am about the dining palace that is new Boyd.
But then, I read Monday’s story in The Post about the reported sexual offenses that allegedly occurred during the weekend.
I should be horrified. I am. I should feel outraged. And I do. But mostly, I feel sad that I’m not surprised. Rape has become a common occurrence. It’s one of the most common crimes committed on college campuses across the country.
So this week, I’m going to talk about rape — from, admittedly, my very heteronormative perspective — and the responsibility we all have to stop it.
This can’t wait either. Not just because of recent reports. Not just because it’s common in general. Right now, we are in the Red Zone: The period of time between the start of school and Thanksgiving when sexual assaults on college campuses skyrocket and students are most likely to be raped.
Have you seen the sidewalk chalk about looking out for your fellow Bobcats? Did you take it seriously? Have you heard administrators and student activists talk about consent and statistics? Did you listen? A lot of people don’t.
I’ve been to house parties where ‘Be a good bystander’ posters taken from campus adorn the walls to be laughed at, mocked and waved off. I’ve been on Mill Street for four Welcome Weekends and seen the asinine bedsheets displaying basic misogyny hanging from the porches. I can tell you countless stories from countless women about being catcalled, slut shamed, locked in rooms, coerced into sexual situations, pressured for more, assaulted and raped.
Nearly 1 in every 5 women (and 1 in 71 men) will be raped in her lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 37.4 percent of those women are college aged. Some calculate that 1 in 4 women in college will be sexually assaulted.
I really hope men are reading this column and don’t turn the page or switch browser tabs, because we ladies are well-versed in the world of rape culture.
Women are the majority of college sexual assault victims and preventative sexual assault education is too often aimed at us. We know to watch our drinks and always walk with a friend. Catcalls are the soundtrack of our walks down the street and our clothes might as well be labeled with “slut” or “whore” underneath the manufacturer’s name on the tag.
I read somewhere, “When guys go to college, they buy condoms. When girls go to college, they buy pepper spray.”
That’s a broad and assumptive phrase, I know. Women should and do buy condoms — and men can be victims of sexual assault.
But on some sad level, it’s truthful. Even though men are just as likely as women to be victims of violent crimes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, pepper spray containers are often pink to market to women afraid of the scary man in the bushes. That man exists for sure, but about 80 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the person, according to Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
That’s where we come in. All of us. You, reader, might not be the person who slips the roofie in the jungle juice or records the passed out girl being taken advantage of at a party. But you could be the person the next morning who hears your friend say, “I was so drunk, I don’t remember having sex with him,” and laugh about how wasted she was instead of thinking for a second that because she was blacked out, she wasn’t able to consent to sex. Maybe you are that girl and blame yourself for drinking so much, so you brush it off, laughing along.
I’m not a stick in the mud or a frigid bitch preaching abstinence and 9 p.m. curfews. I’m a typical college senior. I understand the laissez-faire hook-up culture of college. But I also understand its dangers.
Drinking can be appealing, but it also makes everyone susceptible to harmful and illegal sexual situations.
According to a comprehensive 2015 Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll on college sexual assault, nearly two-thirds of sexual assaults involved alcohol.
Guys, I know #notallmen are rapists. But almost all rapists are men. It is the typical gender role of a guy to keep going as far in bed as a woman lets him. But if one or both of you is/are drunk, don’t keep going. A sober “yes” means “yes” and anything else is nonconsensual.
Women AND men are allowed to say no. You are allowed to slow down. You should slow down. One-night stands and walk of shames are not worth their reputations. And they become a hell of a lot worse than that when sex isn’t sex but sexual assault.
I feel sad because most rapists get away with it. According to the Department of Justice, only 20 percent of college sexual assaults are reported. According to RAINN, 98 percent of rapists never spend a day in jail.
I love this campus and am proud to be a Bobcat. Let’s try to be better Bobcats to each other so these email reports that APD and OUPD send about sexual violence and rape are not just uncommon, but unheard of.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, there are several resources available to you including the Ohio University Survivor Advocacy Program and OU’s Title IX and sexual misconduct website.
Erin Davoran is a senior studying journalism. Do you have questions about resources for sexual assault survivors? Find her on Twitter @erindavoran or email her at ed414911@ohio.edu.
