Ohio University is now offering students the chance to report sexual assaults anonymously. This gives the roughly 50 percent of OU’s victims of sexual assault who do not want their cases investigated an outlet for assistance and resources, according a report in Monday’s Post.
Ohio University is now offering students the chance to report sexual assaults anonymously. This gives the roughly 50 percent of OU’s victims of sexual assault who do not want their cases investigated an outlet for assistance and resources, according a report in Monday’s Post.
We believe this is a good move by the university. Now, the half of student sexual assault victims who choose not to press charges can still seek help from university officials trained to provide counseling and advice about such matters.
“We should do what we can to give survivors of sexual violence more power with what happens afterward,” said Madison Koenig, a senior studying English and a member of F--kRapeCulture. “Retraumatization is a theory that’s popular in counseling where reports to authorities and the system take power away, and then it becomes another thing that’s traumatized them on top of the actual assault.”
Giving students an option to bypass that second level of trauma, and potentially better the aftermath of such a scarring event, is a well-conceived initiative from a university that should strive to continuously better its ability to aid students in a time of desperate need.
The Post has made coverage of sexual assault a priority, and we will be producing a series on rape kits and the aftermath of sexual assault later this semester.
Stick with us for continued coverage of an important topic.
Editorials represent the majority of The Post’s executive editors.
