U of Minn student writes about rape for her school newspaper

A rape victim's advocate at the University of Minnesota, where there have been two high profile rapes in the past few months, has written a letter to the editor of the Minnesota Daily, stating that the high (20 to 25%) incidents of rape means that acquaintances should be the ones to watch out for. She also takes on the role that rape myths about stranger vs. acquaintance victimization and the victim blaiming that takes place.

Sexual assault thoughts

The past month or two of my life as a sexual assault advocate have been fairly routine. I've seen about the same number of clients, and I've wished about as hard as I usually do for more to come in and speak up. The only difference between now and, say, six months ago, is that "rape" has suddenly become a topic of serious discussion, something that makes eyes widen instead of roll.

Suddenly we're talking about needing more security because "more rapes occurred on campus last month than in all of 2007." Despite knowing quite well the rarity of stranger assault, even I find myself walking a little faster and looking over my shoulder a little more frequently lately.

The sad truth is that there weren't more rapes occurring this year, there were just more that got your attention.

According to the National Institute of Justice, one in four or five women will be sexually assaulted during college. That means, of your four or five closest female friends, one will be raped. Do you know someone who was attacked by a shadowy figure who jumped out from the bushes? Maybe not. But unless you know less than four women in college, it's a statistical certainty that you know more than a few victims of rape. If you want to dismiss the numbers as some sort of "feminist agenda," take it from someone who hears the stories firsthand from the people who lived them, whose lives were destroyed by them.

I hear a lot of people say that rape isn't a problem on this campus (remember those rolling eyes?), aside from the recent burst of incidents on and off campus. That's because rape is happening behind closed doors, among acquaintances, where one person uses guilt, social pressure, or intoxicated opportunities to take advantage of another. The victim is then left to fight an uphill battle against someone she or he likely cares about, the opinions and rude comments of mutual friends, and a society whose first questions are why she was in his room in the first place or what she was expecting by drinking. No wonder rape is underreported.

And what do these kinds of situations mean for life in general? If you're a woman, you better not have the audacity to walk down the street, wear a short skirt or drink at a party. After all, if you get attacked, it was your own fault for putting yourself in that position in the first place, right? If you're a man, women are going to look twice at you and wonder if you'll really listen if they say, "I'm not sure about this," or just pretend you didn't hear.

It's scary to think that someone might knock down your door, put a knife to your throat and rape you. But preventing these sorts of nightmares starts at standing up and speaking before they happen, by refusing to condone the disrespect, double standards, and victim-blaming in our society that fosters rape in the first place.

Jackie Heard
University student