In the past few weeks, there has been plenty of discourse on the pervasiveness of sexual assault at Dartmouth. From the multitude of columns gracing the Opinion page to the open meeting of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault just yesterday ("College committee discusses assault," Oct. 19), many have posited ideas in order to decrease sexual assault. Most of these solutions involve pinpointing potential perpetrators and educating them in hopes that this will prevent sexual assault. While sexual assault education in fraternities should be instated, on the whole, this is a wasted effort and we need to look elsewhere if we really want to see change happen.
Tom Mandel '11 argued recently, "the one group on campus that has the most power to solve the sexual assault problem is fraternity brothers" ("I am a Dartmouth Frat Bro," Oct. 6). While it's a nice idea to make everyone in the Alpha Delta fraternity pledge class undergo Mentors Against Violence training, it would be nave to think that simply educating fraternity brothers will decrease sexual assault. While many sexual assault cases begin in fraternity basements, this does not mean that it is the brothers who are the perpetrators of rape.
Because of our incredibly open social scene, unaffiliated students and even visiting friends are consistently in basements, and it is just as plausible that one of these men will rape someone as it is a brother of a fraternity. In addition, most sexual assault cases happen after people leave these venues. Brothers have no control over what goes on after people leave the basement, and thus can do little to prevent sexual assault. In all the discussion of trying to prevent the potential perpetrators from acting, it seems that we have forgotten to mention where the real power lies: with the potential victims.
While we can try to educate groups of men we think are prone to committing sexual assault, we cannot get inside people's minds and tell them what to do. Instead, it would be wiser to educate the women of Dartmouth, rather than belittling them into nave girls who have no control over situations in which they find themselves. I see the real solution to sexual assault arising then not by pointing fingers at fraternity brothers, but rather by empowering the women of Dartmouth.
It is important to address certain parts of Dartmouth culture that make women more vulnerable to sexual assault. When I first came to Dartmouth, I was repeatedly told during Orientation how Dartmouth is "so safe" and after a few short days I felt that I could trust everyone in our small community. While this is one of the best parts of Dartmouth, our community as a whole is not necessarily indicative of any individual. Instead, we should remind incoming students to remain cautious and not automatically trust strangers just because they're part of the Dartmouth community. In addition, we should emphasize during Orientation that drinking from open containers should be avoided. While there are no available statistics on the prevalence of date rape drugs at Dartmouth, women need to be aware of the danger they pose.
While it is important to be cautious, it isn't necessary to be prepared with Mace and a stun gun when simply entering a fraternity basement. The more common root of sexual assault is the pervasive hook-up culture on campus. While we would all like to avoid addressing this because so many people participate, most of the sexual assault that happens here is likely the result of ambiguous boundaries of how far the other person is willing to go, and also the intoxication of one or both parties.
While some people might be fine with having intimate contact with someone they don't know very well, there are dangers that go along with the oft-applauded "harmless drunken hook-up." It would be beneficial to provide more Sexperts and Sexual Assault Peer Advisor programming that emphasizes not only sexual exploration, but also how to avoid being put in vulnerable and potentially dangerous situations.
I don't think any of this is news to anyone. But rather than try to find the perpetrators and instill respect for the opposite sex, we must look for ways to prevent women from getting into bad situations in the first place.
