I am so angry.
I'm angry about being called "bitch" and "slut" by strangers on Webster Avenue. I'm angry that my peers laugh at it, condone it and cite freedom of speech. They neglect that words, even "jokes," indirectly shape both our realities and how we interact with one another. As a 2011 study by Stanford University assistant psychology professor Lera Boroditsky indicates, "The way we think influences the way we speak, but the influence also goes the other way." Assailants on our campus are validated by this careless reinforcement, and I'm angry that people don't realize that words inform thought, which in turn inform action.
I'm angry with people who say that alcohol is the root of the problem and make excuses for perpetrators on the grounds that she or he was intoxicated. Consuming alcohol may facilitate and is often present in incidences of sexual violence, but many people drink and do not assault. According to a 2002 study by David Lisak of the University of Massachusetts and Paul Miller of the Brown University School of Medicine, it is estimated that only 6 percent of men perpetrate sexual violence. However, the vast majority of those are repeat offenders, averaging nearly six acts of sexual violence each. Suggesting that alcohol is to blame obscures the fact that the assailant is to blame.
I'm angry with those who insist that the solution to sexual violence is to entirely avoid places where it occurs for example, fraternities. Diverting our attention from the assailant to the tools she or he uses and demanding that potential victims limit their options indirectly excuses the perpetrator for his or her actions. This rhetoric also lays the foundation for blaming victims for another person's intentional actions.
I'm angry that people seem indifferent about violence. Perpetrators only need bystanders to remain silent, to turn a blind eye, to assure themselves that either nothing is wrong or that someone else will deal with it. Victims need us to intervene on their behalf. I'm angry that people are too uncomfortable to step in, and I'm so angry that many assaults on our campus could have been prevented if we all looked out for each other a little more.
I'm angry that invisible walls have been built between men and women in incomplete and flawed attempts to combat sexual violence. The "us versus them" mentality is counterproductive to achieving a violence-free community. I'm angry about the heteronormative rhetoric used when discussing sexual assault. Men assault men, and women assault women. I'm angry that some advocates have alienated entire communities from accessing resources or from participating in dialogue and taking action.
I'm angry that even the most well-versed advocates sometimes privilege certain traumas. The violence that we aim to prevent is not limited to rape, attempted rape or unwanted touching. Physical violence and emotional abuse are rarely discussed at Dartmouth but are equally disempowering. I'm angry that a hierarchy has been constructed around these issues. While rape and sustained emotional abuse are not the same, they both have debilitating traumatic effects on victims. Every kind of abuse should be approached with the same empathy and fought with the same ferocity.
Most of all, I'm angry that I have to be so angry. I'm angry that most concentrated efforts on campus still focus on ensuring that people know that this is a problem. I want action. The recent Panhellenic policy is a commendable start.
Moving forward, I want each undergraduate advisor to be given the tools and resources to talk to their residents openly about sexual assault and violence on campus, and for Mentors Against Violence facilitations to be required of every first-year student. I want each dorm to have posters listing the resources available on campus and in the wider community for victims.
I want Dick's House counseling services to be better staffed so victims don't have to wait three weeks to get a one-hour appointment. I want more resources surrounding emotional abuse and other forms of violence to be readily available to students.
Most importantly, I want to see a fundamental change in the culture of gender dynamics at Dartmouth. I want my peers to watch out for their fellow students, and I want them to have the guts to stand up for what is right and call out what is wrong.
