One in five college women will be raped

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"One in five college women will be raped, or experience an attempted rape, before graduation."

"Less than 5 percent will report these crimes to officials..."

 (image from CNN.com)

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/15/sexual.assaults.college.campuses/index.html

This article from CNN shows a very shocking statistic. The article goes on to talk about the problem at universities today. I agree with the article in that this is something that seems to be not talked about often and even ignored. It's so scary to think of how many cases of rape go unreported.

Last year I had the privilege of working with the UNI's Interpreter's Theater to put on a show called, "Until Someone Wakes Up". This play directly addresses the problem of rape. Before being cast as a role in this play I was informed very little about the problem of rape. But through this play I learned a lot about how much of a problem this is even today. Many of the scenes were extremely uncomfortable and hard to get into character for. Let's face it, it isn't the easiest or most fun to act out a scene of a girl telling her parents she was raped. Many times I didn't want to get into character. I didn't want to think about what it would be like to be a victim of rape. Many of the actors involved would somewhat break down emotionally when really getting into these roles. One of the scenes that most sticks out in my mind was a scene about the shame that comes from being raped. Many girls don't report it simply because they feel such shame in what has happened. As a college woman I strive to not put myself in those bad situations, but I feel like as a college student I need to address that this is a problem, and not to pretend like this problem doesn't exist.  

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3 Comments

This post really caught my attention because I am a college student and a woman. It’s scary to think that so many women are raped on campus. It’s sad that the university doesn't provide the support that these women need after they are raped. I feel safe on this campus, but I know that I could be attacked at any time. I recently took a self defense course called RAD though the WRC that teaches you how to defend yourself if you are attack. I think this class is a good idea for all college women to take because the moves you learn might just save you from getting raped.

I agree that rape on campuses isn't talked about enough. I hope that if someone is raped they will report it to the police, or if not at least tell someone so they can get help. No place is every going to be completely safe, so we women need to be aware of our surroundings and try not to be alone at night.

This report from CNN is a real eye opener about rape. This article made me think more about the issue too.

This is not just a college problem but someething much larger. I was involved in a group in highschool and college called empowerement through a domestic sexual assault center in the group we had to under go education about many problems and then held presentations and answred emails and many other things. Anyways statistics are 1 in 3 women will be sexually assaulted in their life, 1 in 4 women will report being physically abused by a husband or intimate partner.Among Iowans who have ever experienced sexual violence, most experienced sexual violence before the age 18.Since 1995, 154 women in Iowa have been killed by their current or former partners.35% of the time the perp in a sexual assault crime is an acquaintance 15%stranger 1.5% relative. Problems like this are even less reported among sexual abuse cases since the victim usually knows the perp and may feel guilty or have been threatened. I think schools should really place an empahsis on education about this.In sociology we talked about this issue and how society places a stigma on the victim that somehow they were "asking for it" by the clothes they wear etc.. It is often overlooked that men are also sexually assaulted but it is vastly under reported compared to female victim rates of reporting since there is such a huge sense of guilt and shame since they couldn't fend off the perp.

This really caught my attention because two summers ago I went out with a girl that I just met and she was assaulted. She was taken to the hospital where they determined that her drink had been drugged. I remember wanting to leave around 12 because I had to get up for work the next morning. I asked her to come with me, and she said that she wanted to stay a little longer. She had some other friends there, so I "thought" that she would be fine. The next afternoon she calls me and tells me what she remembers.
This is extremely scary for me and I wasn’t even assaulted or anything. I left perfectly fine... but she didn’t. She reported this to her parents right away. She also said that she believed it to be a friend of hers that did this...the friends that I left her with. I felt so bad for her and I didn’t really even know what to say. The only thing she said was not to judge her...which I would never do.

I remember her saying that she thought that she asked for it because she was flirting with him, but really didn’t want anything more than friendship. She did feel like she egged him on to do that to her. She went through counseling and I believe she still goes to this day.

I believe the statement that no one asks to be assaulted or raped, no matter how they are acting, what they are wearing or whatever. I feel like yes this issue does need to be addressed more often. Being by her side, I saw how some of her other friends blamed her for his actions. She was never the same after.

This CNN article I thought was very helpful to realize what the true statistics are...and they are scary. To know that if I and 4 other girls were walking on campus we could become a victim at anytime. That is beyond scary. I do feel safe here on the UNI campus, but I have been to other campuses where I didn’t even feel safe walking in a group of girls. I feel that here at UNI we have a very good support and educational system that addresses Rape and Assault. Just a week or so ago I joined the walk to for silence. We went around campus chanting...getting the message out there that we need to break the silence. It was amazing to see.

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