7 CommentsThis morning PrezBo sent out an email about Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This is especially poignant now in light of recent local incidents and different debates. Bollinger writes, “Sexual assault is an act of violence that takes many forms and exists across society, and it is a problem demanding special attention in university communities. In addition to the unacceptably high incidence of sexual assault on college campuses, these assaults too frequently go unreported, and survivors can face special challenges when an offender resides in their dorm or attends the same class.” He linked to the university’s policy on sexual assault and gender-based misconduct and reminded students of various on-campus resources, which we list below.
The University’s Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center: 212- 854-HELP
The Men’s Peer Education Program
Columbia’s Health Services
The University’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Program (SVPRP)
Counseling and Psychological Services (Columbia): 212-854-2878
Rosemary Furman Counseling Center (Barnard): 212-854-2092
Nightline Peer Counseling: 212-854-7777
Office of the University Chaplain: 212-854-1493
National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE
The annual Take Back the Night rally, march, and speakout will be occurring tonight at 8 pm. College-aged females are at the greatest risk of rape, with TBTN reporting that 27 out of every 1000 undergrad women report being sexually assaulted, equating to over 150 female students at CU each year, while 40% of rapes go unreported. Please do not fear speaking to your peers, friends, administrators, and to the resources above. Despite what it sometimes may seem, people honestly care about each other and will be there for you, judgement free.
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7 Comments
@Anonymous If anyone is interested in learning more about the resources on and off campus, V-Day is hosting this event on Monday: http://www.facebook.com/events/199040640215372/
@Anonymous Yeah its nice that Columbia is attempting to spread awareness about sexual violence and assault. Too bad that if you’re a victim here, your assailant won’t get expelled, its pretty much just a slap on the wrist. In fact, the administration here pressure girls not to go to the police and to just keep it internal. So all you guys should know: feel free to assault anyone you want. You won’t get in trouble.
@Anonymous I spent a lot of time trying to write something to get across how bad Columbia’s response is, but it’s really hard to trump reality.
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2010/05/02/failure-columbias-sexual-assault-policy
@for the record Columbia’s policy was completely revamped last summer and the people in charge of the office (now called Student Services for Gender Based and Sexual Misconduct) are much more competent. I know you had a terrible experience and there is no excuse for that, but it’s important to say that things have greatly improved over the last 2 years. Check it out if you haven’t already: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/dpsa/pdfs/Gender-Based_Misconduct_Policies_Students.pdf
@Rape Crisis Center Volunteer So sorry if that was your/your friend’s experience with the CU sexual assault policy. It’s a complicated process and it’s different for every student. A few things you wrote are inaccurate though: actually, Columbia has expelled students for violating the policy. True, it isn’t super common, but there are a wide range of sanctions possible (see page 15 of the policy: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/dpsa/pdfs/Gender-Based_Misconduct_Policies_Students.pdf).
There are a lot of reasons why a survivor would use the CU policy as opposed to the criminal justice system. Let’s be clear: perpetrators of sexual violence face consequences when they held accountable here. Just because those consequences aren’t jailtime doesn’t make them invalid.
@CU assault survivor Statistics are much closer to 27 in 100 than 27 in 1000. Confer:
http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php
http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims
@Anonymous I think there may be a typo happening here – the statistics are much closer to 27 in 100 than to 20 in 1000. Confer: http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php and http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/sexual-assault-victims