Op-Ed : Can BU?
*Content Warning : Sexual Assault*
As a female-identifying individual, the constant danger of sexual assault has been seared into my subconscious. Every adult in my life has warned me at least once to always be cautious when traveling alone, when going out, and even when leaving my home. I never thought that sexual assault would become an issue I dealt with daily. But this past summer, this danger became a very tangible reality. I witnessed the aftermath of an unprovoked sexual assault against one of my close friends.
Infuriated by the circumstances, I posted a series of polls on social media asking conceptual questions that parallel consent and sexual abuse; one of which asked whether or not students, at their university, were educated on sexual misconduct. Out of the 300+ BU students that responded, almost 200 claimed that they had not. This was astonishing to me because, as a BU student, I know that we were all required to complete the Sexual Assault Prevention Course (SAPC) before beginning classes for the 2018-2019 school year. Yet, for students to respond claiming their university did not teach them about consent means one thing : BU lack of proper sexual assault education resulted in its students not regarding this issue with the level of severity it deserves.
I began to notice that students were a bit too casual around this topic at the start of this past school year. A bunch of my friends were gathered in an apartment, huddled over Macbooks to complete the SAPC. Amongst the laughing and inside jokes we all shared, I heard grumbles and whines squeeze their way into the space.
“Why do we have to do this? It’s is so fucking annoying.” said one of my female friends.
I was a little unnerved by this comment. Yes the course was long and tedious, but it was helpful and frankly, much-needed information. I was so confused as to why so many of my friends weren’t taking advantage of this lesson. Why, months later, some of these same friends came up to me at a party, crying because a friend had been groped by three different drunk individuals and they had been too scared to step in and stop it.
It’s because BU doesn’t do anything more other than the SAPC when it comes to sexual assault. It’s easy to tell students once to stand up to abusers but it’s completely different when you are physically in the situation. In a position like this, students aren’t going to remember that little interactive video in the SAPC that told them how to respond accordingly. This course is an excellent stepping stone in beginning the conversation about sexual misconduct but it is foolish for BU to just stop the discussion there.
Students need to be taught how to respond under this kind of social pressure especially when their own friends are involved. There is such a stigma around getting involved in a situation like this. Now, I completely understand this fear of confrontation. But it’s gotten to a point where this fear has turned into a justification of sexual assault itself. I’ve seen many girls make excuses for their friends by saying that they are “just drunk and don’t know any better”. They say that their friends are not the type of people to rape anyone. But what exactly is the “rapist type”? It doesn’t have anything to do with race or gender or social status because more often than not, a rapist can your roommate, your ex, or even your best friend.
My close friend’s rapist did not fit the “type”. She was a female-identifying graduate from BU, she was a well-liked captain of a BU dance team, she was good friends with most of my friends. Most importantly, she took this same SAP test that we all had to sit through. Yet, somehow, she made the choice to violate another person without regard to the emotional damage it would cause them. And it only takes a little bit of asking around campus to find out that she isn’t the only BU student who has done so.
I understand that it’s not feasible to police the thoughts and actions of every human being but BU has a responsibility to educate their students to be better human beings who think before they act. So I propose this challenge to BU. I dare you to implement the SAPC into the mandatory education curriculum. This program should last all four years and the information taught should cover introducing basic techniques in assisting vulnerable individuals to dealing with abusers themselves in both private and public situations. As a collegiate institution, the ethical onus is on BU to make sure their students are safe and well-educated on ever prevalent social problems like sexual assault.
I want to conclude with a quote by Desmond Tutu that is so well-known that it currently hangs on a Claire’s wall canvas in my BU dorm, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have sided with the oppressor.”. At least I can say to myself that I haven’t been neutral. Can BU?