April is sexual assault awareness month. Perhaps the perfect venue for this month of heightened awareness is here on the BU campus, where the entire university community is in need of healing after this year’s high profile sexual assault cases. With events such as March 30’s Take Back the Night march and rally, BU is well on its way to being a climate of increased, open discussion of rape culture. Many were dismayed, however, when just a few days after the rally, the Daily Free Press published its April Fools spoof edition with a triggering cover story making light of sexual assault. In the wake of a campus-wide backlash against the story, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief resigned.
The Freep article provided tangible evidence of the existence of at least some semblance of rape culture on the BU campus. The eyes of national media have turned to our university, and this past week, the online publication Jezebel released a story entitled “Boston University Has a Sexual Assault Problem.” The article cites students as having called BU a “party school” with a population of “fratty bros.” A BU graduate quoted in the piece felt this “bro culture” can, at times, turn violent. The piece went on to identify potential fault with the task force assembled by President Brown to investigate the “culture and climate” of BU’s hockey team in light of this winter’s sexual assault charges.
Does BU have a sexual assault problem? What’s more, is the presence of a rape culture more prevalent on the BU campus than at other universities? Public relations coordinator for the Center for Gender, Sexuality & Activism and BU student quoted in the Jezebel article Michelle Weiser said, “I don’t think BU’s rape culture is more pronounced or prevalent than other colleges around the country. But it is interesting to contrast the prevention, education and response structures and services BU has in comparison to other schools. Also, the student body plays an important role in preventing, responding and talking about sexual assault. It was really heartening to see so many students at take back the night. So even though there probably aren’t more sexual assaults at BU, the response of administration and students makes a big difference.”
Weiser’s assertion that BU most likely doesn’t have a higher occurrence of sexual assault on campus is probably right. It’s difficult to discern where our stats stand in comparison to other schools because, while one in five female students will be assaulted during her college years, many will not to report the assault. The Clery Act of 1990 is a piece of legislation which requires that all universities participating in federal aid programs keep track of crimes on and off campus and have the information readily available. That’s not to say that these statistics are easily attainable, or well organized for that matter. In an opinion piece published in The Harvard Crimson this February, a Harvard senior says she feels that merely keeping track of the numbers isn’t enough. In the piece, student writer Madeleine Schwartz said, “the University cannot maximally protect the safety of its students so long as it is selective about what information to withhold and what to make public.” She feels that the university should also disclose, for example, the locations where the sexual assaults take place. In researching the incidence of sexual assault on college campuses, it seems that some universities, much like Harvard across the river, have adopted this practice of selectivity in their disclosure of information on sexual assault. This unfortunate possibility, along with the fact that rape is the most underreported violent crime, mean that no absolute judgment can be made as to whether Boston University’s statistics make it a school with a greater “sexual assault problem” than others.
Although it’s difficult to say whether or not the prevalence of sexual assault is greater in Boston University territory than at neighboring colleges, it is possible to make note of what aspects of BU culture might contribute to a sexual assault problem, should it exist. In a February 2011 article from Feministing.com, the website investigated “definitions of consent” in the context of sexual assault. The Feminsting piece said that most university policies on sexual assault define the act as “nonconsensual sex,” but do not take their definition any further. Feministing believes that this is not enough. Feministing placed Boston University’s name on a list of national universities that “do not even come close to clearly defining consent.” The article poses an important question: “How can students be expected to only engage in consensual acts if they don’t know what those are?” An insufficient definition of consent could, perhaps, contribute to a sexual assault problem at BU.
Still others might pin at least part of the cause of a “sexual assault problem” at BU on its urban environment. Surely, many students were cautioned before attending BU of the dangers of roaming a big city at night. Making a connection between our urban location and any higher incidence of sexual assault, however, would be naïve. This is in light of the fact that “stranger rape,” although it does occur, comprises only a very small fraction of overall sexual assaults. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 80-90% of sexual assaults the attacker and the victim are well acquainted with each other.
Any number of factors could contribute to the possible existence of a “sexual assault problem” at BU. With the publication of articles such as Jezebel’s, and after last week’s Freep article, many wonder whether or not BU’s real problem is that students are not able to relate to the seriousness of sexual assault in an appropriate way. One BU sophomore seems to think that used to be the case, but that the events of this year have resulted in increased sensitivity and a more mature outlook on sexual assault campus-wide. “To outsiders looking at our school right now, it may seem that since these events have continued to escalate throughout the year, we are not taking assault seriously. But, I think that right now, the BU student population does not have a problem relating to the seriousness of sexual assaults. In the beginning of the year, when issues first started arising, they were not taken as seriously because they were seen as being personal matters to be dealt with by those involved, so their impact and seriousness did not resonate as highly with the student population as more recent events have,” she said.
This resonation is evident in the backlash against the Freep piece and the outpouring of support for a possible rape crisis center on campus, with about 1,200 signatures on a petition for its creation at the time of press.
The more troublesome possibility is that Boston University does not have a sexual assault problem; rather, most universities have a sexual assault problem. Some students questioned felt that the media’s representation of the college lifestyle contributes to a sexual assault problem pervasive in university culture.
Whether BU has a sexual assault problem or not, and whether it exists at all universities or not, are ultimately useless questions to ponder if they do not result in growth as a school and as a community. It seems that most BU students are optimistic about our school’s future treatment of the topic of sexual assault. “Personally, I have never been more aware of its presence and its effects on people and a population, and I could say with confidence that there are other people within the student body that would agree,” one BU student said. “It is a shame that the actions of a few, in such a large school, will reflect poorly on our atmosphere, but I know that we have and will continue to grow from it.”
