In the past two months, there have been two sexual assault cases reported on campus.
The women did not know their attackers, and both were assaulted in their dorm rooms. But the security of residence halls in only a minor part of the problem.
These two rapes added to the 27 domestic violence reports that have happened in the last year.
“From the 1970s, rape culture has plagued college campuses,” said Wayne Anderson, retired psychologist and professor emeritus of psychology.
Throughout his studies from the 1960s to today, Anderson found that 5-8 percent of men who rape women do not consider it rape; they consider it consensual.
“(The) underlying attitude was that it was the woman’s fault, and that she shouldn’t have done a variety of things,” Anderson said. “When a woman says ‘no,’ to these men, it means that there is a possibility of sex.”
This attitude, while constricted to a small minority, has spread over the years.
To counteract this, women dressed and acted more feminine, which created backlash and victim-blaming, Anderson said.
“We couldn’t get convictions for rapists because defense lawyers would try and find a biased jury, such as women over the age of 50,” he said. “They would find that the victim was enticing men and that they couldn’t help it.”
Those juries would argue that “you can’t blame a guy for doing what they did,” Anderson said.
Women must be willing to come forward or take the stand against their attacker, he said.
Most of the time, it is difficult for survivors to ask for help, said senior Jamie Crockett, a survivor of four sexual assaults.
“One feeling is that survivors keep all of the pain inside, feeling like no one knows what they are going through,” she said. “They don’t want people to know what happened because of reputation or fear.”
####Dealing with sexual assault
For years, Anderson worked specifically on sexual assault cases.
He came to MU in 1968, where he worked to help counsel rape survivors. Starting in 1970, Anderson created a grassroots movement with some of the students that acted as a crisis center for women.
The organization became the Women’s Center in 1975.
Anderson’s vision was not only to help these women; he wanted to help women get rid of the guilt they felt after being sexually assaulted. He said he also wanted to expunge the stigma that society had placed upon sexual assault victims.
“I worked with the hospital, and we introduced rape kits back in the ’70s,” he said. “I also planned on modifying the attitude of police.”
Rape kits are administered by a sexual assault nurse examiner. The test can be performed up to 96 hours after the assault, and it includes interviewing the survivor about the assault, a physical exam and collection of blood for a test. The kits can then be given to police for investigative purposes. This exam takes approximately three hours, according to the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center.
The police, however, cannot help survivors unless they reach out to the department, Capt. Brian Weimer said. And those affected by the assault tend to avoid discussing the incident because of the emotional hurt that accompanies it.
“The situation is very, very heavy,” Crockett said. “There is a lot of guilt. It’s like a movie reel; talking about it becomes very repetitive. Your mind just goes into overdrive with shock.”
When survivors do report the assaults, the work of the MU Police Department has been swift, Weimer said.
Every time an assault of some kind occurs, Weimer or one of the officers will write a report detailing what happened and where it occurred.
With the last sexual assault, however, the clery release did not come out until Oct. 14, three weeks after the assault occurred on Sept. 22. The [clery release said](http://www.mupolice.com/clery/11-2013.php) the victim did not contact the police until early that morning.
The psychological ramifications to assault include a massive amount of guilt. To prevent reliving the event, women find any reason they could to put the blame on themselves to prevent the assault from ever happening again, Anderson said.
“Many women are cautious to the possibility of rape … locking doors, park in the light, etc.,” Anderson said.
Survivors may suffer from several forms of post traumatic stress disorder, including nightmares, anxiety attacks and flashbacks.
For example, if a woman was attacked at 2 a.m., she will wake up at that time on subsequent days. If a woman saw a brick wall when she was raped, she will stay away from brick walls or any resemblance to them, Anderson said.
####Prevention versus reaction
While sexual assault prevention measures are in place, rape is still a huge concern, Anderson said.
The social stigma, still very much present, needs to be put to rest.
Through movements of sexual education, students getting involved in organizations such as SHAPE and the Women’s Center, and the prevention efforts made by the MUPD, attitudes are gradually changing, but there is still a ways to go, he said.
“Annually, the MUPD puts on a Campus Crime and Fire Safety report that gives detailed information to provide members of the community with the safest and most secure environment possible,” Weimer said.
The 2012 Campus Crime and Fire Safety report is currently available on [MUPD’s website](http://www.mupolice.com/Clery_Report/2012.pdf).
These reports give information about security throughout campus, the process of reporting crimes, crime prevention tactics and efforts, and it provides up to date suggestions on how to stay safe at all times of day. While the release is an extensive document, anything a person would want to find about can find it in the release.
MUPD is required by the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act to release statements about sexual assaults and other crimes that happen on and around campuses across the nation. The act was made in memory of a student, Jeanne Clery, who was slain in her dorm room in 1986 at Lehigh University.
But Weimer said he believes the clery releases are almost too specific because they only provide information about that specific incident, not campus safety in general.
“I find that there is a miscommunication with the MUPD and campus residents,” said Weimer.
This is one way that people can access up-to-date information at any hour necessary. The document is important for future use because it is more for prevention, something that the campus is working on for these sexual assaults, he said.
Anderson said that so far, the campus has been mainly reactionary.
It took a long time before the university even got involved in the movement against sexual assaults and the gender inequality. With this backing, victims will be better supported now and in the future, he said.
“When your rights as a human are being infringed upon, you deserve protection,” Crockett said.
Crockett said she found the RSVP Center to be the most helpful resource on campus after her assaults.
“We shouldn’t teach people how not to be raped, we should teach people how not to rape,” she said.
Crockett started [Shining Light Media](https://www.facebook.com/ShiningLightMedia) to fight against the revictimization of survivors, and to talk about prevention methods, such as how to ask for help. The main goal is to show that it is not the survivors’ fault, and that through talking, no matter how repetitive, it will help them move forward, Crockett said.
“All we (survivors) really need is someone to be there,” Crockett said.