At Georgetown, we often hear a deeply troubling statistic, that one in four to one in five women on this campus will be the victim of sexual assault before they graduate from Georgetown. Although many high-profile cases involve strangers, the vast majority of sexual assaults and rapes are perpetrated by acquaintances or friends. Given the prevalence of this horrible crime, it is essential that Georgetown improve its efforts to educate students about sexual assault.
Georgetown is progressive in the range of resources it offers to victims. But even though its post-incident support system is commendable, the University needs to take steps to prevent sexual assault and broaden the campus conversation about this kind of crime. Georgetown administrators rarely have anything to say about how to stop sexual assault outside of telling students to lock their doors and walk in groups. That is unacceptable.
Administrators can start by sponsoring and promoting the work of student groups that are already talking about this issue in an enlightened way, like Take Back the Night and GU Men Creating Change. They should also broaden their conversation about sexual assault so that it is not limited to high-profile incidents of stranger assaults, a violating but relatively rare form of sexual assault.
Because many students see rape and sexual assault as primarily a crime that involves strangers, the real issue that Georgetown needs to target is a misunderstanding about what these crimes usually are and how often they involve acquaintances and friends. Georgetown should educate students on what sexual assault really looks like so that if a woman claims that she has been raped by someone she knows, perhaps even a friend, her story will not be met with skepticism and victim-blaming.
Student groups are already working to make this issue part of the campus conversation. GU Men Creating Change has been working to try and make sexual assault and rape education a mandatory part of the Georgetown experience. So far, though, administrators have been unwilling to elevate sexual assault education to the same plane as issues like plagiarism and living in residential neighborhoods—issues which Georgetown does have mandatory education programs. Other schools, like Washington University in St. Louis have taken the lead by implementing mandatory sexual assault education, and Georgetown is quickly falling behind by not addressing the issue.
Sexual assault is an extremely serious issue that has repercussions that can last a lifetime. Instead of simply responding to the aftermath of these horrible crimes, the university should make sexual assault education and prevention a priority.
