Once again, Georgetown is grappling with the graphic reality of sexual assault on the Hilltop. A slate of survivors have come forward to tell their stories over the summer months—many of which indict a system that’s failed to do right by them. To this newsmagazine, the writing on the wall is very clear: sexual assault happens here, with surprising frequency, and it’s a trend that will likely continue.
The stories the Voice heard this summer are nothing short of tragic. They do not, however, constitute the vanguard of some university-wide reckoning with sexual assault. The Voice has reported on the trials undergone by survivors dozens of times in the past decade. Those features hardly scratched the surface of the sordid history of sexual assault on campus. And, in all those years, the problem has persisted. Therein lies another tragedy.
The Voice lauds survivors and activists for their courage in speaking up both now and then. In sharing their stories, they do far more than offering up their own experiences–they challenge us to do better.
Sexual assault is a difficult topic. We, the Georgetown community, like to think that Hoyas are made of the sturdiest moral stuff—that we’re all good kids. But bad things happen, and that necessitates shining the uncomfortable light of introspection on ourselves.
We acknowledge, condemn, and grieve the wrong of sexual assault, but all our reporting cannot undo what has been happening in apartments and dorms across campus for so long. We sympathize deeply with survivors, but, we are in no position to judge what’s happened, absent any investigation, any concrete information.
With this in mind, the Voice proposes several concrete policy changes looking forward.
All students must be made aware of current consent laws. Too often, survivors heap blame on themselves because they don’t know what legally constitutes sexual assault. Clear, checklist-style procedures must be laid out for survivors and those accused of sexual assault. Institutional resources must be not only provided but also aggressively publicized, so that all parties are equipped with a realistic set of expectations when it comes to the university’s response.
The university has made some progress. Just last year, NSO added a mandatory sexual assault education workshop. But supporting survivors, mandated not just by Title IX but also by common decency, involves more than reporting and prosecuting sexual assault. In some cases, therapeutic counseling must be offered, leaves of absences must be arranged, and academic clemency must be granted. At present, survivors must navigate through bureaucratic minefields to make such arrangements. The least the university could do is show them the way.
Lastly, survivors, to the extent they are willing and able, must fully utilize the dual-track system: approaching both university administrators and police to report and prosecute sexual assaults. There are compelling reasons to avoid the police: an investigation leads to a trial, usually where survivors’ private lives are painfully dissected by defense attorneys. While we absolutely respect a survivor’s decision to avoid the pitfalls of the legal system, we feel that, unless a consistent pattern of justice is established in the courts of law, the rate of sexual assault on college campuses won’t slope downward.
We understand that the experience of every sexual assault survivor is different. There are legitimate and well-documented reasons why survivors do not report to university or law enforcement officials. The choice to do so ultimately rests with each individual survivor, but the calculus for making such a choice should not be informed by a belief that the authorities cannot be trusted.
Among survivors, adversity, unfortunately, is expected. The burden is on the administration to change that. We don’t need a Memorandum of Understanding with GUSA or a sterile commitment to Title IX. Rather, we need some evidence that the values Georgetown advertises so readily to prospective students are the same ones informing policy decisions on how to confront the epidemic of sexual assault.
We’ll remember this: “We sympathize deeply with survivors, but, we are in no position to judge what’s happened, absent any investigation, any concrete information.”
Prediction: this semester the Voice will go back on the above statement and affirmatively state someone was raped, absent any investigation or concrete information, save that an allegation was made. We know this because the Voice and the Hoya regularly publish accounts of rape absent any evidence save the statement of the accuser, and fail to reasonable check the accusers statements, like, for instance, that she never reported it or told anyone, and only brought it up when she was about to get kicked out for failing grades and needed to give a reason for why she couldn’t hack it.
Sadly, when it comes to the media world, any allegation of rape by a woman is automatically believed, even if it’s obviously untrue when reported\ or if evidence later comes out suggesting otherwise.
Gents, protect yourselves, b/c if you’re the victim of a false allegation, then the deck is stacked against you and the university will readily throw you under the bus if necessary. You do that by first making sure the sex is consensual. If you don’t, we don’t care about you. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough at Georgetown, so be sure to treat the girl nice in the morning and get confirmatory texts the next day wherein she says she had a great time and wants to see you again (tell her you want to see her again, even if you don’t). And remember her name. Maybe make her coffee or breakfast. And if you really want to protect yourself, then film your bangs. Nothing convinces a jury like video evidence.