Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 21, 1996, edition 1 / Page 13
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
dtip Daily ear Hppl "!W" 'IF’ '▼’’hile many people in j% i\ / society and on cam | 1/ 1/ pus are increasingly “aware of i —ss—: ~ , . - . AWARENESS rape, they might be un- taK informed about many is sues surrounding rape —- and sexual assault and their effects on victims. j The phenomena of victim self-blame, rape trauma syndrome, long-term physical and psychological affects and an increas ing backlash against the seriousness and violence of rape remain foreign or over looked entities to many people. In the mid-1980s acquaintance rape arose as an issue in society that required tfie public’s concern. Shortly after, there was a backlash that portrayed the prob ljepa as exaggerated or unharmful. .Acquaintance rape remains an impor tant issue, but misconceptions surround ing the crime abound. Judith Scott, llNC's sexual harassment officer, said cfue to various programs and informa tion about date rape, reports have in creased in the last nine years but the backlash remains. .-“The backlash is a denial of a serious Problem,” Scott said. “With (acquain tance rape’s) rise, a backlash has risen mat views the problem as imagined and exaggerated and not as prevalent and damaging as popularly believed." Some byproducts of the backlash in trude a feeling of shame and self-blame on the part of the victim along with vari oqs long-term psychological effects. f u .Erica Wise, director of Student Psy plogical Services, said, “There is more a tendency to blame rape victims than yyith other violent crimes.” i IThe self-blame placed on women fol igjving a rape could be partly historical in origin, Wise said. “There are places in ffie world where women are damaged Rape awareness : DEBUNKING POPULAR MYTHS UNC gives rape victims many options Students reporting incidents of sexual assault often feel isolated, powerless, devalued, victimized, confused and betrayed. Those same stu dents frequently experience anxiety at tacks, depression, sleep disorders, lack of Cpergy, mood swings, loss of concentra tion, headaches, stomach aches and irri tability. The University has long recog nized that students experience these feel ings and has taken steps to provide cam pus resources to help these students. Among those resources are the Univer sity Counseling Center, Student Psycho logical Services, Student Health Gyne cological Clinic, Student Health Educa tion, University Police and the Office of tjie Dean of Students, which includes the Harassment and assault prevention coor dinator and the Student Judicial System, fiie University’s first formal sexual as sault response plan was activated in Au gust 1990. ~ c Under Chancellor Paul Hardin’s ad ministration, a task force developed a rpsponse plan for sexual assault during tfie 1989-90 academic year. The response plan, titled “The University Response Plpn for Incidents of Sexual Assault In volving UNC-CH Students, ” established a cooperative course of action which includes six University agencies: Office ofthe Dean of Students, Student Judicial System, Department ofUniversity Hous ing, academic affairs, Department of Athletics and Student Health Service. Each “agency” has developed its own protocols and procedures pursuant to the University’s response plan. These proto cols and procedures vary in length and breadth. the fall semester of 1992, the University furthered its commitment to assisting students in this area by creating an; assistant dean of students position responsible for coordinating harassment and assault prevention programs and re sponse. InDecember 1995, Ibegan work ing in this office as assistant dean of students and the harassment and assault prevention coordinator. In this role, my primary responsibilities include develop ment, implementation and administra tive coordination of harassment and as sAult-related educational programming and it is seen as less valuable or impor tant," she said. “A subtle influence exists in this country on the mindset with which we view women.” Sabrina Garcia, crisis counselor for the Chapel Hill Police Department, said victimization was not gender related. “We have old belief systems in regards to society’s perception of gender and victims,” she said. “We still look at the victim’s gender and categorize by that distinction as innocent or guilty. “Males are more resistant in reporting rape than women because of the stigma involved.” However, misconceptions still remain in the public’s perception of rape. Wise said: “The biggest misconcep tion about rape is that it’s committed by a stranger behind a bush on a dark night. Everyone thinks that it couldn’t be by someone you know.” Students, with their new assertions of independence at college, may tend to minimize the dangers around them, she said. “As young adults develop mentally they tend to feel safer testing their own abilities away from their family and tend to go against the idea ofbeing careful and cautious,” Wise said. “We hope that they make good choices and find a bal ance or middle ground between freedom and choices to be as safe as possible.” By John Adcock Editorial writer MICHELLE COFIELD | and response procedures. The educa tional pro- GUEST COLUMNIST grams include topics such as gender com munication and relations, relationship violence, date and acquaintance rape and responding to sexual assault. I am also responsible for coordinating the University’s Sexual Assault Response Plan manual. When a student reports a sexual as sault to me the protocol for the harass ment and assault prevention coordinator is activated. I advise the victim of any rights and review options both within and outside the University system. When I talk with students who are reporting a sexual assault, the student understands that everything we discuss is confiden tial. I will not contact a referral resource on behalf of the student without consent. The student victim’s empowerment is Rsgg JB Bl } JflL mr ? •'* ' /ji DTH FILE PHOTO Supporters process in the 1994 Take Back the Night march. The annual event, which takes place during Rape Awareness Week, is meant to show that students can feel safe walking on the dark campus. Helping rape victims to recover by looking past blame, societal myths Rape is a crime that will probably affect you, or somebody you are dose to, while you are in college. A study conducted by the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communica tion found that one in three women on campus will be the victim of an actual or attempted sexual assault before she gradu ates. Shockingly, 87 percent of the vic tims will know their assailants. Rape is considered a taboo subject, and people do not like to address the Sexual assault, rape on the rise Despite a backlash dismissing rape’s effects and seriousness, reports of sexual harassment and attempted rape to Chapel Hill and University police has increased in the last few years. 1991 “... ! , ■ Forcible sex crimes ■ reported to ■■■ University Police 1992 Rape, attempted m J rape and crimes of a sexual nature reported to Chapel Hill police 1993 1994 El 1995 . „ SOURCT: UNIVERSITY POUCE, CHAPEL HILL POLICE DTH/MARKWEISSMAN crurial to this system of responding. Ac cording to the philosophy statement of the response plan, “'Die University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recog nizes the importance of assisting a stu dent who is a victim of sexual assault in regaining a sense of personal control over her life and the decisions she makes.” By giving students information about available options, that student may be better able to make an informed decision and may better see how to regain control of the situation. It is important to emphasize that where the victim and alleged assailant are both students, the victim may choose to file charges for sexual assault through the Student Judicial System, the criminal court system, both systems or neither system. Many people often confuse these options and think the student victim must choose one system over the other. That is far from the truth. OP-ED issues in volved be cause of rape’s KRISTEN STANLEY GUEST COLUMNIST personal na ture. But while rape is a highly personal event, it is also a crime, and this silence only protects the assailant, not the friends and family of rape survivors who deal every day with this traumatic event. Rape is the only crime where blame and guilt are major issues. When some one is robbed, no one asks, “Well, what Although we have procedures detail ing how to respond to these incidents, procedures alone cannot contemplate how and whether students will report incidents to any of the agencies. We know that victims are dealing with a multitude of problems emotional, physical and social. The emotional prob lems are associated with the internal con flict caused by the assault, physical prob lems are associated with any injuries sus tained during the assault and social prob lems are associated with perceived no tions of how others will view the situa tion. Because we know from our experi ences that not all sexual assaults are re ported, either formally or informally, we do provide a supportive, confidential en vironment for discussing concerns. Michelle Cofield is assistant dean of students and the University's harassment and assault prevention coordinator. did you do to provoke the robber?” With rape, on the other hand, people are quick to ask, “Why were you in his room?” “Why did you drink so much?” No one asks to be raped, and rape is not a result of one’s behavior or style of dress. Poor judgment is not a rapeable offense, and no one asks for or enjoys a violent, trau matic attack that puts the victim at risk of pregnancy, injury disease or death. Rape is not a sexual act, but an act of aggression, conquest and violence in short, of power over another person. It affects both women and men, and the Orange County Rape Crisis Center has dealt with victims from age 1 to age 92. While working at the rape crisis center as a crisis intervention volunteer, I have seen firsthand how damaging rape, the aftermath of self-blame and messages of blame from others can be to the victim. Not laying blame is not enough to help rape survivors put the pieces back to gether. In order to fully support a victim of rape, it is also important to understand what rape victims experience following the trauma. Rape victims suffer from post-trau matic stress syndrome, and more specifi cally a disorder called rape trauma syn drome. Studies show that all rape vic tims, regardless of the circumstances sur rounding the rape, suffer from rape trauma syndrome to some degree. RTS can be divided into two phases: the acute crisis phase and the reorganization phase. After a person is raped, he or she experiences a wide range of emotions. The acute phase is characterized by dis organized thinking because the victim is in a state of shock. The person can deal with the trauma either by expressed or controlled reactions. An expressed reac tion including emotions such as an ger, fear and anxiety is what most people envision as the typical response to rape. A controlled reaction occurs when victims mask or hide their feelings about the assault. It is important to remember Men more than beasts, can help prevent rape During the summer I came across a unique advertising campaign at one northern college: a rape awareness group installed drain covers that read, “You hold the power to pre vent rape in your hand,” in every urinal on campus. (Just mull that one over for a second or so.) As Rape Awareness Week begins today, I won der if our cam pus’ annual campaign is targeting the wrong audi ence. Instead of making women be on | lEANNE FUGATE 1 EDITOR the defensive, how about focusing on getting men off the offensive? Personally, I get sick and tired of hav ing my heart race every time I wander through the shadowy parts of campus late at night. I’m tired of hearing admonitions to guard my drink against “roofies,” the new date-rape drug sweeping the nation’s college campuses. I’m exhausted by the rationalizations of women trying to convince themselves that, really, just because they did not consent to sexual intercourse does not mean that shudder to think of it rape occurred. But more than anything else, I’m just plain worn out with all the lip service given to women taking control of this issue when the other half of the problem goes untended. What’s the other half? It’s cool to get laid. Society values people, males espe cially, who can get a piece of the action. And the way in which you get the piece doesn’t matter very much. So many sexual assaults get named something else because of this Machia vellian assumption: a drunken hook-up, a mistake, getting lucky or nothing more Monday, October 21,1996 that one’s external composure does not give an accurate picture of how well one is dealing with a situation, especially when still in shock. People who respond in this way are no less traumatized by the event; they simply deal with the shock in a different manner. In the acute crisis phase, the victim may experience a wide array of emotions: fear, denial, self-blame, guilt, mood swings, shame and revenge. The person may also express irritability, fear and caution when dealing with other people. The long-term reaction, or the reorga nization phase, occurs when the victim attempts to piece his or her life back together following the rape. This phase can go on for a time period of a few months or many years. During reorgani zation, the victim must try to make sense of what has happened. The victim may have flashbacks ofthe attack, experience nightmares or develop phobias in re sponse to the attack. Paranoia and fears are normal responses during this period. The victims’ sexual lifestyle also may be affected, as well as their comfort with others’ physical touch, eveninnonsexual settings, such as hugging. The victim contradictory feelings as well, such as guilt, fear and anger all at once. Many victims may adopt uncharacteristic per sonality shifts. These shifts can include a wide range ofbehaviors, such as a shift in sexual attitudes and promiscuity, change of dress, even a change of jobs or col leges. Long-term phase recovery is not a linearpath, and victims may regress quite rapidly in how well they are able to deal with the trauma, seeming fine one day and unable to bear anything the next. These shifts are a normal part of the recovery process. The victims’ healing process continues long after the period immediately following the rape. Kristen Stanley is a junior psychology major and music minor from Huntington, N.Y. than a blank spot in last night’s adven tures. And maybe that’s partly because the victims of these assaults do not blame their acquaintances, friends and lovers and name it a crime rather than a mistake. But there’s also some sort of notion floating around that men have these pow erful, testosterone-loaded drives that can not be controlled by mind or matter, much less by a mere woman. That once aroused, a man reverts to a beastlike state where he must be satisfied or else. I’ve heard stories about men who were so “overcome” by women’s presences— who said they just got so wound up that their good intentions wound up crumpled by the used condom on the bedroom floor. A friend of mine recently lost her vir ginity to a man who knew he shouldn’t do what he did while she was trashed. But he just couldn’t help himself, he said. Granted, I’m not a man, but that has to be the worst excuse I’ve ever heard for taking advantage of someone. I’m not asserting that all heterosexual sex somehow perpetuates violence against women. But I do think that a casual treatment of sex and sexual partners can lead to abusive situations. Women can lock the chastity belt and throw away the key, but unless the other half of the sexual equation their part ners help out, all the prevention in the world won’t amount to anything more than a few less recriminations on the part of victims. Rape Awareness Week, while serving a usefttl purpose in getting the word out about the prevalence of rape, can be even more effective. Itshouldalsobeameansof redefining the word rape and the power that all men hold in their hands every day to prevent it. Jeanne Fugate is a senior English and creative writing major from Ocala, Fla. 13
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 21, 1996, edition 1
13
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75