The truth behind sexual assault

It is the second half of the first semester, and the University is still trying to teach its freshmen about sex. Sexual Health Advisors (SHAs) are wandering through campus these days with handmade Jeopardy boards, hoping to instill some sexual education while students fill their mouths with RCA-provided snacks. But now that "Sex on a Saturday Night" is over, their focus isn't on sexual assault anymore. Still, considering the number of assaults each year, Princetonians need to keep focused on this issue.

There were 62 forcible sex offenses reported in all Ivy League universities in 2006, at an average of nearly eight per university. With 12 sexual assaults reported that same year, Princeton had nearly double this average, though we have less than half the average number of enrolled students at Ivy League schools. And our stats matched numbers reported at Harvard, though we only have about a quarter the number of students. The only Ivy League school with more reported forcible sex offenses is Dartmouth, which had 13 in 2006.

For survivors of sexual assault, the experience is often incredibly traumatizing. Speaking at the awareness event "Take Back the Night" last spring, Leonore Carlson '08 recalled her own experience. Upon returning to a residential college after a night out at the Street during her sophomore year, Carlson was raped by a fellow Princetonian. She had to take a year off from school because of it.

"The general perception is that [sexual assault] doesn't happen at Princeton," said Jess Kwong '07, a former co-president of Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators and a member of the campus sexual assault awareness group Speak Out. When Speak Out printed T-shirts last spring bearing the statistic that one in four women is the survivor of rape or attempted rape by the time she graduates from college, Kwong said, some students did not believe them.

Princeton's Department of Public Safety defines forcible sex offenses as rape, sodomy, sexual assault with an object or fondling which is done "forcibly and/or against that person's will." Kwong says many of the offenses involve alcohol. Last year, Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources and Education (SHARE) and other peer education groups made posters that warned against alleged dangers students face during Bicker and initiations, including several that raised the possibility of sexual assault. By the end of the first week, most of the posters were torn down. Many of the clubs are working to improve their reputation in that respect.

After a February 2005 incident during Tiger Inn's pickups shut the club's doors for three months, TI has attempted to reform its image and was the first eating club to make sexual health education mandatory for all of its members. All 10 eating clubs now mandate sexual health education training for all members, including descriptions of sexual assault, guidelines for proper behavior and information like the University's policy that students under the influence of alcohol cannot give consent to sexual acts.

"There are people who come to me, and I am so impressed with how much they know," said Anna Bialek '09, a sexual health advisor at Princeton. "They even know all the technical language."

Still, on a personal level, said Sarah Erickson '07, the president of Speak Out, students often have a lot to learn. "We are trapped between a desire to be adults and the maturity of high school students," she said. In particular, students often have a problem saying either yes or no to a partner, Bialek said, and the SHAs' duty is to support them in the decisions they are making.

In addition to SHAs, who focus on sexual health, SHARE advises Princetonians on issues of sexual assault. The program is meant to provide students with an anonymous reporting system that many other schools lack: Normally, if a student goes to a student health center or Public Safety Officer regarding a rape, they are granted no anonymity.

Still, though the resources are available, many students do not seem to know where to go if they need confidential counseling or even a rape kit and examination to document their sexual assault. "The problem is that most students are unaware of what exactly to do," Erickson said.

Speak Out is trying to change that. Its posters on campus list contact information for SHARE and SHAs as well as the student health center. The largest of these posters is a grainy closeup of two eyes staring ahead. On one side of the head is the statistic about the number of women raped in college. On the other is Speak Out's goal: "Let's make it none to four." None is a goal we can all get behind.