Following the Emerald’s exposure of the attempted assault (“Are students safe from a ‘rape culture’?” ODE, Feb. 12), I have felt increasingly uncomfortable on campus, especially when it is dark and particularly near the site of the incident.
As a male, I now feel a sense of tension when I am on campus and am near a single female past sundown. I feel as though there is now a sense of distrust, of uncertainty between the genders. Even though I was not involved and have no intention of inflicting harm on anyone, I perceive a sense of uneasiness that women may be feeling in the presence of males in certain situations.
Perhaps this feeling is similar to that which those who appear of Middle Eastern descent and live in America have had to endure since Sept. 11, by having an awareness of their affiliation with a group that is faulted for causing harm. I may be mistaken on both counts and neither group (women or people of Middle Eastern descent) may feel what I think they do, but whether this perception actually represents others’ thoughts and feelings, I dislike feeling the tension.
When someone in the community has been attacked and dehumanized, we collectively feel the impact and have a responsibility to ensure that it does not occur again. Women and men alike are born free and with inalienable human rights, which include the right to conduct their lives without the feeling of impending harm. Rape, assault and abuse are not “women’s problems,” they are community and individual problems.
Though I was not directly involved with the incident that took place near the Knight Library two weeks ago, I have been effected by it. My sense of uneasiness did not appear out of thin air and probably will not disappear that way, either.
My question is: Why are we taking the steps to raise awareness now that an incident occurred in a public place, yet not a peep is heard following any of the many incidents that take place daily in people’s homes and work? Why only when assault takes place on the grounds of a university does it arouse attention? Are the women who suffer from abuse in other times and locations undeserving of collective attention?
On the other hand, maybe levels of awareness will rise as a result and proactive measures will be taken now that attention has been drawn to the issue.
My deepest sympathies go to the woman who suffered the assault directly, as well as to those who feel that their sense of security and freedom has been reduced as a result. I hope that my perceptions are wrong, that women do not actually feel what I perceive they feel, and that their sense of freedom and safety has not been affected adversely.
This incident should serve as a catalyst for community improvement and individual reflections on our respective roles as human beings and what it means to respect one another.