Members of the University of Wisconsin community were quick to respond after a letter to the editor dispelling ‘rape culture’ was published in The Badger Herald Monday, prompting what several sexual violence professionals said was the start of a campus-wide conversation.
Although first reactions toward the letter instigated some negative attention, University Health Services Executive Director Sarah Van Orman said the current discussion on rape culture at the university could have a “good outcome.”
“I wish we didn’t have to have something like [the letter], that is painful, to stimulate conversation …The fact that we have now stimulated conversation is an outcome that we can now take control of this and make this a good outcome,” Van Orman said. “It encourages us to talk about it, become aware of this, for more people to become aware and confront these attitudes then that is the best outcome there can be from this.”
Aly Jarocki, president of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, said the group received a lot of feedback from students following the letter’s publication. Some students expressed feelings of hurt based on their own experiences, and some were frightened that the letter had been written and published, she said.
Jarocki said the letter proved a conversation needed to be had on campus.
“[David Hookstead] is not the only one that feels that way, he’s not the only one who has those attitudes,” she said. “It’s just most people keep them a little more covert, but just because they’re covert doesn’t mean they’re not harmful.”
Less than 10 percent of sexual assaults that occur on campus are actually reported, Van Orman said, who added sexual violence is something that impacts one in four college women.
Van Orman said it is possible the number of reported assaults may increase over the next few years, not because the number assaults are increasing, but because the environment could become more accepting and people could feel more comfortable coming forward.
However, Carmen Hotvedt, a PAVE adviser, said it was important that colleges do not take a singular effort to increase reporting because people should respect victims that may choose not to report. These victims are still entitled to help, she said.
“I don’t think we need victims to report in order to understand the numbers and the scope of these issues. We have 40 years of data that indicate sexual victimization of college women and men is between 20 to 25 percent and lots of valid documentation of that without essentially telling victims who are not ready to report that they have to report,” she said.
The conversation also has to be accompanied by actions on an individual level by all students, Van Orman said. Students have an important role in combatting rape culture and should not tolerate jokes about rape and sexual assault, she said. She added students should also believe people’s reports when they come forward and support them.
Jarocki said students should also refrain from using the terms “slut” and “whore” or talking about what a girl was wearing or drinking in discussing instances of sexual assault.
There is a need for the campus community to be alert to some of the precursors to sexual assault and dating violence, including cultural and societal issues, Van Orman said, along with attitudes both men and women play out like sexism and the “glorification of sexual violence” across media.
