Most parents worry at least a little about sending their beloved daughters off to college — and they should. It turns out that first-year female college students are at high risk of being sexually assaulted. That was evident when four score students — including quite a few males — gathered at the Women’s Table in front of Sterling Memorial Library at Yale to share stories of violence and march to Take Back the Night.
Friday’s event was a far cry from the thousands of women who gathered beginning in the mid-1970s in cities around the country — often barring men from participating — and who marched through the most dangerous parts of town late at night in defiance of the fear of assault that kept women virtual prisoners in their homes after dark. But, since assaults are still happening, a response is still required.
Despite a light rain, candles set on the water flowing off the Table (which commemorates women’s enrollment at Yale through the years) burned brightly, and several women told the story of how they or their roommates were raped their first year on campus: “story” not “stories” because they were all sickeningly similar. They usually involved alcohol and sometimes drugs dropped into drinks to make the job even easier for the rapist.
The women telling their stories, even a few years after the assaults occurred, still seemed so young and vulnerable. One lamented that she was Catholic, “and I won’t be a virgin on my wedding day.” Another told of how every man she dated but one had “tried to go too far.” One woman described a three-year violent marriage that just didn’t compute with who she thought she was and who she thought her husband was. Loss of virginity, loss of trust, loss of sense of self.
T‑shirts painted with brief descriptions of unwanted sexual encounters — part of the Clothesline Project — were displayed around the perimeter.
Yale College Dean Peter Salovey and Dean of Students Betty Trachtenberg were there as well. Salovey said, “In the past year many students have brought to our attention that our system of helping students who have been victims of sexual assault is confusing to them. While we have stepped up talking about these issues in freshmen orientation, still, when a crisis comes, they are not sure who to turn to. There may be too many points of entry — the dean, peer counselors, sexual assault specialists at the health plan, and more.”
So Salovey asked the members of the Sexual Assault Grievance Board at Yale to explore what other colleges are doing. They spent several months exploring, and just turned in their report. He said he’ll make their recommendations for education, prevention and support public within the next few days.