Ed. Note – Jasmine Ruiz also contributed to this story
Their power is taken away. Their sense of self and security are shattered. People they trusted have hurt them emotionally and physically, and their voice has been taken away. This is true of survivors of sexual assault, according to Dr. Leigh Green, assistant professor of Education.
Most sexual assaults involve acquaintances, or someone the survivor knows and trusts. In these cases, the survivor often cannot look at people the same way after the assault happens, Green said.
“Think of someone you know and that you trust,” Green said. “You can’t look at people that same way. So, we have to help try to build that back for that survivor and help them transition into a safer environment.”
The psychology behind it is that a sense of self-worth and a sense of identity have been stripped away by an act of violence.
“As a counselor, that’s something that I help people get back to, give them a voice that may have been taken away,” Green said.
When it comes to the assailant and the act of assaulting, many tend to have the mindset that it is acceptable and just a part of sexuality. According to Green, a large number of people think rape culture is pervasive, that it is normal. Some rapists believe they should be able to engage in sexual acts with another individual because sexuality is a part of life.
Green noted a recent case of sexual assault at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. in reference to rape culture. The case involved four former Vanderbilt football players. According to court testimony, the victim and her then boyfriend were both intoxicated during the incident. The boyfriend, former Vanderbilt football player, and three other former Vanderbilt football players took the victim to a dorm room and assaulted her, according to a 2013 article from The Tennessean.
The Tennessean reported the former students had raped the victim and sodomized her with an object. The woman’s then boyfriend was also accused and found guilty of unlawful photography and sending images to other men.
“These men felt that it was, maybe not okay, but there wouldn’t be necessarily consequences behind it,” Green said. “There’s a lot that goes into it, and I think whenever we talk about perpetrators, it’s an individual responsibility. That’s where the controversy comes into rape culture.”
With the Vanderbilt case, as well as other cases at other universities, making national headlines and drawing a large amount of publicity, college students are thinking about sexual assault in a broader manner.
“I feel that [sexual assault] is a big deal,” Erik Prospero, freshman Dance major, said. “Most of us are of legal age, and that could lead to drinking and raping. We experience it every day, and not just here, all over.”
Green said because of the rape culture, many think it is okay and there is no personal responsibility involved, but she said as a society, that way of thinking is shifting for the better.
“Just because we live in a rape culture does not mean every man and every woman thinks it’s okay to rape,” Green said.
When conducting a counseling session with assault survivors, Green does everything she can to give the survivors their voice and power back. What universities can do to help, she added, is keep the line of communication open.
The West Texas A&M University Police Department sends out crime reports to every student notifying them when a sexual assault occurs on campus. They make all details available that they feel are necessary in order to protect the safety of all students, and they send updates when necessary.
“That’s amazing,” Green said. “That’s sharing responsibility for the community’s safety. We all need to be part of it.”
