RASA holds panel on campus rape culture

More than 70 people attended Rebels Against Sexual Assault’s open panel discussion on campus rape culture Friday, but according to Sydney Green, that’s just not enough.
Green, RASA’s president, said the meeting went well, but the event alone would incite very little change.
“Having a conversation today is great,” Green said, “but it won’t change anything.”
The conversation around rape culture must continue both on and off campus until the message reaches everyone on the individual level to bring about true change, according to Green.
The panel comprised representatives of RASA, NAACP President Buka Okoye, as well as students involved in the conversation surrounding an alleged incident of sexual harassment at a philanthropic event on campus just the week before. Green said though the Derby Days incident was definitely an example of how rape culture exists on campus, the incident was not the focus of the panel.
“That’s not the reason we need to be talking about this,” Green said. “This is a university problem.”
The purpose of the discussion was to inform students of the availability of help for survivors of sexual assault as well as to educate students on the reality of rape culture, Green said. In order to speak about rape culture, however, the panel first had to define it.
Kristin Hewitt, a mechanical engineering major on the panel, said rape culture was “anything that normalizes the actions of rape.”
This normalization of rape can take many forms, many of which Hewitt said students do not normally associate with the subject, like conversations in which the term ‘rape’ is used jokingly.
Buka Okoye said it is important to keep in mind that this issue affects all people despite being commonly understood as a male on female attack. Okoye said, instead, the issue must be thought of as a person on person attack, so as to include everyone who is a victim of rape.
Okay also said it was important to make this change an institutional one.
Sydney Green said RASA is working with the university to produce a new program for incoming freshmen to familiarize students with rape culture and its prevention.
Though multiple panel members said rape culture did not solely exist in the Greek culture, fraternity and sorority social systems came into question several times throughout the event.
According to the panelists, the intersection of alcohol consumption and male-dominated spheres contributes to the heightened concern for sexual harassment at parties.
Though there is no clear answer, Sam Cox, a member of RASA, said one way to address this issue is by “not being a bystander,” intervening during questionable situations.
Abby Bruce, who posted the original allegation of sexual assault at the Derby Days event on April 15, said she is optimistic about the conversation.
“Culture is a learned and taught behavior,” Bruce said. “Because it is a taught behavior, we can change culture. I don’t want to be a part of a system that reinforces that behavior.”