Administration needs to take action against sexual assault

I'm sick of hearing about friends and family being the victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, and nothing being done about it. Despite the regular occurrence of sexualized violence, perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.

In an article written in The Daily Campus on Sept. 10, it was reported that charges against Frank P. Cirillo, former UConn student, were reduced from "first degree sexual assault, first degree burglary, first degree criminal attempt to commit burglary, third degree criminal mischief, sixth degree larceny and second degree breach of peace" to "two misdemeanor charges, first degree reckless endangerment and first degree criminal trespassing."

Minimizing the actions Frank committed sends the message that our community agrees men who sexually assault women is permissible. Our university administration is no different in talking about the problem one day, and sweeping it under the bureaucratic rug the next. We, as stake holders in this university, need to pressure our administration to make fighting this problem a priority on campus. If we don't, we'll end up with more stories like that of Chris Brown and Rihanna.

In the same way that the media downplayed Chris Brown's abusive actions, UConn administrators downplay the violent nature of our campus. UConn officials continue to assert that they are doing everything they can to address the issue, yet there is little progress being made. When Vice President of Student Affairs John Saddlemire addressed the crowd at the 2008 Take Back the Night rally, he boasted that progress was being made by putting in a new sign labeling Celeron path, in an attempt to dissuade students from calling it the more common name "the rape trail." It's unclear how many sexual assaults were stopped because of this sign.

According to the 2007 UConn campus crime report, there were a total of three reported sexual assaults on campus all year. But in Jan. 2009, the task force addressing violence against women on campus appointed by Saddlemire, reported that the "Smith, White, and Holland (2003)" study found approximately 80 percent of a sample of 1,569 women had experienced at least one incident of physical and sexual aggression by the end of their fourth year of college, and 64 percent had experienced at least one incident of each. A similar study conducted at UConn, described in full in the final report, reflects parallel experiences. The task proposed 28 actions the university could implement to reduce the number of sexual assaults on campus. Yet to date I have not been able to find evidence of the Division of Student Affairs office's implementation of a single one. You can find the full report listed under the university's risk management page.

How many women need to have their lives ruined before Mr. Saddlemire will put his money where his mouth is? All sorts of student-led initiatives, including human rights weeks, the "What Will You Do?" rally and Take Back the Night, have been organized on campus but the Division of Student Affairs can't seem to organize a comprehensive effort to address a problem that affects every single student on campus. Either Mr. Saddlemire is incompetent, or he is purposefully stalling this issue in order to prevent the university from experiencing any negative publicity.

Sexual assault and domestic violence are violent crimes that should be appropriately punished. Harsher laws would send the right message, but the people need to stand up and declare that they will no longer be a part of a violent and complacent society. There are many ways to fight sexual violence. We can all hold each other accountable in our private lives. We can refuse to allow people to degrade women. We can confront sexist behavior in social settings. We take down the posters of half-naked women, stop referring to friends as "bitches" or joking about rape.

But most importantly, we cannot tolerate the complacency of people in positions of power who, in the face of great moral crisis, choose to do nothing. If you want to get involved and stop violence against women on this campus, visit the Women's Center in the Student Union.