Earlier this year, Harvard University, the world's most prestigious institute of higher education, conducted a survey about sexual assault amongst its students - some of the worlds' brightest (and wealthiest) young people.
In it, they found that 16% of undergraduate women reported experiencing sexual penetration or attempted sexual penetration without their consent. 31% reported some kind of sexual assault during their time at the university.
One third.
One third of women at the best university in the world.
In response, students created an art installation on campus which consisted of a series of glass columns on which students scribbled their thoughts about sexual assault on campus.
One student at least though, says that walking past the installation daily was nothing more than a reminder at how the university failed to deal with her own sexual assault adequately.
In an open letter published yesterday in The Harvard Crimson, the university's daily newspaper, an anonymous student has detailed how she says the university let her down when she looked to them for help.
Entitled 'It's Me, One Of Your Statistics' in reference to the aforementioned survey, the letter, which has since gone viral, details what happened when the victim was assaulted by an acquaintance after he invited her over to study for an exam.
'The morning after my attack, I woke in the room of a close friend shaken and hollow.' She says. 'I refused to change or shower, because I knew a rape kit was not only imminent but necessary. After trudging back to my dorm, I immediately went to my proctor, and he called health services. The news was shocking. Harvard University Health Services didn’t provide rape kits.'
She took an Uber to an off-campus hospital and says it was then that the anger came.
'My university, the greatest and wealthiest in the world, could not even provide me a rape kit.'
Sadly though, that wasn't the end of the victim's ordeal.
She went to the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (OSAPR) who she says told her that, unless she went to trial, they wouldn't be able to help in a 'meaningful way'.
'Now, every survivor is different. Some need to seek justice and fire back. But for me? The idea of my attacker seeking retribution was a crippling fear that made me pale at the thought of going through with the grueling trial process. But this ultimatum put me at war with myself.
Unless I subjugated myself to a long trial, Harvard would do nothing to keep him away from me. That’s right. Nothing. Even though my rape kit had come back positive, that was not enough. '
The OSAPR respresentative told the victim that a trial could take over a year - something that meant that the accused would continue to share classes with her for the rest of the term.
'So, I did what I thought was the best choice in a horrible situation: I stayed silent. Harvard added his name to a list of accused. If another girl was attacked, they would prosecute him independently on our behalf. Thankfully, his name has not come up again, and that gives me some amount of peace.'
The victim describes the trauma of continuing to see him twice a week for the rest of the year. The 'smug smiles' she received from him which sent her 'shaking and sobbing' to the bathrooms.
After the sexual assault survey came out, the university took steps to penalise people who belong to social clubs and fraternities and sororities. However, the victim doesn't believe that this will help.
'Shutting down the final clubs, sororities, and fraternities on our campus will do almost nothing to help prevent sexual assault. In fact, more than 80 percent of sexual assault happens within Harvard’s own dorms, and yet no steps have been taken to secure those places. '
Instead she says the university needs to focus on more basic things:* 'Providing rape kits at University Health Services, shortening the length of trial, allowing students to go to class without having to face their attacker, and making dorms more secure. It may not fix everything, but it’s a start.'*
She signs the letter as follows:
'A strong, vibrant woman who will always be more than a statistic on piece of paper or a ripped skirt in a police storage room.'
As for the Harvard OSPAR, they have yet to respond. In fact, they haven't tweeted since June. They haven't written any news on their website since February. They have no Facebook page. The new term, complete with 2,037 new freshmen, many away from home for the first time, started on August 24th.
Way to be visible.
It's hardly a question of money either. Harvard reported in 2015, net assets of $44.6 billion. In 2013 they made more money than Target, they made more money than insurance giant AIG. They are the wealthiest university in the world.
And they can't provide rape kits.
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**‘My Penis Was Too Big’ Says Man Explaining Tears Of Alleged Rape Victim
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Follow Jess on Twitter @Jess_Commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.