Last week, I was very excited to see an article about sexual violence in The News-Letter. I believe sexual violence is an issue that is too often ignored or unrecognizably distorted at Hopkins. Someone was finally acknowledging the fact that, yes, sexual assault does occur at this school. However, I was dismayed after reading the article “70 Sex Offenders Registered in Area,” which was published on Oct. 11. This article only served to perpetuate the false and dangerous sentiment that sexual violence only comes from perpetrators outside of our school.
It is true that the 70 sex offenders who live in Charles Village could pose a threat to our safety. However, the greatest threat of sexual violence does not come from these strangers, but from one’s own friends and acquaintances. The Department of Justice reports that 80 percent of sexual assaults are committed by someone that the victim already knows. It is not a productive step towards ending sexual violence to print articles that sensationalize an external factor – the 70 sex offenders – when the real danger to Hopkins students’ safety is internal. The article ignores the problem at hand while reinforcing a culture of denial that permeates this campus.
Hopkins must report instances of sexual assault to its students in accordance with the Clery Act, which is designed to let students know if crimes and violence are occurring on their campuses. From 2007 to 2010, Hopkins reported that no sexual assaults had occurred. Last year, they confirmed one sexual assault. The Department of Justice has reported that 25 percent of college women will be victims of rape or attempted rape before they graduate in four years. The figures that Hopkins reports do not make sense; there is no way that the numbers add up.
Yes, victims of sexual assault often do not come forward out of fear or self-blame, but we have to view the information our school is giving out with skepticism. Whether our school reports it, sexual assault does occur at Hopkins. I know people who have been sexually assaulted at this school, and you probably do as well.
The problem with the misleading reports Hopkins releases is that they are called “official,” and what frightens me is that people believe they are true. In affirming the doubtful validity of these reports, we concede to a blatantly false picture of a school at which basically no sexual violence occurs. This is the way Hopkins imagines itself. The result is that education against sexual violence is sparse, sexual assault policies are outdated and sometimes factually incorrect, and any danger is perceived from coming from a source outside of our student body. And so the denial continues.
The 2010 census reports Baltimore as majority African-American. Hopkins is five percent African-American. When we imply that all risk of sexual assault on an overwhelmingly white and Asian campus comes from a mostly African-American city, what are we saying? I think the shadow of racism lies in the belief that all risk of sexual assault comes from outsiders.
I’m tired of an exaggerated fear of African-American men, while white perpetrators of sexual assault go unpunished on the grounds of our campus. I’m tired of articles about issues that distract Hopkins students from underlying problems, articles that commend Campus Safety & Security for its success in “protecting the campus and surrounding areas,” even though sexual assaults continue to occur at Hopkins. I’m tired of our school denying that sexual assault is even a problem at all. Well, it is. And it’s a problem that won’t go away by ignoring it. I want us to scream about it until someone listens. I want us all to use capital letters and multiple exclamation points. I want to hear conversations, and I want nothing to go unsaid. I go to Hopkins; this is my campus. I’m willing to throw a few rocks to keep it safe.
Ingrid Nelson is a sophomore Writing Seminars and Film and Media Studies double major from Charlottesville, Va.
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