On college campuses in the United States, every
one in five women are sexually assaulted during their enrolled time at their chosen school.

In my college (30 minutes outside of Boston, MA)’s weekly Student Government meetings, we are allotted fifteen minutes called “Student Forum,” in which any member of SGA can speak their mind. During mid-September, there were two reported sexual assaults on my campus within the span of just two weeks. I raised my hand in Student Forum to praise the idea of cameras inside/outside our residence halls/around campus. When I began to explain the severity of these events, my fellow treasurer spoke up only to say “I don’t want a camera in the hallway to see me coming out of the bathroom…” To which I replied, there are infinite solutions to one’s privacy coming out of the restroom including wearing a robe, and or simply changing inside the restroom after your shower. But what there are not infinite solutions to is rape. Something that cannot be fixed is the pain a victim carries with them after they are assaulted. Something that cannot be fixed is the life taken by a shooter who storms a residence hall. Something that will not ever go back to the way it was before, is a life affected by trauma. Putting on a robe is much simpler.

Assaulters try to dismiss what they have done with excuses beginning with “she wanted it,” to “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.” Just because something may not have happened to you, does not mean it does not happen. Sexual assault is real. It is something that does happen, and every minute of every day - including environments that are supposed to be “safe,” or “our home.” As humans brought into this life with very little guidance as to how to live our lives, bringing pain to others should never be an outcome. Because you don’t know how many bricks someone else has upon their chest, and you have the option to either take one off, or add one more.

After all these words were exchanged during our Student Forum the scribe says aloud, “Not all of us are from California Lily. We live in a small town and things like that just don’t happen here.” To which I told her, I am a citizen of the world. It doesn’t matter if I am from California, Las Vegas, or Sutherland Springs, Texas. This is real life with real issues that have an effect, whether or not you have been personally affected or not. The fact that ignorance like so, resides in the students’ that surround me on a daily basis, only motivates me more to make a change. Ignorance too is something that can be fixed. Like I said, put on a robe.