At a time when many community members are expressing grief, shock and anger over a freshman's reported sexual assault last week, over 100 students gathered at a vigil Monday night to try to transform their emotions into action.
Unified in their desire to not let last week's attack go unanswered, students joined together in song and moments of silence while bearing candles and purple ribbons of support. Speakers touched on immediate and long-term strategies for fighting sexual assault, and sought to keep students thinking about how such acts affect a community.
"You are all courageous, and none of us are alone," said senior Carrie Johnson, an organizer of the vigil and Duke Student Government vice president for community interaction.
A freshman reported last Wednesday that she was beaten and sexually assaulted in a Randolph Dormitory bathroom sometime in the early morning. Police said Monday there was nothing new to report in the case, leaving students wondering who the perpetrator might have been and how he gained access to the dorm.
While offering sympathy to survivors of rape and sexual assault, speakers at the vigil also urged attendees to see last week's attack in context. It signifies a much larger problem, they said, one that can be overcome with hope and the will of enough people.
"I want to assure you that a world without sexual assault is possible, and that our unified strength defies the power of fear. We are powerful," Johnson said.
Speakers noted, however, that for now, the problem is widespread. About 56,000 women are raped or assaulted every month in the United States, said David Freeman of the Durham Crisis Response Center. In addition, Freeman cited statistics that 75 percent of assaults are by acquaintances of the victim, 80 percent occur in the victim's or attacker's home, and women between the ages of 16 and 24 are three times more likely to be assaulted than those in any other age group.
All told, he said, the high occurrence of assaults results from an entrenched culture of misogyny.
"As far as I am concerned, that's more than a social problem with a disproportionate number of assaults," Freeman said. "It constitutes in my estimation an undeclared war against women."
Comparing the emotional trauma of sexual assault survivors to that of war veterans, Freeman also contrasted society's reaction to the two. He said society too often blames women for attacks, and must be educated to think otherwise.
In the short term, however, speakers emphasized the support systems already available, including the Women's Center, Counseling and Psychological Services and the Healthy Devil. "In talking with students over the last week, it's become clear that they really wanted a space to come together and talk about what happened last Wednesday, and more broadly to support everyone who has been affected by sexual violence," said Jean Leonard, the newly hired coordinator of sexual assault support services at the Women's Center.
Leonard said students need to continue to create spaces to support each other, and they need not to give up fighting sexual assault. That includes Sexual Assault Awareness Week in April, she said, but also a more immediate response to root out even the threat of rape. "Do something," Leonard said. "You're all having reactions, and buried in that word, the root of that word, is Oact.'"
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.