Boston Globe on Neccessity of Addressing Rape Culture at Boston Univerity

Reposted from boston.com (Link to original article here).

A controversy that began with the arrests of two Boston University ice hockey players on sexual assault charges has mushroomed into a broader debate about women’s safety after a recent graduate called the school’s behavioral health hot line late at night and found only what she called “a useless loop of automated menus.’’

The school, roiled by the assault charges, is forming a task force to investigate its hockey culture. Administrators said the hot line issue stemmed from a misunderstanding and they immediately took steps to remedy it.

“We don’t take a passive or laissez-faire approach,’’ said Margaret Ross, BU’s head of behavioral medicine, noting that the school offers a wide variety of resources, including two highly trained on-call crisis counselors, one of whom counseled the woman who accused a hockey player of rape this week.

But women’s advocates at BU said bigger changes would be needed to address a pervasive “rape culture’’ at the school, one they said was exemplified by recent comments by longtime hockey coach Jack Parker.

In an interview with the Globe Thursday, Parker said he would cooperate with the task force but he doubted campus culture could be changed dramatically.

“It’s certainly different than it was in the ’70s. Sexual mores have changed,’’ he said. “There’s girls on every floor; there’s no men’s and women’s dorms. The idea that hooking up is OK – I don’t think that term was even used in the 1970s. . . . Ninety-nine percent of these problems start with alcohol and sex. That’s a bad combination.’’

Ross said she disagreed that the culture could not be changed.

“The most important concern is that every student should feel safe and cared for. Anything that interferes with that is something BU needs to address actively,’’ she said. “It’s not just ‘boys will be boys.’ That’s not OK at this university. It should never be OK.’’

Parker’s comments enraged undergraduate volunteers at BU’s Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism.

“Let me try not to use expletives,’’ said Ariana Katz, a senior who co-directs the center. “He’s saying that boys will be boys, and it’s alcohol’s fault, and rape is happening because there are women everywhere? No. These assaults and his response tarnish every single hockey trophy BU has ever won.’’

Katz said she welcomed the school’s new hockey task force but she said the problem extends beyond athletics. For instance, since Jan. 22, three female students have reported that someone tried to film them with a cellphone while they were in dormitory showers.

On Tuesday, junior Max Nicastro pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape that allegedly occurred on campus Sunday; in December, senior Corey Trivino pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault.

The BU women’s center, in a statement Thursday night, called on BU to hire a new staff member focused on helping sexual assault survivors, to provide educational sessions for “all coaches, student athletes, faculty, and student leaders,’’ and to immediately expel students convicted of rape and sexual assault.

The statement coincided with a storm on Facebook after a note written by Allison Francis, who graduated last year, went viral.

Francis said she was unsatisfied with the announcement of the hockey task force and wanted to broaden the debate. Late Wednesday night, she called a behavioral medicine hot line listed on BU’s website and asked “what resources are available in terms of rape and sexual assault?’’

The emergency operator, she said, failed to inquire about her well-being, told her “we don’t have anything like that here,’’ and advised her to call a different medical hot line, which referred her back to the first number.

Francis described the call in a note on Facebook.

Shortly after the posting hit the Internet, BU administrators began investigating.

Ross said the confusion arose from the operator’s belief that “the caller was asking for immediate medical help, like a rape kit. So the operator gave her the medical emergency number. Had she called back and said, ‘What I need is help for a sexual assault and I need to speak to someone,’ she would have been put through to a counselor right away.’’

From now on, Ross said, operators have been instructed to first ask callers if they are in danger, then connect them directly to counselors at any mention of sexual assault.

At other schools where sexual misconduct has been in the headlines lately, such as Colby College in Maine, students have used such case as jumping-off points for campuswide debates about sex, safety, policy, and personal responsibility.

There was evidence that the same process was beginning at BU. The Center for Gender, Sexuality, and Activism scheduled several public forums on sexual assault for next week, and students were discussing the issues in a meeting with a dean, as well as on Twitter with the hashtags #BUconvo and #proudtoBU.

Francis said she was glad to see a discussion beginning.

“In order to actually be proud to be BU students, we have to work on the issues,’’ she said. “I think it’s really important to keep pressure on the administration. The conversation can’t end here.’’

Boston University’s Failure to Provide Support for Victims of Sexual Assault

After hearing Boston University’s attempts to distance itself and its hockey team from the two separate incidents of rape and sexual assault that have come up in the past two months, I wanted to see what resources were available for victims and survivors.

I called the number listed on BU’s student health website, where it says “Crisis Intervention Counselors can be reached 24/7″ [617-353-3569]. After going through an automated menu and opting for the emergency operator, this is how the conversation went. [2/22 at 11:36 pm].

Me: Hi, what resources are available in terms of rape and sexual assault?

Operator: What? We don’t have anything like that here.

Me: I’m looking at the BU student health website and this is the number listed for students with sexual assault emergencies. 

Operator: You’re going to have to look into medical, or something.

Me: Excuse me?

Operator: This is behavioral medicine. We don’t have anything about sexual assault here. You can call the BU medical hotline.

Me: Okay, can I please have that number?

He gave it to me — without asking if I was okay, in an emergency situation, or anything like that – and I called that number. For reference: 617-353-3575.

The BU medical hotline led me to another automated menu. There was a menu item for an immediate emergency of sexual assault, which I selected. This transferred me back to the first number I called: BU’s Student Health Service’s Behavioral Medicine. It is a useless loop of automated menus that provide no real resources or response to sexual assault.

Boston University has neither an emergency support system for victims of sexual assault nor staff members trained in responding to rape crisis situations.

Interview with Hollaback

Hollaback! is a global movement dedicated to ending street harassment, most recently through mobile technology. Hollaback!’s website states: “we believe that everyone has a right to feel safe and confident without being objectified. Sexual harassment is a gateway crime that creates a cultural environment that makes gender-based violence OK. There exists a clear legal framework to reproach sexual harassment and abuse in the home and at work, but when it comes to the streets—all bets are off. This gap isn’t because street harassment hurts any less, it’s because there hasn’t been a solution. Until now. The explosion of mobile technology has given us an unprecedented opportunity to end street harassment—and with it, the opportunity to take on one of the final new frontiers for women’s rights around the world.”

Hollaback published an interview with me on February 1st. Read the full text here or on their website:

Tell us about the first time you were street harassed. How old were you, and how did you respond?

I don’t remember the first time I was harassed on the street, but I think I must have been 13 or 14. It’s hard to pinpoint the first time because as young girls we aren’t aware enough to realize that men telling us to smile or pressing us for conversation isn’t okay. Encounters like that just left me with bad feelings in my gut.

Your post has received tons of attention on Jezebel and throughout the blogsphere. Why do you think that is?

I believe my post created a stir for a couple reasons. First, it struck a chord with women and queers who are harassed on a regular basis and showed that we can break the silence about these experiences. Secondly, a lot of people got worked up in the controversy of the punch. We’re taught that violence is never okay, period. But pacifism is a privileged position for people to be able to take, and in many cases I think it’s because they have not been the target of abuse. It’s interesting because many people believe that my act was violent, but don’t see repeated, menacing, degrading behavior as violent, when that behavior can be so damaging to our mental and emotional wellbeing.

On Jezebel and your blog, many commenters seem to think Allston, Mass. is a breeding ground for street harassers. Do you think women and LGBTQ individuals are more prone to harassment in Allston than in other areas?

Allston has a disproportionate amount of street harassment compared to other neighborhoods, partially because of the BU [Boston University] bros who act like the town is their playground. People seem to think I’m exaggerating about experiencing street harassment every day here, but truly, not a day in Allston goes by that I don’t receive unwanted sexual attention. It happens everywhere though; it’s just very blatant here.

What would you say to those who say we should “just ignore or walk away” from street harassers?

Sometimes ignoring or walking away is the safest thing to do in that moment. However, doing so just proves to harassers that they are free to keep bullying. Standing up for yourself, whether that is verbal or physical, can be very empowering. It’s not up to other people to decide what will be empowering for you, so I urge targets of harassment to do whatever will make you feel safest and strongest. As for men’s role in stopping street harassment, I believe it is absolutely necessary for men to call out their friends on their actions. Only with allies of all genders and sexualities do we have a shot at smashing rape culture.

Did you feel more safe punching this guy because your girlfriend was with you?

I didn’t feel safe punching the guy and half-expected to be hit back. I probably wouldn’t have hit him if I weren’t both with my girlfriend and on a populated street. It had just gotten to the point where I was willing to physically put my body on the line to confront the verbal abuse I experience every day.

You mentioned that after years of being harassed by strangers daily, you “snapped” and that the guy “got the brunt of my rage of him and hundreds of other men’s blatant sexual harassment.  The punch I threw carried the pain and solidarity of thousands of other women, queers and other non-normative people who are targeted by hate and ignorance every day.” Now that the punch has been thrown — how are you going to target your anger and pain? Do you think you’ll ever punch a street harasser again?

I target my anger and pain into consciousness raising and activist work. Hearteningly enough, some amazing feminist work has been blossoming in the Boston area lately. An advocacy group called Knockout Barstool just formed at Northeastern University to call out a blog that promotes rape culture through its “Blackout Tour”. The Boston branch of Permanent Wave (NY-based feminist group) has its first meeting this Sunday. I’m involved with the Women’s Caucus of Occupy Boston, and Occupy Allston-Brighton has a feminist/anti-oppression working group I want to get involved with. Basically I want to be part of a greater effort to raise consciousness in our society and destroy rape culture. I don’t have plans to hit anyone again, but I will stand up for myself and my loved ones in whatever way is necessary.