In the college setting, 18-year-olds experience a new sense of freedom that intersects with a new built-in social scene. Interactions are encouraged; sometimes interactions cross the line, however. Add alcohol use to the mix, and this puts students at more risk, causing judgment to be blurred. Often women and men go further than they ever intended. Mutual consent must exist. Whenever mutual consent does not exist, sexual assault does exist.
Webster's Dictionary defines sexual assault as "illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent (as because of age or physical or mental incapacity) or who places the assailant (as a family friend) in a position of trust or authority." Many universities further define mutual consent as it pertains to sexual assault in their code of conduct.
The topic of sexual assault has been at the forefront of national discussions this year. White House staff and Department of Education representatives held listening sessions last winter. In late April, President Obama issued the report titled "Not Alone," which is the first report of the White House task force to protect students from sexual assault. NPC attended both sessions and had a voice.
University officials and international leaders of sororities and fraternities take sexual assault seriously. We know that sexual assault affects at least one in four college women, and these are just the women who are willing to report. Reporting is a challenge. It takes courage to come forward and talk to someone in an official capacity about it -- a campus authority, a Title IX officer or the police. Many women are reluctant to report because of the ramifications that may impact their friendships or acceptance in the academic environment and fraternal community on campus.
So where do we go from here? How can we help one another?
No matter the sorority letter or badge, we are on the same team. The NPC voice is important as the large umbrella for 26 member organizations. For that reason, we have polled our College Panhellenics and member organizations to find out more about what is happening at the local levels. This is a first step.
From these results, the majority of our member organizations would like NPC to:
- Encourage sorority women to support other women.
- Collect resources and share with member organizations.
- Work with interfraternal partners on awareness efforts.
- Guide sorority women to use campus resources.
- Encourage College Panhellenics to launch awareness campaigns.
Although sexual assault is not new to the college setting, this issue is ever evolving as to how to address it. Universities have ramped up their compliance efforts and education by hiring additional trained Title IX officers. Likewise, NPC and the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) are addressing this issue with collaborative discussions between our boards and as part of the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition legislative agenda.
Men are engaged in the discussion as well. Organizations such as Men Can Stop Rape and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center Men's Activism Program (SAPAC) educate and empower men to understand and speak out against power-based violence. NIC recently announced the formation of a commission on sexual assault. We applaud these efforts to generate more awareness on this topic.
This is our call to action.
Frequently we find that bystander behavior is associated with sexual assault. There are times we turn our heads or ignore what we see happening leading up to the sexual violence. It is not my business, we say to ourselves. We can all learn more about appropriate ways to confront, divert attention and help a sorority sister or friend in our university community when there is potential danger.
The NPC tagline reads The Voice for Sorority Advancement. By standing side by side with our sisters, Panhellenic friends and fellow female students when they choose to report, we can have a voice as sorority women in this discussion. We can demonstrate that true sisterhood means supporting other women when they have the courage to speak up.
What else can we do?
- Join awareness campaigns on campus and help promote resources to sorority women.
- Invite a Title IX officer to a Panhellenic meeting to help educate sorority women on proper protocol when it comes to filing a report.
- Target freshmen and share campus resources where victims can get help.
- Reach out to the IFC organization and discuss this issue with fraternity men.
We must acknowledge that we are on the same team by working together as a unified coalition to create more awareness and ultimately, prevent the number of students who fall victim to sexual violence.
The time is now.
