Vermont Cynic

Issue date: 3/7/06 Section: News

Breaking the silence can be hard to ovecome

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is sexually assaulted. For the past five years, UVM's Victim's Advocate has received, on average, sixteen reports of gender violence (sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking) a semester.

Last semester Victim's Advocate had over forty, with nine new reports since the beginning of the spring semester.

Victim's Advocate is a campus advocacy program that was hired in the Women's Center, as explained by Director LuAnn Rolley, "to improve coordination of services on campus for victims of sexual assault, stalking and relationship violence, the program provides direct services to students by accompanying victims to service providers, law enforcement agencies, criminal justice system, and by intervening with professors and Residential Life, if needed."

Despite the influx of reports, rape and gender violence are still among the most under-reported crimes. Rolley stated, "Approximately 81% of on-campus assaults and 84% of off-campus assaults are not reported to law enforcement."

This shows the tendency of victims to avoid involving the police. In between August of 2001 and December of 2002, UVM Police Services received three reports of sexual assault while Victim's Advocate had forty-two. In 2005 there were two.

If one in four women experiences rape or attempted rape by the time they are in college, why aren't the numbers matching? Why are so many silent?

Rape is not only a physically damaging crime but a psychologically damaging one, Rolley believes that many do not report because of, "fear for safety; embarrassment; in some cases, I believe that students may not think what happened to them is crime; victim blaming in our society is a huge barrier of reporting; [there is a] fear of law enforcement."

For a lot of victims, reporting is the hardest obstacle to overcome. Rolley knows this from personal experience. At the age of 23, Rolley was sexually assaulted. The process of disclosing to her family, friends and colleagues was long and emotional.

"It was not until my forties that I decided to disclose. When I was raped, I was unsure of whom to call for help. I felt ashamed, scared and could not imagine telling my family and friends who lived six hours away. It was not until 1999, while working on a project focused on campus safety for women that I began to reflect on my experience."

Continued...

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