Responding to Sexual Assault
LAST FALL AN ANONYMOUS STORY published by the Dartmouth Free Press, a biweekly student newspaper, ignited an on-again, off-again debate. "Drugged: A Dartmouth Victim Speaks Out," carried the byline of Jane Doe '06, who alleged that she was drugged at a fraternity party last spring and subsequently treated both inadequately and insensitively by health services and her class dean. Although Doe admitted she had taken an anti-depressant in combination with alcohol, she inferred that a fraternity member who was mixing drinks had drugged her. The Dartmouth Review responded to her article, publishing both an editorial and an investigation of Does account that raised questions about the story's veracity and the motivation behind it.
Statements were issued by the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program (SAAP) and the Center for Women and Gender (CWG), which educate students about sexual assault and risky behaviors.
Whether by design or as a matter of course, Doe's story forced many to ask: How prevalent are rape and unwanted sexual contact on campus, and how effectively does the College respond to accusations of sexual assaults?
pected drugging reports since she began work at Dartmouth in 2000. Although no students have ever been found with date-rape drugs in their systems, Tassel believes such drugs are on campus. According to the Office of Safety & Security (S&S), there were five sexual assaults reported during the 2001-2002 school year; the SAAP reported 15 rapes and two attempts the same year. Abby Tassel, SAAP coordinator, speculates that these statistics represent 20 to 30 percent of actual assaults, given that students may hesitate to report abuse. Tassel says she has received a "steady stream" of sus-
Beyond the accusation of sexual assault, Does account called into question the administration's handling of sexual assault accusations. "Deans schedule meetings every half hour, address any number of problems with students, and are required to discuss violations of college policy and focus on risk assessment," says Giavanna Munafo, head of the CWG. "Students may feel blamed if their conversation about sexual assault involves questions about their behavior."
provement in the way Dartmouth coor- dinates sexual assault support. This year Larimore has focused on bringing to- gether representatives from all of Dart- mouths prevention, response and recovery programs to deal specifically with the issue. Representatives from S&S, Counseling and Human Development, Student Health Services, the Dean's Office, CWG and SAAP are scrutinizing their work, the language they use with students and their messages to assault victims. "Sexual assault support is one of the most important areas of our job here," says Larimore. "Our society isn't where it needs to be, and we at Dartmouth work really hard on the education side and in the support services we provide, where I think the most change can be made." Like Munafo, Dean of the College James Larimore says there is room for im-
Although The Dartmouth Review has opined to the contrary, Does incendiary story generated conversations that were in many ways productive. Helping to further the discussion is the Mens Project, which seeks to educate Dartmouth males about sexual violence and gender relations. The group encourages bystander responsibility, teaching men to speak up in a potentially dangerous situation, to break through the fear of appearing "uncool" or losing friends if they stop a peer from taking advantage of an intoxicated girl, for example. Last spring the project launched a pilot training program for the Greek system called Men in Rape Education and Prevention. "The program benefits both men and women, and helps create safe zones for everyone inside Greek houses," says Bradley Tavares '05, moderator of the Greek Leadership Council.
"There are many more openings to address sexual assault than there used to be," says Munafo.
Under-Reported SAAP Coodinator AbbyTassel believes that date-rape drugs arebeing used on campus.
QUOTE /UNQUOTE "The asteroid theory is fust all wrong...half the species went extinct, but half came through...the dinosaurs petered, out gradually. An asteroid impact should have been lights out for everyone." —EARTH SCIENCES PROFESSOR CHARLES B. OFFICER, QUOTED IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, MARCH 2
