Concerned students and mentors concluded Tuesday that students need to do more to protect each other from sexual assault and be more supportive of sexual assault survivors at "The Real Deal," a discussion of sexual assault at Dartmouth. Attendees also discussed issues of consent and the complications that arise with the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
Students were mostly concerned with how to prevent assault cases at parties where drinking is involved, and how to change the atmosphere that allows such incidents to occur. Tim Stanne '03 implored avoidance of all situations where consent is uncertain.
The issue of consent, stressed Stanne, is often "fuzzy." It is especially difficult to draw a line where alcohol is involved. Many people in attendance urged their peers to step in and do something when they see anyone at risk of sexual assault.
Jacki Buros '03 urged the group to think about creating a safe place for the '06s who are beginning their Dartmouth careers this Fall and will not have good friends to look out for them. Situations with unclear sexual boundaries will occur "in which it will be really hard to pin down responsibility and set limits. What can we do for them?" asked Buros.
An audience member suggested that during freshmen orientation, someone should "teach people that it's ok to be rude." Harassed individuals often don't speak up for themselves for fear of offending or causing a scene. Singer-Sargent offered advice for preventing drunk friends from making mistakes: stay nearby, check in with them, and directly caution the person they are with that your friend is drunk.
Stanne reviewed Dartmouth College policy concerning sexual assault, which directs cases to the Committee on Standards, and New Hampshire state policy which often seeks to avoid cases in which consent is at all unclear.
Sexual assault at Dartmouth seems to be "urban legend", commented one student. Singer-Sargent has noticed that her peers can be extremely unsupportive of official action taken in abuse cases when they do find out about them. Someone else mentioned that this summer many fraternity houses have hosted sexual abuse awareness programs.
Stanne began planning the event this summer along with fellow SAPAs. With the assistance of Abby Tassel, coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program, they initiated a dialogue intended to raise consciousness and awareness among students and equip them to recognize potentially dangerous behavior or situations.
Emily Graham '04, Allison Giordano '04, and Singer-Sargent read poems and personal stories by sexual abuse and rape victims at Dartmouth. Layne Moffett '05, who is also a member of The Dartmouth staff, talked about her own experience with sexual assault.
The creators of the event chose to locate it in the Top of the Hop instead of in a Greek house because sexual assault is "not just a Greek issue. The issue is much wider than any sexuality or system on campus."
In attendance and helping to field questions were April Thompson of the Judicial Affairs Committee, and Lou Torres, who recently arrived on campus to serve as intern for the Men's Project.
The presentations are part of a larger project called "Survivor Stories" for which the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program is collecting "stories, poetry and narratives from women and men about their primary and secondary experiences of sexual assault and relationship violence on campus."
