Stephanie Carrier

Feature Article

May 3, 2016

Breaking the Silence on Sexual Assault

One in three woman and one in six men will be a victim of sexual as-

sault before the age of 18. Only one in ten rapes that occur are reported

(CNN). The 1st of April marks the well-known holiday, April Fool’s Day, but it

also marks the month of Sexual Assault Awareness. To raise awareness

around campus, SUNY Cortland hosted a week’s worth of events to recognize

a serious matter that students should not take lightly.

On the same day this year, campus police alerted SUNY Cortland stu-

dents of a rape incident that occurred during the early morning hours. The

incident took place in a residence hall on campus and the suspect was

known to the victim prior to the incident. Despite this most recent incident,

Lt. Chauncey Bennett of NYS University Police at Cortland said, “Overall,

crime is far reduced in the 25 years I’ve been employed here.” Although

crime has been reduced in reference to what’s been reported to authorities,

the numbers do not account for crimes that haven't been disclosed, regard-

ing sexual assault.

“It’s extremely difficult to put a number on sexual assault…If you limit

us to only what’s reported to judicial or what’s reported to us, you’re only

seeing a small number of the assaults that actually occur.” Bennett said, “It’s

difficult for us to say how many there are and how many there aren’t.” He

did assure that every time a crime incident occurs, campus police make sure

the community hears about it via safety alerts.

Lt. Chauncey Bennett also stressed the importance on how underre-

porting is not limited to just rape incidents, but inappropriate acts of touch-

ing without consent. Junior at SUNY Cortland, Jenn Crowley witnessed an inci-

dent a few weeks ago when she was downtown with a friend.

“An older man was sitting next to a girl who was unconscious and I saw

him touching her inappropriately.” She said, “Me and my friend went up to

her and asked her if she was okay.” Although the girl was unable to answer,

Crowley and her friend got her water and a safe ride home. She and her

friend were told by the man that the girl was none of their business.

Later in the week, on Wednesday April 13, an information session was

held in Corey Union called, “Interrupting Rape Culture.” The session was led

by numerous speakers on campus ranging from UPD, to professors, to differ-

ent club/organization leaders who discussed the issue of sexual assault and

offered tips on how to practice bystander intervention. Their goal is to pre-

vent potential incidents from happening in the future. The room was packed

with a mix of both male and female students ranging in age. Many students

were left to stand, as all the seats filled quickly.

Title IX Coordinator, Nan Pasquarello spoke to the students on her re-

sponsibilities within the campus. Because of the many incidents that are left

underreported to the police, Pasquarello described how students may report

to her office in confidentiality, without getting the police involved. As a re-

sult, the individuals get access to options and resources while making sure

they meet their educational goals.

As a way to get the student body involved during Sexual Assault

Awareness week on campus, Nan Paquarello and Cortland’s “It’s On Us,” ac-

tion team hosted their annual, “Take Back the Night,” march for students to

protest and break the silence on sexual assault. Cortland had it’s biggest

turnout this year with over 300 students marching throughout the campus.

Pasquarello summed up Cortland’s goals for the students in continuing

sexual assault awareness, “We would love to get more people to take posi-

tive steps. Bystander intervention is huge in getting students to look out for

eachother.” She said, “If we could prevent it from happening in the first

place, that would be great…and if it does happen, we want to make sure we

are responding appropriately.”

Because of scenarios like Crowley’s, her successful effort to intervene,

she stopped what could’ve escalated into a more serious situation. She said,

“I hope after confronting him, he understands that it was wrong and I hope

other people notice what we did and take action to help stop sexual assault.

It’s not right to do and it’s a problem that needs to be solved.”

Thanks to the students, staff, and campus police, who are aware of the

issue of sexual assault and take measures to practice bystander interven-

tion, SUNY Cortland is on the way to breaking the silence in getting more stu-

dents involved towards interrupting rape culture.