If you have been on any sort of social media recently you have most likely heard of the Stanford rape case, in which collegiate swimmer Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman on the ground behind a dumpster. For those of you who have yet to have been exposed to this, I highly suggest that you read up on this case, most notably the letter written by the victim to her attacker as it is absolutely haunting. In this letter she writes about how her attacker “took away (her) worth” and continues to pen every scarring and raw detail about the evening of her assault as well as her spirits in dealing with the aftermath. What I find especially thought provoking comes towards the end of her letter. This is where she writes a particular thank you to the two bikers who saved her. In it she explains that since the attack, she has taped two bicycles above her bed to remind herself that there are heroes in even the darkest situations. This sentence really stuck with me, as it’s easy to get lost in all the horrors of this story and to remember that there is always lightness. Unlike many of the stories that we are conditioned to hearing and seeing on TV, these heroes were not men in costumes, but were two average people much like you and me who happened upon a particularly gruesome situation and made the active decision to intervene.
This is where we, as average people, can step in and make a world of a difference. You, me, your friends, your siblings, anyone can step in and make a change. Sexual assault is the most common violent crime on American college campuses, and one in four college women will be become victims of sexual assault throughout the duration of their academic career. This crime does not exclude men, as one out of every 10 rape victims are male. This is a growing problem. These statistics are all too real. We the people can change this. We the people can drastically change this statistic. All it takes is one simple question, one sentence, three words. When you go out to a bar or a club and see a girl that could possibly be uncomfortable, or see someone grab someone else too harshly, step in and ask, “Are you OK?” If a girl looks too drunk to make a decision of consent, or if she looks nervous or scared, it is absolutely 100 percent OK to ask her if she needs help. Now there is a chance that maybe she is OK, and I most certainly hope that’s the case, but at least you will prevent the feeling of regret if you do not intervene. However, maybe one girl isn’t OK, and you may end up being someone’s hero, the biker to someone else’s story.
Until we as a society can stop deflecting to how a woman dresses, how much a woman drinks and how much a woman seems like she “wants it” as explanations and excuses to why a someone can get away with not asking for consent, we must take it in our own hands to help out a sister, a friend or even a stranger. We need to stop victimizing the attackers and start teaching our sons, brothers and friends that degrading women and taking advantage of their inebriated states is never OK. We all want to have fun in college, but we should be able to do so without a fear of waking up in a hospital bed, or worse. I for one want to be able to say that in that story I, too, would step in like the biker. Let’s further other’s education by watching out for each other and speaking out against these atrocities. Let’s stop being inactive bystanders and start looking out for others, for one day it could be you or a close friend that needs someone to step in for them, and wouldn’t you want the help?
