RAPE. RAPE. RAPE.
Are you uncomfortable yet? You shouldn't be. We're just talking about it.
People on this campus shy away from the open discussion that should be happening right now. This editorial board it saddened by the fact that people are more willing to brush this word and its connotation under the carpet than to confront and work to prevent rapes from happening at all.
In 2013, there were eight sexual assault cases reported in the Public Safety crime blotter, and in 2012 there were a total of seven, according to the Public Safety 2013 Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety report. Over the past three years the highest record of sexual assaults reported was 13, which was two years ago.
THIS IS NOT OKAY.
Over the years, there have been multiple news reports and opinion columns published about sexual assault in The DePauw, and there are many groups on campus trying to combat the problem. However, it is still happening, and more so than we know.
Most paining is that the majority of sexual assault cases are not reported to Public Safety. That means that while the crime blotter reports that there were eight sexual assaults from Jan. 2013 - Jan. 2014, in reality there was probably a much larger number than just eight. We, after extensive research, could not find a solid statistic on exactly how often rape goes unreported, but what we did find was always between 70 and 95 percent. That is absurd.
Some have said that it is our extensive "hook-up" culture here at DePauw University that encourages and "invites" rape to happen. Rape is never invited in any way, period. To pass off such a statement is unacceptable because it misses the heart of the issue: people would rather talk about the hook-up culture than the rapes themselves.
DePauw defines sexual misconduct to include a broad spectrum of behaviors including (but not limited to): relationship violence; stalking; voyeurism; sexual battery; rape; sexual harassment or any other nonconsensual sexually-related conduct. Whether the victim is male, female, drunk or sober, this behavior needs to be stopped.
Unfortunately it is not going to stop until we, as a community, pull our heads out of the sand and start talking to one another about the rapes that happen at DePauw. Being proactive is the only way this problem is going to get any better. Some may say that we're "beating a dead horse", but the staff of The DePauw would rather remind campus everyday that this heinous act happens than let it slip by unheard, once again, because it made the tellurians of this campus more "comfortable".