By Rachel Prusso
It’s a crime nobody likes to talk about.
Yet talking about sexual assaults on college campuses is the only way to start changing the attitudes that allow them to happen, according to experts who spoke in Madison on Thursday.
“Be a part of the solution, not the problem,” said Brady Root, from the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance at Rutgers University.
Root addressed a small audience at the Madison Community House during a panel discussion organized by the League of Women Voters of the Morristown Area.
Panelists included Morristown High School Vice Principal Michael Bruchac; Fairleigh Dickinson Assistant Dean of Students Jennifer Dize-Hoffert; Audra Tonero, assistant director for outreach and education at Drew University; and Morris County Assistant Supervising Prosecutor Meg Rodriguez.
Too often, Rodriguez said, victims of sexual abuse don’t come forward because they fear being judged by friends, family and advisers for being naive or provocative.
“It’s always the victim’s fault,” a common and powerful myth, leaves the victim feeling ashamed for not predicting this kind of outcome, Rodriguez said.
Yet victims may be under the influence of drugs. Sometimes they are taken advantage of by people with whom they felt safe: Panelists said 85 percent of victims know their attackers.
Speakers said their goal is to encourage students to feel okay to talk about this.
At Rutgers, Root emphasizes ““Bystander Intervention.” It’s a process of educating young people who seem desensitized to the seriousness of sexual assaults, thinking it’s not their business or their responsibility to report attacks.
Another myth: Women are the only victims.
“We’re trying to get away from categorizing men as perpetrators and women as victims,” said Root.
Although it’s less common to find a male victim and a female perpetrator, it still happens, she said. Male victims are even more reluctant to speak up, she said.
Rachel Prusso is a sophomore at Morristown High School.
