Sexual assault

This photo depicts the Sexuality Resource Group, circa 1980. The women in the photo are not identified.

During the Presidents' Council (Women's Interdormitory Council) meeting of November 8, 1961 women were advised of how to react when bothered at night:

"Annoucements: Whenever girls are bothered by anyone on the way to their dorms at night, they should report the matter to Dean Wishmeyer immediately."

In what appears to be a tri-fold pamphlet, distributed by the STOP THE VIOLENCE anonymous group, students, specifically women,  are encouraged to speak out against sexual violence.  The pamphlet poses several thought-provoking arguments, asking the reader if they have noticed that "women's issues are not taken seriously" and why Dickinson "worries more about lawsuits than protecting [women] from rape."  The pamphlet hopes to compel women to "end the silence and stop the violence."

The STOP THE VIOLENCE publication includes numerous accounts of violence against women.  The accounts often deal with sexual violence and almost all of them include some form of humiliation and embarassment for the women who were invloved. 

Included in the STOP THE VIOLENCE publication, is Dickinson College’s definition of hazing as it appears in the student handbook.  It appears that “the breaking of these rules has become so routine on this campus that most people do not even realize it is against the law.”  On the same page, personal accounts of violent acts, some quite horrific, are included.  The names of all involved are withheld for safety reasons. 

 

A group of unidentified Dickinson students organized themselves and produced a pamphlet in hopes of bringing about awareness and stopping violence on campus.  “Its right here; RIGHT HERE ON THIS CAMPUS,” reads the headline on the first page, and is followed by the mission of the article/pamphlet.  Their demands include the investigation and end to all fraternity and sorority related hazing and ritualized violence and the investigation and prosecution of any act of hazing or ritualized violence by the college.  “Hazing has become painfully obvious,” and “detrimental to the social and intelle

"Stereotyping the Genders" was a piece written by Susannah Rowe for the September 2005 Dickinsonian discussing an awareness event on campus. "She Fears You" was a program meant to draw attention to the stereotypes of men and women through provocative posters and a program. The main idea of the program was breaking the generalizations that "men rape" and all women "fear" men. In some cases, this is true, but Susannah Rowe writes about how the campus program worked to shatter some of these images.

An anonymous letter to the Editor in response to Dean Bylander's article on sexual assault and the reasons why victims do not come forward addresses Dickinson's judicial system. He/she says: "It fails to provide victims with security or closure, and more often than not, it allows the abuser to come away with little more than a slap on the wrist." They demand to know "what the college is hiding." This student feels that sexual violence was not being dealt with openly and more awareness was necessary on campus.

Dean Joyce Bylander in this week's copy of the Dickinsonian addresses the student body about acquaintance sexual assault. She urges that the student body "to create an envionment that simply is intolerant of acts of violence against women (women are the primary victims of this act) and work to stop them. We have to be able to make the connection between exploitation and degredation of women and the resulting propensity to see women as sexual objects," she says. The Women's Center actively works to make the Dickinson campus safer for women.

A journal taken from the womens center, it contains female Dickinsonians rants, frustrations, and the sharing of stories. Many of the stories have to do with sexual assault or rape and demonstrate how the Women's Center was a safe place for these women to share their stories and try to find some peace.