Students, media and community need to stop empowering riding groper

 

In a country where dozens of universities are facing scrutiny for mishandling sexual assaults, FIU has acted in accordance with federal regulation and played an active role in informing students about the riding groper.

University law enforcement and administration are making it clear that sexual harassment is not a matter to be taken lightly.

After the third incident, University police began to suspect that these assaults were linked, given the similarity in description from the victims.

Once they knew they had a serial assailant on their hands, they quickly alerted students through FIU Alert, a system alerting students via email and text message during emergencies.

Additionally, the University’s Victim Empowerment Program is reaching out to students seeking advice or counseling on sexual violence issues.

While police claim the alerts have helped bring silent witnesses forward, the majority of students and even local media have ridiculized the crime with the pun of a “booty bandit.”

University students have succeed in glorifying a man who believes he has a right to touch women without their consent.

Some students have taken to Twitter using the hashtag #FIUbootybandit to make light of the riding groper. A Twitter account claiming to represent the groper, has also been created. A few tweets that the user has posted include: “Today is a new day. Fellas if you see something you like, don’t be afraid to grab that ass.” and “Looking for the big booty girls today.”

By making this a joke, the University community is allowing the assumption that the groper is doing nothing wrong.

The more people that salute and dismiss his actions on social media, the more he will believe his actions are acceptable, justified, or at the bare minimum, worth a good laugh.

The increasing frequency of these attacks leads us to either think the groper likes the attention or the attention has led other students to mimic his behavior.

Along with terrible butt-related puns, local news stations like NBC6, CBS4 and the worst culprit, WPLG channel 10, decided that the best footage for their news segments on the groper was to zoom in on women’s buttocks on campus.The inappropriate footage mocked the victims instead of condemning the crime itself.

Perhaps footage of where the incidents occurred, bicycle commuters, or even general students walking around on campus would have been more newsworthy.

It’s time for FIU students to take command of their campus and let this perpetrator know this kind of behavior is not welcomed. The University and the campus police already have.

The University has decided it will not be one of those schools under national scrutiny. It’s time for the community in and around FIU to do the same.

eboard@fiusm.com

 

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