Sexual Assault is something that happens much too often on college campuses. Too many people close to us have been sexually assaulted while in a learning environment. Openly talking about this major issue and bringing awareness to it is the least the media should do. Staying silent on something so violating brushes it under the rug and lets rape culture continue.
On college campuses, 13% of all students experience some form of sexual assault. Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of women and 6.8% of men experience rape or sexual assault. This is a very clear issue that is too big to ignore. We need to be bringing attention to this epidemic of sexual violence so we can make sure that people know that you cannot get away with hurting people in this way.
Recently, PantherNow published a story on a sexual assault that happened on our campus. We received some criticism for publishing all the details of the assault. Of course, it is understandable that many people were uncomfortable. But, we wanted to publish the details so people understand the severity of something so traumatic. When you brush it off without painting a clear picture of what happened, people tend to forget how serious these types of situations can be. Our responsibility as journalists is to tell someone’s story no matter how hard it may be. These stories are important and shine a light on something millions of people around the world go through.
College is supposed to be a place of learning and fun experiences. When you experience something this traumatic, it ruins the college experience you were supposed to have. One full of joy and knowledge. PantherNow’s intention is to tell this person’s story so nothing like this happens again to any other fellow FIU Panther. We fully sympathize with any sexual assault survivor and hope that they heal from the trauma they have experienced.
PantherNow stands with sexual assault survivors and we will continue telling their stories to put a spotlight on this major issue that happens on every college campus. No one should ever experience such a violating experience and we are a part of the fight against sexual assault.
Photo by Fourandsixty on Wikicommons