As soon as we were assigned the Activism Project and we were given the list of possible topics to explore, I automatically knew that I wanted to discuss stigmas around sexual assault and its victims. As a survivor of sexual assault, I know the feelings of shame and self-doubt that survivors plague themselves with. In my personal experience, and after talking to other survivors, one question always seems to come up: What if I wasn't wearing that? In popular films and TV series, such as Netflix's "Unbelievable," victims are questioned by police, friends, and family members about their mental coherence, the clothing worn, and their sobriety during the time of the assault. Writers make this choice for a definite purpose, as survivors have a history of being disbelieved when coming forward with their story, and they are made sure to be asked if they did anything to provoke the attack. My project is just an attempt to tear down the automatic stigmatization of survivors and their decisions leading up to the attack. It is my goal for this project to simply provoke new thinking when it comes to sexual assault survivors. It is never the survivor's fault, the survivor never wants to be abused, and it is only the attacker's fault. 

     

     I think it is important to discuss some statistics regarding sexual assault on college campuses. Here are just a few that I have compiled:

          1. 15% of women experience incapacitated rape during their first year of college (womenshealth.gov)

          2. Only 1 in 5 college-aged women report their assault to the police (womenshealth.gov)

          3. 8 out of 10 rape cases have the survivor previously knowing the attacker (nsvrc.org)

          4. 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted in college (nsvrc.org)

          5. More than 90% of sexual assault victims in college do not report the assault (nsvrc.org)

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