Reader’s Responses – Sexual violence and overconfidence

Last week, the Comment section published a series of articles which drew into question the extent to which Student Services are failing vulnerable students. All of them are valuable and intensely moving for different reasons, but I want to talk about the anonymous article about rape.

When I first read it I cried, and on subsequent reads I cried again. I have never been so moved by an article about rape. Maybe it was because I knew it was a Warwick student and I somehow feel closer to them. But really I think it was because the article was so raw and honest about this person’s experience.

I think the author really hit the nail on the head when she wrote that, “we can dress it all up with the I Heart Consent banners and the awareness campaigns. None of these efforts change the fact that people have already suffered at the hands of ineffective education, support and punitive systems.” We focus so much on prevention, which is all fine and good, but in doing so we failing to acknowledge the already-victims and offer them sufficient support.

When I first read it I cried, and on subsequent reads I cried again

The fact that I had such a violent reaction to it is why this article was so successful. It was uncomfortable and deeply distressing to read. But thank god it was. For those very reasons, as a reader I was confronted with the reality of rape: it happens. All the time.

And the additional reality, that we do not adequately address the reality of rape, and thus fail women and girls who are traumatised. Rape support services are grossly oversubscribed, and accessing counselling shortly after an incident can be near impossible. Rapecrisis.org reported that “Most women in the UK do not have access to a Rape Crisis Centre (Map of Gaps, 2007)”. Additionally, as students, we bounce between home and campus on a 10-weekly basis, making long-term counselling difficult. While resources online can be useful, victims are not getting enough support.

While resources online can be useful, victims are not getting enough support

We have a fundamental attitude problem with rape on a societal level. I believe that it stems in inadequate education. What kind of a message are we sending to children when we teach them about sex, but not about consent? What kind of sick mixed message do you send to boys when at 8 you respond with “boys will be boys” when their innocent wrestling match with a girl suddenly turns violent and she doesn’t like it anymore, and suddenly he is 16 and that same action becomes abuse? What message does that send our girls?

We teach children how to interact with each other through example, and by defining right and wrong. If parent’s respond with “boys will be boys” to unacceptable behaviour, boys and girls are taught how to ‘interact’ with each other, and that has ramifications in adult life.

Boys and girls are taught how to ‘interact’ with each other, and that has ramifications in adult life

Yet, while my theory of why we have a rape culture is relevant, it is only half the conversation. The reality is this: the author is a real person, and they got raped. The fact is “1 in 5 women aged 16 – 59 has experienced some form of sexual violence since the age of 16” (rapecrisis.org). I think people have a hard time admitting that.

It is easier to try and prevent a problem, than clean one up once it has happened. Of course we must educate boys not to rape, and teach girls that they do not have to accept treatment that makes them uncomfortable. But we also have a responsibility to admit that it happens and that real lives are affected. We must respond with support.
If this article upset you, or made you uncomfortable, share it. It is probably the first time you have really confronted the reality of rape. Those jokes do not seem so funny anymore, do they?
Zoë Morrall
in response to ‘I was raped’

This article does something very dangerous but far too common. It reinforces the stereotypes we attach to the people around us and most harmfully those around gender.

Certain words, phrases, occupations and even degree subjects automatically become gendered, something we are all working towards combating. So to see the words ‘females underconfident’ in large red letters amidst the article was disappointing.

The article suggests that humanities students, who we are told are also more likely to be female, being branded as under-confident is a good thing as it makes them seem more modest. As a female humanities student I would disagree.

So to see the words ‘females underconfident’ in large red letters amidst the article was disappointing

To brand a whole group of people as under-confident and then attach it to gender is false, especially when you’ve based your research on a group of 711 Swiss freshers. I struggle to find the relevance to Warwick, where I know many confident humanities students.

This isn’t the only problematic stereotype this study presents. I’d like to see news reports that reflect the forward thinking attitudes of Warwick that I am proud of.
Sophie Dudhill
in response to ‘Social sciences students typically overconfident’