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Rally calls for open communication about campus sexual assault policies

Activists called for more open communication about campus sexual assault policies outside City Hall Wednesday at the “Break the Silence about Sexual Violence” rally.

About 50 people gathered in response to recent media coverage of sexual violence at colleges and universities across the country.

About one in five women and one in 16 men are victims of sexual assault during their undergraduate career, according to the rally’s Facebook page.

City Councilor At-Large Felix Arroyo, an organizer of the rally, said that 95 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses go unreported.

“This is a crisis within our culture,” Arroyo said. “The absence of the word ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘yes’.”

Colleen Smith, a college administrator at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and participant in the rally, said these numbers were surprising.

“These statistics are alarming, and so many go unreported,” she said. “As a college administrator I see this first hand. Many college policies around sexual assault are outdated or need to be changed. I hope this rally brings local and national attention and helps college administrators realize that policies may need to be updated.”

Peggy Barrett, the Director of Community Awareness and Prevention Services at the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center and one of the coordinators of the rally, said she was contacted by the city councilors who wanted to organize an event.

“We were interested in looking at sexual violence on campuses,” Barrett said. “We had meetings to gather information about sexual violence on college campuses and talked to advocacy groups that support victims of sexual assault.”

City Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley, another organizer of the rally, agreed with Arroyo that this was not strictly a women’s issue, but one that affects every member of society.

“This is not a crime that discriminates,” she said. “Perpetrators need to be held accountable. We need to create a culture with zero tolerance for sexual violence.”

Pressley said that she was not trying to vilify colleges and universities, but to promote communication to improve policies about sexual violence.

“This is the city’s business. We need to set the world class standard in keeping our students safe,” she said.

At a city council hearing on the subject after the rally, Pressley pledged to make area schools the city’s partner in working to prevent sexual assaults on campus.

Benjamin Blumberg, a senior at Northeastern University, spoke to the crowd about men’s roles in preventing sexual violence.

“Being a man is about supporting others and doing the right thing,” Blumberg said.

He said that men should take a stance against sexual violence and not allow it to go unnoticed.

Ebenezer Marsh, a freshman at Hampshire College, agreed that a more proactive approach needed to be taken against sexual violence on college campuses.

“This is a huge issue that needs attention,” Marsh said. “There’s no way this kind of violence can be justified. I know people who’ve been sexually assaulted on and off campus. People need to be educated and we need to raise the awareness level about sexual violence at colleges.”

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