Writer’s Block: Cantankerous chancellor misinformed about rape

When it comes to rape and the creation of a Boston University Rape Crisis Center, BU’s Chancellor Silber is a.) misguided b.) misinformed or c.) all of the above.

In light of Silber’s comments in his question and answer session on March 5, our chancellor has again proven himself to be most definitely ‘all of the above’ misguided and misinformed with regard to the issues of campus rape and the creation of a rape crisis center at BU.

While Silber has always seemed to balk when it comes to a rape crisis center, he reached new heights during his latest public appearance. When asked about the creation of a rape crisis center, Silber dealt an offhanded, indifferent solution to the university’s female population by announcing, ‘If you want to stop rape, stop using the ‘T’ … don’t wander around late at night … no city is absolutely safe.’ He also admitted seeing no need for a rape crisis center on campus due to the effectiveness of the BU Police Department and the presence of blue lights scattered across the campus. According to Silber, ‘We have a police station that is open all night … If we had a rape center, it wouldn’t be operative 24 hours under any condition.’

After listening to the Chancellor tap dance around the issue of rape at BU, I realized perhaps he does not understand why the BUPD does not offer the same advantages as a rape crisis center, why blue lights are not a remedy for rape prevention and why warning women against walking alone or using public transportation is misogynistic, archaic and unfeasible not constructive.

First, while the BUPD is a fully operational and responsive police department, it does not have the same facilities as a rape crisis center. At BUPD, officers assist victims by assuring medical attention, collecting evidence and even offering the assistance of specially trained female officers, who are available 24 hours a day. At a rape crisis center, like the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, counselors and therapists offer victims and their families and friends extended counseling and treatment in the painful aftermath of a rape. While the BUPD helps a victim in an immediate sense by (hopefully) putting her rapist in jail and getting medical attention, a rape crisis center helps a victim in the long term by providing integral counseling and therapy.

Second, while the blue lights and patrol cars make do make the campus safer, when it comes to rape, they do not replace the need for a rape crisis center. Most women are raped by someone they already know often an intimate partner. According to the BARCC website, 88 percent of rape victims in Massachusetts knew their perpetrator, and between 1988 and 1997, the percentage of reported rapes committed by an intimate partner rose from 11 percent to 20 percent. Like most rape victims in Massachusetts, BU women are not raped in places where blue lights and patrol cars can help them; they are not raped on the BU beach, in front of CampCo or on Bay State Road. They are raped in their apartments, dorm rooms, at parties and even in their lovers’ beds. For these 88 percent of rapes, a rape crisis center hotline and trained counselors seem much more essential than blue lights and police patrols.

Third, while issuing warnings to the women of BU to avoid walking alone at night and riding the ‘T’ may seem like genuine concern for our well-being, Silber seems to be not only perpetuating the myth that rape victims are somewhat to blame, but also attempting to inhibit women who have just as much right to walk across campus or ride the ‘T’ as men do. By banishing women from the streets and public transportation, Silber ignores the fact that no woman is ever responsible for an assault regardless of the situation. Moreover, he is attempting to elude the creation of a rape crisis center by issuing female students an after-dark curfew.

For many administrators including Silber it seems the creation of a rape crisis center signifies some sort of defeat. By establishing a center, BU would officially be admitting rape does occur on its seemingly safe campus a fact that might not look so appealing in those shiny, red brochures sent to prospective students. Regardless, the BU administrators are kidding themselves in assuming that the BUPD, blue lights and a curfew will protect women from rape here. Keeping quiet and avoiding the issue will not make rape at BU go away. And sadly, with a significant percentage of survivors not reporting rape due to embarrassment, shame and the lack of a safe place to turn to (i.e. a rape crisis center), rape at BU will remain a silent issue left to the blue boxes, the BUPD and one cantankerous, misinformed chancellor.