More than 200 students from 21 colleges and universities gathered at the Massachusetts State House Tuesday morning to rally against sexual violence on campuses.
The Every Voice coalition organized the rally in support of two sexual assault prevention bills filed by lawmakers this year. John Gabrieli, co-founder of the coalition and a speaker at the rally, told The Daily Free Press that the purpose of the rally was to urge the Massachusetts state legislature to take action against the “sexual assault epidemic.”
The first bill requires that every Massachusetts college and university administer an anonymous sexual assault climate survey to their students.
“This is so important because sexual assault is one of the most underreported of all violent crimes,” Gabrieli said. “That means a lot of people’s stories are silenced or brushed under the rug.”
The second bill strengthens sexual assault reporting and response requirements. Gabrieli said this bill ensures the disciplinary process is just for sexual assault survivors and provides a fair outcome, while also providing survivors with support so they continue their education.
Both bills have been endorsed by numerous survivors’ advocacy groups and 21 campuses statewide. In addition to the rally, Gabrieli said the Coalition will have meetings with 35 legislators and students who have faced issues of sexual assault on their campuses.
“We hope by having that face-to-face opportunity to see students won’t just tweet about this or sign a petition, they will show up on a school day at noon to make their voices heard,” he said.
At the rally, speakers said sexual assault is a stigmatized topic and despite current conversations surrounding it, not a lot of change has been made.
Rep. Lori Ehrlich, a Marblehead Democrat who filed the first bill, said that the bill will allow administrators to establish policies that will keep students safer and provide support services for them as needed.
“We lack hard data and statistics that are really needed to measure the depth and breadth of sexual harassment and violence on college campuses,” Ehrlich told The Daily Free Press. “By collecting anonymous data, we allow people that previously would not have come forward to share their information.”
During the rally, Ehrlich said if the two bills are passed, it will show that Massachusetts cares about the safety of its students.
“Passage of both of these bills in turn will send a signal to prospective students around the world and their families that while you are here in Massachusetts, on our world class college campuses, the state cares about your safety,” Ehrlich said.
Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Byron Rushing said during the rally that everyone in the state should have the right to be safe.
“If safety means changing the culture, then change the culture,” Rushing said. “Of course we need to know what the culture is. But who defines what the culture is is all of us.”
Natalie Lewis, a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College, said the issue of sexual assault on campus is important to her, specifically because of her past experiences.
“This issue is very near and dear to my heart,” Lewis said. “I have seen this sort of epidemic affect too many people and it’s time to put our foot down.”
Timothy Ennis, a freshman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said he came to the rally because he wanted to change the culture surrounding sexual assault on his campus and college campuses nationwide.
“It’s important for people to speak up about some of the horrific things that are happening to women across campuses here in Massachusetts and across the country,” Ennis said.
Helena Littman, a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College, said sexual assault is a “silent epidemic” where everybody knows it is happening, but no one talks about it.
“A lot of people don’t want to talk about it, there’s a lot of stigma around it,” Littman said in an interview. “So, I think that this survey that we are trying to get that will get Massachusetts to force all colleges to implement is really an important first step for getting that vital information about sexual assault. It will move a bit of the stigma because everybody will have to do it.”
