Beyond Triage and Title IX:
Transforming College Rape
Culture
Salamishah Tillet, Ph.D.
Transforming College Rape
Culture
There's a great deal of difference
between thinking reflectively about moral
issues and achieving higher standards of
ethical behavior.
–Derek Bok
Transforming College Rape
Culture
Sexual
Violence is the #1 violent
crime on college campuses.
1
in 5 college women report being a
victim of sexual assault or attempted
sexual assault.
Young
Women, ages 16-24, are 38% of
sexual assault victims and 80% of
victims are assaulted before the age
18.
The Tipping Point
We
have reached a boiling point in our
response to violence against girls and
women;
We
have the critical mass of American
citizens who are both impacted by
gender-based violence and
sympathetic to the cause;
We
remain vulnerable because we are
in the middle of movement making.
The Tipping Point


We EXPAND the conversation
We ENCOURAGE student activism
and survivor leadership
We
ENVISION colleges at the forefront
rather than the frontlines of ending rape
culture
EXPAND
the conversation
STORY OF A RAPE
SURVIVOR
(SOARS)
College Campaign
Story of A Rape Survivor
(SOARS)
SOARS
STORY OF A RAPE SURVIVOR
www.alongwalkhome.org
Drawing
I my body
Couple on bed
SOARS COMMUNITY IMPACT:
GOALS
 to
increase the public
awareness of sexual
assault
 to
 to
 to
reduce sexual violence
and re-victimization
 to
enhance the knowledge
of and encourage the
usage of local and
traditional service
agencies by sexual
assault survivors and their
significant others in
underserved communities
provide alternative
models for healing for
sexual assault survivors
increase racial and
cultural diversity within the
sexual violence
movement.
ENCOURAGE
student activism &
survivor leadership
Yale University (2011)
Amherst College (2012)
University of North CarolinaChapel Hill (2013, 2007)
Occidental College (2013)
37 Students and Alumni File Compliant Against Occidental
College for violating equal rights standards when dealing
with rape, sexual assault and retaliation claims.
Dartmouth College (2013)
Swarthmore College (2013)
knowyourix.org
Challenges of TITLE IX
 Puts
students, especially survivors, in a double-bind:
they are responsible for preventing gender-based
violence and recovering from its traumatic impact
 Puts
students in adversarial relationship with
university
 Lag
time
 Lack
of transparency
 Lack
of “teeth”
SAFER
SAFER
ENVISION
colleges at the forefront
of transforming rape
culture
COLUMBIA
UNIVERSITY
Inspired by Holly Kearl’s Street Harassment campaign
Columbia University,
New York Times (2000)
Columbia University,
Columbia Daily Spectator (2003)
Columbia University,
BWOG (2014)
Columbia University,
BWOG (2014)

Students prefer (for any number of reasons) to go through their
campus judiciary process rather than local law enforcement

Serial sexual assailant on campus

3 young women who filed with the Office of Sexual Misconduct.
Only one case, was the alleged assailant found responsible
and that was eventually overturned on appeal

Question of Resources

Even when the Gender-Based Misconduct Conduct policies are
followed, survivors are still vulnerable and the severity does not
match the crime
Columbia University,
Columbia Daily Spectator (2014)
Transforming
College Rape Culture
 Students
and survivors are already at the forefront
of ending college rape
 Colleges
should not have adversarial relationship
with student and survivor activists; but instead, see
them as central to the university’s mission of
education, innovation and social transformation;
 Colleges
should not be in triage mode when it
comes to issues of gender-based violence; rather,
they position themselves as the vanguards and
trailblazers for ending the global epidemic.
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