News Briefs: Community Accountability, A Survivor’s Protest

Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University Student is a survivor. She was raped on campus by a fellow student in August of 2012, and although she appeared before a campus disciplinary committee to report the rape, the perpetrator was not found responsible for the crime. This is a recurring scenario on thousands of college campuses across the country. The bureaucratic way in which a highly sensitive assault such as rape is handled on these campuses, puts the victim at a huge disadvantage. Emma not only had to relive the horrendous ordeal in front of a panel of strangers, but the victimizer wasn’t disciplined in anyway, and he remained on campus. This is despite two other victims coming forward and stating that this man had also raped them. It was proven that he had raped one of them, but it was dismissed by the dean of students after he appealed it, without the survivor being present. Unfortunately, he got away with it because she had already graduated.
This is where community accountability plays a major role in supporting victims of rape. Emma protested. For her senior thesis project this year, Emma carried around a mattress on campus with tremendous support from other students. Her project is called “Carry the weight,”and she carries this mattress to every class. On September 12th, hundreds of students wore red tape on their mouth to symbolize the silencing and handling of rape victims on Columbia’s campus. Emma is determined to carry this mattress until the perpetrator is expelled, or leaves on his own.