Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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HE ' S NOT ALWAYS A STRANGER Dates are a more prevalent threat of rape than a stranger in a dark alley. BY ERIN PERRY Early one morning in April, 1990, roommate found her in the hall, badly shaken, and took her to t he Saint Mary Hospital. After Nicole (not her real name) was treated and examined for evidence, police went to her residence hall and arrested one of her fellow residents for rape. Ramon Davenport, then a sophomore in sociology and defensive end for the K-State football team, initially pleaded not guilty to the charge. But after plea-bargaining to drop aggravated sexual battery charges, Davenport changed his plea to guilty on the rape charge in late August. He was sentenced to five to 22 years in prison at the State Reformatory. But Nicole ' s case was the exception to the norm. According to the Ms. Magazine Campus Project on Sexual Assault, completed in 1985, only 5 percent of women raped by an acquaintance reported it to police. Even fewer pressed charges. Judy Davis, director of the campus Women ' s Resource Center, said the largest victims did not report date rape was self-blame. Women have a tendency to say, ' Well, if I hadn ' t done ..., ' Davis said. There ' s an element of complicity because this is someone with whom you have chosen to spend some time. Her major role at the center, she said, was assisting sexual assault victims either personally or through a friend ' s intervention. But women rarely approached her for help right after an assault — by Davis ' s estimations, the average lapse between a being raped by an acquaintance and reporting it, if ever, was one year. Victims often denied their attacks were actually rape or they needed help, according to Davis. It ' s asking an awful lot for a college woman to report that she was raped on what to be a swell date at a swell party with a swell guy, Davis said. Women fear they won ' t be believed; they ' re afraid they will be ostracized socially. Often, the victim cared about her attacker, who may have been a friend or boyfriend, and didn ' t want to cause him trouble. She also may have been initially attracted to the rapist. To say, ' Someday I might like to be lovers with him ' is a very different thing from ' Someday I ' d like to be raped by him,- Davis said. Rosanne Proite, assistant director of housing, recently completed her doctoral dissertation on attitudes toward date rape. She said when residence hall staff persons faced a resident ' s rape they tried to help her decide what to do. We do some hand-holding; we try to outline options for (Continued on page 25) (Photo illustration by Scott Boyd) 22 DATE RAPE

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STRANGER (Continued from page 22) the individual, Proite said. Then we take them by the hand to Judy (Davis), because Judy is just so good it doesn ' t make sense (not to see her). When rape victims came to Davis, she first inquired about the woman ' s well-being and tried to judge how comfortable and stable she was. Next Davis tried to establish trust by assuring the victim she didn ' t have to say anything, but if she did it would remain confidential. I try to affirm what I know they ' re feeling, she said. I give them to hurt and be angry. I try to alert them to what some of their needs are going to be so they ' ll forgive themselves for being an insomniac or not being able to concentrate. Though reports were low, Davis estimated date rape here was very high. It ' s foolish for us to just because it ' s our students are less at risk than students from any other institute of higher to be raped or to commit a rape, she said. Rape victims at K-State who chose to take action could either go to the campus police or invoke the University ' s Prohibiting Sexual Violence. The policy stated, No form of sexual violence will be or condoned at Kansas State University. This policy thus prohibits not only those acts commonly understood to constitute ' sexual assault, ' but all attempts to coerce activity as well. Under the policy, an assaulted student had to file a complaint with the Dean of Student Life ' s Office; it did not have to be written. The dean then convened a review panel consisting of faculty and to interview both parties and decide if the policy had been violated. In effect for just a year, the policy helped Nicole take action against Davenport and get him dismissed from school. However, Davis said he was also on his way out of academic trouble. The policy was a long time in the works, Davis said. And then we finally get an to use it and ... it worked. Things happened as they ought to have happened. Only a handful of universities had such a policy. Davis said it gave her something to use when giving rape prevention programs. It ' s one thing to talk to them in a meeting about acquaintance rape as a crime, she said. It ' s another thing to be able to say, ' We know this goes on and we don ' t want it. Though Housing and Dining Services had presented rape prevention seminars in the past, the department no such programs this year. Proite said this was because none of the residence hall staffs had been trained in rape education. However, even when programs were given they usually focused on women ' s in prevention even though men were the Proite and Davis agreed that targeting men in rape education was difficult. Rape is not a women ' s problem. It ' s men ' s problem and they ' ve got to stop it, Davis said. If I go talk to a fraternity house or a men ' s hall ... it sort of feeds on this notion that rape is a woman ' s responsibility. Proite said men were uncomfortable talking about Acquaintance Rape Statistics Ms. Magazine ' s Campus Project on Sexual Assault (1985) randomly surveyed students at 32 U.S. colleges. Here are some of the results. Out of 3,187 college women surveyed: 15.3 percent had been raped 11.8 percent were victims of attempted rape Rape Victims Only 5 percent reported their rapes to police 42 percent told no one 41 expected to be raped again Out of 2,971 college men surveyed: 187 had raped a woman 157 had attempted rape Rapists 85 percent knew their victims Over half the assaults occurred on dates 84 percent said what they did was definitely not rape, though by legal definition it was Source: Robin Warshaw. I Never Called it Rape, 1988. ERIN PERRY STAFF 24 DATE RAPE