Periphreal

Rape and rape culture permeate throughout our culture and our lives. As a college student, I feel as though I am exposed to rap and rape culture on an everyday basis. My peers joke about rape. I hear stories about rape, I hear reactions to rape. I see advertisements eluding to rape, and I am educated about rape and rape culture. To me, the most heart breaking thing about rape culture, is that some people refuse to acknowledge that we live in a rape culture. Even though I attend a University, and my peers are in higher education, countless times I have hears people say

“what did she think was going to happen?”

or “What was she wearing?” 

“It’s more complicated than that.” 

But what is so complicated? Rape is rape.

We live in a culture, where people are more likely to question the victims actions that the rapists. People are more likely to interrogate the victim than the rapists.

Women are told that THEY are responsible for avoiding rape, and if they are raped it is THEIR fault.

We live in a culture, where administrators will side with their athletes, before victims of rape.
http://mic.com/articles/57507/7-terrifying-college-administration-responses-to-allegations-of-sexual-assault

Living on a college campus, I feel that it is especially troubling that administration has responded to rape in these ways. A couple years ago, CU Boulder was under fire for their poor reactions to reports of rape. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/07/19/2327351/cu-boulder-federal-investigation-rape/%C2%A0/

Therefore, to raise awareness, I envision a display on the CU Boulder campus. I feel it would be effective to put the display in front of the administration office (Regent). I envision a large screen that would flash victim blaming quotes. The quotes would be visible every 4th person that walked by, because 1/4 women will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime.

I feel that the display will be especially effective because it is interactive. It doesn’t just flash quotes, but it is meaningful because it reacts to the people passing by.

Victim blaming quotes are shocking. I feel that putting them physically on display on a college campus, especially at CU Boulder would be effective and meaningful.