B
y now, we should all have heard about the serial assaults happening on our campus. Three women so far have been attacked. Like my fellow female students, I am angry and scared. This is a gendered issue: misogyny and rape culture. Few men could understand the horror, paranoia, nervousness and fear that comes over many women when we think about this issue.
However, these painful emotions only scratch the surface of what women at UF have experienced. The recent assaults tie into the overarching climate of victim blaming that defines our university. A week ago , I attended an event on the Plaza of the Americas called No Gator Walks Alone. At the event, there were banners that students could sign, pledging to never walk alone. Cory Yeffet, our Student Body president, urged us to “be aware of our surroundings,” “take precautions” and “never walk without a partner.”
As a woman, I know what I need to do to keep myself safe. I have lived my whole life being told to “take care of myself,” “always be aware of my surroundings” and “never stay out too late.” Every young girl is raised with these phrases hammered into her head. We are brought up in a world that normalizes violence against women.
What I would like to know is: Where was the condemnation of the men who are assaulting women? I have not heard one word from administration condemning sexual violence or rape. My whole life, I have always taken precautions to guard myself from sexual assault, but that still has not kept me from being victimized by rape culture on very personal levels.
I am exhausted from being constantly told that it is my fault. I have a right to exist on this campus, as does every other woman. We have a right to study at the library past sunset, to attend our events in the evenings and to party late into the night if we want to. I shouldn’t have to rearrange my existence simply because UF isn’t calling out sexual violence for what it is. And I shouldn’t be told to simply “walk with a partner.” Sometimes, I have to walk alone.
These past two weeks, I have seen no serious criticism of rape culture or misogyny. I have felt burdened by victim blaming from not only my peers, but UF faculty and specifically University Police. I’ve had enough of it. I attend this university, and I give it my all through my community work. I have a right to walk alone, to walk at night, to exist without fear of being assaulted simply because of my gender. Until we dismantle the rape culture that is so pervasive in our community and attack the core problem that is misogyny, none of us will be safe.
Farah Kahn is the vice president of Students for Justice in Palestine.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 9/11/2014 under the headline "As a woman, sometimes, I have to walk alone"]
