It is difficult to get people to feel sympathy, much less empathy, for survivors of sexual assault because the trauma is so deep and complex that you really can’t get it until it happens to you. But without sympathy and empathy from others, the trauma gets worse. As a society we desperately need to see survivors of sexual assault in a new, more compassionate light. If we keep telling the stories of survivors (and the stories of those who did not survive), the public will eventually be forced to deal with the problem. People will realize that these are not isolated incidents, that these people are not lying about their experiences, that there is a tangible problem that we can do something about. The problem is that survivors are so often silenced by the very people that are supposed to be protecting them. Thus, the first step in making sexual assault more visible is to break apart these institutional boundaries that condemn victims and pander to aggressors. We need to be stricter in the enforcement of Title IX complaints and violations and to better educate people on the existence, contents, and significance of Title IX. We need to limit the power of fraternities in both government and universities. We need to make it clear to police departments around the nation that asking a rape victim what they were wearing is the exact wrong way to go about things. We need to make it clear to prosecutors that we take sexual assault seriously. We need to make it clear to everyone that being a college athlete doesn’t mean that the law and basic human decency doesn’t apply to you. Once we have made it institutionally easier for the victims of sexual assault to make themselves heard, all we have to do is listen.
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