By Kate Tungusova
Recently, at a campus workshop for sexual assault awareness and response hosted by the UCLA administration, which was meant to educate students on issues such as rape culture, survivor response and resources, I was exposed to a student’s confession of witnessing “white residue” at the bottom of a container for a communal drink. Many of the students present agreed that substance was probably put there to cause harm and that this kind of occurrence was common in a party
setting, and to be expected.
I disagreed with this consensus.
As a leader and member of a student group, I can only hope that my fellow members respect my mind and body as they do their own and feel a personal responsibility toward the well-being of their fellow members. To assume that an organization linked to campus, as in one whose members are predominantly students, is not accountable to the codes and regulations that are set to protect the student body is an incorrect assumption about what a student organization is meant to be.
It is striking that students normalize criminal acts and do not consciously maintain an environment of safety and responsibility toward one another. There are many disastrous consequences that follow this kind of ignorance. For example, victims of misconduct, such as assault or being drugged, might be blamed for not being “smart enough” to avoid a dangerous situation. This is false logic as, one, we are part of an intelligent student body at one of the best universities in the world, and two, we should not be subject to inhumane tests of our common sense for someone else’s whim.
Harming another student, directly or indirectly, including withholding information about potential danger, should start to be taken seriously as organizations begin to monitor themselves. If members of a group are wary of seeking counsel due to fear of exclusion, that group has failed in creating a safe and proper student environment.
To assume that participants can acquire membership privileges without assuming responsibility for the actions of their organization is a fallacy. It is a well-known fact that sexual violence is generally perpetrated by people who are not strangers to individuals but rather acquaintances and people they know. Simply put, rape and sexual assault by acquaintances is all too common, and member-on-member misconduct is no exception. But support and acknowledgment seem scarce.
I am against third-party monitoring of any group. Organizations have a right to privacy and self-government. However, students, members and leaders from every organization on campus must acknowledge and be self-critical of the kind of example they set for one another and be responsible whistle-blowers when evaluating internal policy and structure.
Members, gather and meet with like-minded individuals to voice your concerns to group leaders. Be present and vocal and know that some, if not all members, will speak alongside you for the betterment of your organization.
Leaders, remain educated. Institutionalize respect and responsibility as a normal part of your organization; once-a-month awareness events have become redundant and ineffective.
“We would never” or “it wasn’t us” is no longer a valid argument. Every student, member and leader needs to start taking responsibility for his or her actions and role in perpetuating an unsafe climate for everyone on campus.
Tungusova is a second-year sociology student, a signatory for the Bruin Feminists and a member of the 7000 in Solidarity campaign of the Undergraduate Students Association Council .