Elizabeth Smart became a household name after she was kidnapped from her home in Salt Lake City, UT at the age of 14 and held in captivity for nine months. She was forced into a polygamous marriage, tethered to a metal cable, and raped daily until she was rescued from her captors nine months later. Smart was recovered while she and her kidnappers were walking down a suburban street, leading many Americans who followed her story on the national news to wonder: Why didn’t she just run away as soon as she was brought outside?

Speaking to an audience at Johns Hopkins about issues of human trafficking and sexual violence, Smart recently offered an answer to that question. She explained that some human trafficking victims don’t run away because they feel worthless after being raped, particularly if they have been raised in conservative cultures that push abstinence-only education and emphasize sexual purity:

Smart said she “felt so dirty and so filthy” after she was raped by her captor, and she understands why someone wouldn’t run “because of that alone.”

Smart spoke at a Johns Hopkins human trafficking forum, saying she was raised in a religious household and recalled a school teacher who spoke once about abstinence and compared sex to chewing gum.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m that chewed up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum, you throw it away.’ And that’s how easy it is to feel like you no longer have worth, you no longer have value,” Smart said. “Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value.”

Now in her mid-twenties, Smart runs a foundation to help educate children about sexual crimes. She now believes that children should grow up learning that “you will always have value and nothing can change that.”

Social psychologists and sexual abuse counselors agree that comprehensive sex education can help prevent sexual crimes. Teaching children about their bodies gives them the tools to describe acts of abuse without feeling as embarrassed or uncomfortable, and it also helps elevate their self-confidence and sense of bodily autonomy. A shame-based approach to genitalia and sexuality, on the other hand, sends kids the message that they can’t discuss or ask questions about any of those issues.

Nonethless, abstinence-only education programs have a long history of imparting harmful messages that shame youth about their sexuality instead of teaching them the facts they need to safeguard their health. A high school in West Virginia recently made national headlines after hosting a conservative religious speaker who allegedly told students “if you take birth control, your mother probably hates you” and “I could look at any one of you in the eyes right now and tell if you’re going to be promiscuous.” In Smart’s home state of Utah — which is home to a large religiously conservative Mormon community — sex education is currently mandated, but lawmakers have repeatedly pushed to weaken the state law and reinstate an abstinence-only curriculum.

Over the past two months, the intensifying sexual violence in India has brought national attention to the country’s deeply-ingrained rape culture — an environment in which authority figures often blame victims for endangering themselves, many women don’t feel safe enough to leave their homes, and female tourists have stopped visiting. The ongoing outcry spurred some policymakers to action, inspiring India to strengthen its penalty for rape. But women’s health advocates, including the United Nations’ expert on issues of domestic violence, are disappointed that the country still isn’t doing enough.

Rashida Manjoo, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women, recently visited India to investigate the gender abuses occurring in the country. But at the end of her trip, she told reporters that India didn’t effectively capitalize on the “golden moment” that presented itself in recent months, and hasn’t taken the right steps to effectively address the root causes that reinforce rape culture:

India missed a golden opportunity to tackle violence against women, by enacting a law that toughens punishments against sex offenders but fails to address the root causes and consequences of gender abuse, a U.N. expert said Wednesday.

The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, or “anti-rape law” was enacted last month, after the fatal December gang rape of a student sparked protests over the treatment of women in the largely patriarchal country. [...]

“While this legislative reform is to be commended, it is regrettable that the amendments do not fully reflect the recommendations [originally put forth by a committee],” Manjoo said.

“This development foreclosed the opportunity to establish a holistic and remedial framework which is underpinned by transformative norms and standards, including those relating to sexual and bodily integrity rights. Furthermore the approach adopted fails to address the structural and root causes of and consequences of violence against women.”

This is not the first time that the United Nations has expressed concern over India’s ongoing sexual violence. Earlier this year, a report from a UN-affiliated human rights group exposed the high rates of sexual crimes in the country, as well as the persistent issues with law enforcement that discourage women from reporting rapes. It’s estimated that two women are raped every 60 seconds in the country.

Over the past several weeks, intense protests have erupted in India after reports of several child rapes. After a 5-year-old girl was raped toward the end of April, India’s prime minister admitted that his country has “vast improvements to make” when it comes to “the safety, security and status of women in our society.” Just one week later, a 4-year-old was raped and died from the injuries she suffered during the sexual assault.

Over the past several months, students and faculty on several college campuses have filed federal complaints with the U.S. Department of Education, alleging that their universities’ administrations have perpetrated rape culture by mishandling sexual assault cases. But university officials don’t always take those allegations very well. A University of North Carolina student was threatened with expulsion after speaking up about her own rape and criticizing her school’s inadequate sexual assault policy. At Occidental College, sexual violence prevention advocates claim that the administration retaliated against them after they began pushing for better policies on campus.

Perhaps that’s why federal officials found it necessary to remind university administrators that they shouldn’t take any steps to punish the people who bring issues of discrimination to the school’s attention. In a “Dear Colleague” letter distributed to universities last week, the U.S. Department of Education reiterated that students who allege civil rights violations — including enacting inadequate sexual assault policies that create a hostile environment for survivors on campus, as well as failing to accurately report sexual assault cases to the federal government — shouldn’t be afraid to speak out.

“Discriminatory practices are often only raised and remedied when students, parents, teachers, coaches, and others can report such practices to school administrators without the fear of retaliation,” Seth M. Galanter, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights, wrote in the letter. “Individuals should be commended when they raise concerns about compliance with the federal civil rights laws, not punished for doing so.”

This does not represent a change from the federal government’s current policy, but rather a strong reminder for college administrations across the country. Galanter emphasized that the Department of Education will “vigorously enforce this prohibition against retaliation.”

Unfortunately, even when college students don’t go so far as to file a formal complaint with the U.S. government, they can still face serious backlash for speaking up against rape culture. Dartmouth College is currently threatening to discipline the students who disrupted campus activities last week to protest sexual assault. Elite colleges would often rather silence students and sweep issues of sexual assault under the rug in order to “keep up appearances.” The issue has reached a fever pitch recently, and campus activists have mobilized to demand change.

A group of Swarthmore students are filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against their Philadelphia-area college, alleging the elite private institution has been mishandling the sexual crimes that occur on campus. The students say that Swarthmore has violated federal law by failing to accurately report sexual assault cases, as well as by creating a hostile environment on campus where victims are discouraged from coming forward.

Two sophomores at the college, Mia Ferguson and Hope Brinn, filed the complaint along with other testimonials from 10 of their fellow students. They allege that Swarthmore officials have failed to report sexual crimes, intimidated the students and staff who complained about the persistent underreporting, and discouraged some rape victims from going to local law enforcement or initiating formal judicial processes on campus. They say that’s a clear violation of the Clery Act, which stipulates that colleges and universities must disclose crime statistics to the federal government each year.

Based on the recent concerns that students have raised about the college’s sexual assault policies, Swarthmore president Rebecca Chopp announced earlier this month that the administration would launch an external review of its current process for dealing with sexual crimes. But Brinn told Swarthmore’s student newspaper, the Daily Gazette, that the formal complaint is still a necessary step for students to take.

“We have a huge history of not complying with the law, and I think that needs to be addressed,” Brinn said. “We have 12 individuals coming forward, which demonstrates clearly a systemic issue that needs to be addressed with policy changes.”

Particularly at elite institutions, sexual assault is often something that administrators would rather sweep under the rug — largely in order to preserve the college’s reputation and ensure that prospective students won’t be dissuaded from attending. That’s why college campuses across the country are currently grappling with addressing rape culture. Many have recently made headlines amid reports of administrators mishandling sexual assault cases, protecting rapists’ grades and reputations rather than delivering justice for their victims, and punishing students who speak out against inadequate sexual assault policies.

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In a campus-wide email sent out on Friday, Dartmouth College’s Board of Trustees Chair Steve Mandel appeared to equate the actions of sexual assault protesters with the subsequent death and rape threats made against them by several other Dartmouth students on anonymous online forums and message boards.

The threats materialized after students who allege that they have personally encountered sexual assault, homophobia, and racism on campus protested the Dartmouth administration’s inability to foster a safer environment during a prospective students’ event on April 19th. Dartmouth took the uncommon step of cancelling classes on Wednesday to address the growing crisis and the Board of Trustees released their latest email on Friday night as a follow up.

The email seeks to assure the student community that “established policies and procedures” regarding disciplinary action will be taken against both the protesters and any students who made the anonymous threats. It is reproduced in full below:

April 26, 2013
To the Dartmouth community:

As some of you know, a small group of students disrupted the Dimensions Welcome Show for prospective students on Friday, April 19, using it as a platform to protest what they say are incidents of racism, sexual assault, and homophobia on campus. Following the protest, threats of bodily harm and discriminatory comments targeting the protesters and their defenders ran anonymously on various sites on the Internet.

With tensions high across the Dartmouth community, Interim President Carol Folt, the Dean of the Faculty, and other senior leaders across campus agreed that the best course of action was to suspend classes on Wednesday, April 24, for a day of reflection and alternative educational programming. This decision was made to address not only the initial protest, but a precipitous decline in civility on campus over the last few months, at odds with Dartmouth’s Principles of Community.

This unusual and serious action to suspend classes for a day was prompted by concern that the dialogue on campus had reached a point that threatened to compromise the level of shared respect necessary for an academic community to thrive. The faculty and administration together determined that a pause to examine how the climate on campus can be improved was necessary. This was an important exercise that the Board supports. It is also important to note that there will be an opportunity for faculty to hold the classes that were missed as a result of Wednesday’s events.

Neither the disregard for the Dimensions Welcome Show nor the online threats that followed represent what we stand for as a community. As Interim President Folt indicated Wednesday in her remarks in front of Dartmouth Hall, the administration is following established policies and procedures with regard to any possible disciplinary action in both cases. As in every case regarding a disciplinary investigation, this process is confidential and respects the privacy of our students.

Dartmouth is not unique in the challenges it faces concerning campus climate and student life. We aspire to lead in responding to these challenges.

The Trustees and I are committed to addressing and supporting efforts necessary to resolve these issues, improving the campus climate and strengthening the institution. The Board’s Committee on Student Affairs is working with senior leaders and consulting with outside professionals to make progress on this front.

Please feel free to share your thoughts and questions with me at Stephen.F.Mandel.Jr.78@Dartmouth.edu

Best regards,

Steve Mandel ’78, P’09, P’11
Chair, Board of Trustees

Although the email was likely distributed to quell tensions, its blanket language lumping the actions of student protesters with those making threats of physical harm against them as equivalent “declines in civility” are more likely to inflame them. The missive also glosses over the relevant detail that many of the protesters weren’t just speaking out against “what they say” are incidents of sexual assault, racism, and homophobia on campus — they are actually victims of those very crimes and social ills. The website Real Talk Dartmouth has chronicled the events that inspired the initial protest, as well as the hateful comments that some Dartmouth students have made in its aftermath.

Some administrators and students are upset with the protest because it occurred during a prospective students’ event that has traditional significance for the college. But the protesters likely felt compelled to take that extraordinary action given the Dartmouth administration’s historical incompetence in dealing with issues of sexual assault, homophobia, and racism on campus.

Note: the author of this article graduated from Dartmouth College in 2012.

For the first time in the past seven years, the federal government has issued specific guidelines for the way that health professionals, law enforcement officers, and prosecutors should respond to sexual assault cases. And unlike the earlier guidelines issued in 2004, the new policy specifically recommends methods to prioritize victims’ “physical and emotional needs,” including ensuring that emergency contraception is available to them.

The new national protocol intends to standardize the practice of collecting evidence and treating victims who have been the subject of sexual violence — a method of bolstering the advances made by the Violence Against Women Act over the past 18 years. Except for the medical professionals working in federal prisons or in the military, who will be required to follow them, the guidelines are voluntary. Still, advocates working to assist victims of sexual assault are praising the new policy as an important update to the 2004 rules:

Unlike the 2004 protocol, the new guidelines also recommend that rape victims be offered emergency contraception or — in cases where health professionals have moral objections — information on how to immediately obtain the medication.

The earlier guidelines “were not nearly so direct,” said Barbara Sheaffer, medical advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, which receives some financing from the Justice Department. [...]

Sgt. Jim Markey, a former sex crimes investigator for the Phoenix Police Department who now trains law enforcement officers in dealing with sexual assault, said the new guidelines were “long overdue.”

“What this does is this allows workers in the trenches, those victim advocates, those detectives and nurses, to go to the decision makers and leaders in their communities and say: ‘You know what? Here are the standards. We need the resources to provide the minimum standards that are in this protocol.’ ”

It’s important that the guidelines not only recommend making Plan B readily accessible, but also specify that the medical professionals who personally object to emergency contraception should still provide victims with information about where else to obtain it. Over the past year, there have been several incidences where rape victims have been denied the morning after pill at hospitals or jails after employees there cited their religious objections to the contraceptive.

However, there’s still more work to be done on the state level. Currently, just 16 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation that requires medical professionals to provide survivors of sexual assault with Plan B. In other states, Republican lawmakers have blocked similar proposals to help ensure rape victims’ access to emergency contraception.

Some Dartmouth College students have received rape and death threats following their public protest against the school’s attitude toward sexual assault, racism, and homophobia. Dartmouth on Wednesday canceled its scheduled classes to address the growing crisis.

The college announced in a letter to students that it will hold “alternative programming… that promotes respect for individuals, civil and engaged discourse, and the value of diverse opinions.” From the programming, it’s not immediately clear that the school plans to discuss Dartmouth’s notoriously pervasive culture of sexual assault, victim-blaming, and policies that continue to fail students (exactly what the protesters, during their initial outburst at a prospective students’ event, had called for). But administrators promise that the programming will address the threats.

Many of the threats, and generally hateful sentiments, were posted on the anonymous message board site Bored At Baker, which has since been taken offline. The messages, meant to disprove the idea that racism, sexism, homophobia, and ignorance of sexual assault are real problems at Dartmouth, actually do the exact opposite. Screenshots of the anonymous comments are available from Real Talk Dartmouth:

Some Dartmouth students are upset largely at the fact that the protest interrupted a students’ event on campus. However, the protesters likely felt they needed to interrupt an important campus event to get any attention at all. Previous pleas for the school to pay more attention to helping victims of sexual assault have certainly fallen on deaf ears.

And the protesters have been largely successful in their mission to point out the school’s problems. The message boards, and the generally hateful comments posted on the student newspaper’s website, have highlighted sentiments that previously bubbled below the surface. One prospective student at the school found this particularly illustrative, as he or she highlighted in the newspaper’s comments section:

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The National Women’s Law Center is joining forces with a Michigan-area law firm to file a complaint on behalf of a young woman who was sexually assaulted by one of her high school’s star basketball players. As RH Reality Check reports, the complaint alleges that high school administrators did nothing to help advocate for the rape victim after she came forward with her story. In fact, the principal discouraged her from filing charges because he was worried that would hurt her rapist’s chances at getting recruited to play college basketball:

According to the complaint, in 2010 the victim was sexually assaulted by a star player on the school’s basketball team. The assault took place on campus in a sound proof band room at Forest Hills Central High School. The victim notified a teacher who in turn reported the assault to the principal. But rather than open an investigation into the allegations, the principal discouraged the student and her parents from filing charges, telling them that doing so could ruin the assailant’s prospects at being recruited to play basketball for a Division 1 school. [...]

As alleged in the complaint, two weeks later another female student was sexually assaulted by the same attacker. Despite a legal obligation under Title IX to investigate the assault and protect the student, the high school officials never interviewed the girl or her parents again, failed to conduct an investigation, and for two and a half weeks left the attacker in one of her classes.

After the news of the assault spread throughout the Michigan high school, the victim faced backlash from her fellow students, who called her a whore and a liar. She was the subject of intense cyberbullying, and she was also harassed by her assailant and his friends in the school’s hallways. Her parents reported the harassment to the school, but administrators took no action. “The school’s failure to address the harassment sends a chilling message to students that they should remain silent in the face of sexual assault and cannot count on their school to provide a safe learning environment,” a statement from the National Women Law Center pointed out.

Unfortunately, that’s a message that students across the country are receiving from their school administrators. Society’s pervasive victim-blaming rape culture has consistently valued sports stars over rape victims — a dynamic that was particularly evident during the events that unfolded in Steubenville, OH earlier this year. That small town made national news for covering up a sexual assault perpetrated by two of its high school football stars. Even after the teens were convicted, the media took clear sides in the case, focusing on the impact that the guilty verdict might have on the boys’ promising athletic careers rather than the fact that they committed a serious crime. And Steubenville’s football coach just received a contract extension despite the fact that he may have been complicit in the cover-up.

This Michigan high schooler is just one of countless survivors of sexual assault who have faced serious consequences after talking about the crimes perpetrated against them. The Steubenville victim received death threats once her case became national news. And two teenage sexual assault victims — 17-year-old Rehtaeh Parsons from Canada and 15-year-old Audrie Pott from California — recently committed suicide after their classmates bullied them with information about their alleged gang-rapes.