Students Protest University’s Handling of Sexual Assault Cases

You’d think if you paid an institution large amounts of money to attend it, they would tend to their student’s needs and situations better than how they do now. When a sexual assault is reported on campus, there have been instances where the matter was often pushed to the side or eventually forgotten about. This year, at Boston University, students gathered outside to demand the school admin team handle sexual assault accusations with more care and help to survivors of these horrific acts. This caused the President of the school to respond to more than 250 emails sent to him stating that there is no place on campus for sexual assault. Since the protest on campus, Boston University has shown more care and focus when working with victims of sexual assault cases.

With schools opening back up with in-person classes, there are also an influx of new freshman that may not have been exposed to the college lifestyle before. Whether they were drugged, or made poor decisions, sexual violence is a possibility to anyone living on campus. Whether it was student on student violence, professor and student violence, schools not taking these cases seriously and with speed, can lead to severe mental issues with victims as well as ruin their social life. In events when schools do handle cases such as these, there is usually a lot of victim blaming, as well as individuals being called liars. The school usually takes the easy way out by believing lies instead of doing more research. Other than protests and emailing, what is another way we as students can hold universities accountable for not handling situations in a timely manner or professional manner?

Link to article: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/students-protest-university-handling-of-sexual-assault-cases/