Sexual assault victims are fighting the age-old stigma of shame and guilt placed on them by going public and breaking the barrier of anonymity.
By DeNae Thomas
Staff Writer

When California teenagers Tamara Brooks and Jacqueline Marris came on NBC’s “Today” program this summer to tell of their abduction and escape from a drunken kidnapper in Lancaster, Calif., they said they wanted to tell their story to help other young girls.

But the incident set off a storm of reaction among viewers.

Although the girls never spoke specifically about being raped, many said that the girls were being exploited and held that rape victims should stay quiet and be kept anonymous.

Others argued that victims should not feel shame about being raped and that reporting the incident and telling their story will help them heal and will increase awareness around them.

Administrators say that Pepperdine, a university with more than 60 percent women, has always tried to be sensitive to issues of sexual assault and rape. Campus officials say there is a heightened awareness this fall and even some policy changes that they hope will improve university response to sexual violence.

In fact, few students realize the multitude of measures Pepperdine takes to protect its predominantly female population. The university has a rape crisis team, Public Safety procedures required by law for sexual assault occurrences, and a Student Health Center and Counseling Center staff trained specifically to help sexual assault victims.

In addition to procedures already in place, a few students have taken positive steps to increase awareness on campus. The administration also continues to review its policies, like when the student handbook was changed in Fall 2002 to encourage sexual assault victims to report incidents.

HOW THE UNIVERSITY REACTS

When a sexual assault incident is reported, the procedure is immediate and comprehensive. Pepperdine’s rape crisis response team, designed specifically to handle sexual assault and rape cases, is immediately notified.

“The team was designed to make sure that we are giving the most effective care to the student as possible and has been effective in the past,” Dean of Student Affairs Dr. Mark Davis said.

The response team works directly with the Student Counseling Center and the Health Center to ensure that above all the victim is being properly cared for, Davis said.

The team is made up of the dean of Student Affairs and a representative from the Counseling Center, Health Center, Housing and Community Living, general counsel and the Department of Public Safety.

Public Safety Director Earl Carpenter said the team’s purpose is to assist the victim with any emotional trauma and provide follow up counseling services. Public Safety is concerned with making sure that students’ needs come first, Carpenter said. The department has a new student-centered focus this year, he said, and the new mission impacts how sexual assault cases are handled.

Carpenter said that more sexual assault cases have probably occurred than have been reported. Often victims do not report sexual assault because they believe they contributed to the assault occurring.

“A victim should not feel that way,” Carpenter said. “Very clear, very direct, very simple, ‘no’ means ‘no.’ ”

And while Pepperdine students tend to feel safe in a gated community, the 2001 campus crime statistics, reported at the end of last month, recorded one forcible fondling and one rape.

“I would hope that in the very tragic situation such as sexual assault, even if it is just fondling, that students would realize the seriousness of that and that they would feel comfortable in coming to Public Safety and reporting it,” Carpenter said.

When DPS receives either direct information or a rumor about a sexual assault occurrence, an investigation is initiated immediately, Carpenter said.

In such an investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department is notified and comes to campus to conduct a preliminary interview. If necessary, the sheriff will then accompany the victim to the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center for hospital care and a collection of evidence.

REPORTING AND PROSECUTING SEX CRIMES

The university works with the sheriff’s department throughout the investigation to gather witnesses and any other information that will lead to the identity of the suspect, Carpenter said, though reporting the incident does not require the victim to press charges.

However, if a sexual assault happens on campus, the university has an obligation to inform the community that the event took place under the Clery Act, which was amended in 1998 to make more information available to students about criminal activity on their campus.

Last April the Graphic reported that a sexual assault had not been accounted for in the weekly report released by the Department of Public Safety. After the article’s publication April 4, the incident was added to the Public Safety reports shown weekly on the inside cover of the Graphic.

The identity of the reporting party is always kept confidential, Carpenter said.

Victims who are concerned about anonymity can come to the Counseling Center with assurance that everything is kept private and that information will not be revealed without written consent, Dr. Emily Scott-Lowe, a licensed clinical social worker, said. 

Scott-Lowe, who works at the Counseling Center, said that the three counselors and two graduate students at the center are all trained to assist sexual assault victims and rape survivors.

EDUCATING STUDENTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT

Scott-Lowe said it is difficult to educate students about sexual violence because the general attitude is “Oh, that is not going to happen to me.”

Date rape is the most common form of sexual assault on college campuses, she said.

“Women can learn to pick up vibes when guys are not going to be respectful and get out of the situation,” Scott-Lowe said.

She also said that alcohol is a major contributing factor to date rape because under the influence it is harder to make rational decisions.

While it is hard to educate a population that does not think they are at risk, Scott-Lowe said it is important to create general awareness among college students that sexual assault does happen.

The Pepperdine Wellness Program, which is sponsored by the Health Center, has completed several events to inform students about sexual violence, including the Clothesline project where T-shirts designed by women in shelters were hung around campus to promote awareness and National Sexual Responsibility week which included informational seminars throughout the week last spring.

Jennifer Guellich, director of the Wellness Program, said that plans are being made for sexual assault prevention programming for spring semester.

STUDENTS SPEAK OUT

Several students also want to create awareness on campus.

Senior Kelley Amburgey organized a week of sexual assault awareness on campus last spring for her women’s studies course, WMST 300.

“Even though it was small, it was the most important thing I have done in my time at Pepperdine,” said Amburgey, whose future plans include a career of helping abused women and counseling teenagers.

Part of the awareness week included a first-ever “Take Back the Night,” which encouraged women to not be silent victims of sexual violence and informed students about self-defense techniques.  A Pepperdine alumna and other women at the event shared their own experiences with rape and sexual assault.

“During the week if we impacted at least one person at each event then we accomplished something,” Amburgey said.

She said that she hopes “Take Back the Night” will take place again this spring and she encourages anyone on campus who wants to be involved to help.

“Everyone needs to be open to the presence of sexual assault happening on campus,” Amburgey said. “It does affect our students in one way or another, whether they were sexually assaulted or a friend or family member was assaulted.”

CHANGING STUDENT HANDBOOK POLICIES

The presence of sexual assault on campus and the forcible fondling that occurred last spring impacted the decision to change the sexual assault policy in this year’s student handbook.

Davis said that the student handbook has been revised with italics to encourage sexually assaulted students to come forward even if they have broken a community standard.

Last year the handbook said that the innocent party will not be subject to disciplinary sanction.

The policy now states, “The reporting party will not be subject to disciplinary sanction as a result of her or his involvement in the circumstances leading up to the occurrence of a sexual offense.”

Davis reiterated this statement.

 “Students need to know that being raped or being sexually assaulted is never their fault,” he said. “Even if they have done other things that are inappropriate, I don’t want that to stop them from getting the kind of care they need for such a traumatic event.”

The Graphic reported in September that the university decided to focus on encouraging victims to come forward partly because of the incident last spring where a female who had been forcibly fondled delayed reporting the incident for fear of being documented for her own alcohol violations.

The victim told the Graphic on conditions of anonymity that she wanted the Pepperdine community to be aware of sexual assault occurrences on campus.

“I think (students) are afraid to come forward, that they’re afraid they’re going to be blamed for it,” she said. “In my opinion you can’t do anything that warrants someone doing this to you.”

Even as the university works to ensure that sexual assault victims’ needs are being met, some say the stigma in society remains that rape is somehow the victim’s fault and students continue to be afraid to report occurrences.

But because of all the publicity the issue is receiving from Brooks and Marris’ story last summer, the fondling incident last spring, changes in policies and students speaking out, victims and people who support them hope the stigma will eventually fade and more females will feel comfortable coming forward in the future.

November 14, 2002