Female Students Face the Consequences that NYU Has Not
At NYU students enjoy the advantages of a borderless campus, free-flowing into New York City, while simultaneously being exposed to the dangers of city living. Without transparency or explicit understanding of the very real threat sexual assault poses to its students, NYU further isolates victims and female students, perpetuating the unfortunate idea that assault cannot be addressed or prevented.
Female students step into an unforgiving environment when they enter college. “The Red Zone,” the early months of Fall semester when sexual assault is statistically highest, is the introduction to what may come as a consequence for being a student and a female. It becomes second nature to keep an eye on your drink, walk only in groups, and even arm oneself with Amazon-delivered pepper spray. It’s a world in which female students say they quickly learn to look to oneself for protection.
For decades, college women have knowingly been sexually assaulted at an astounding rate, as 26.4% of female students experience sexual assault or rape while in school, with figures gradually increasing and avoiding serious intervention. Programs such as Title IX, a federal law passed in 1972 that forbids any sex-based discrimination in schools, education programs, and encouraging acknowledgments from elected officals have introduced the idea of change and produced substantial movements like the #MeToo movement, which inspired an increase in sexual assault reportings.
However, their reach extends only so far and once these fundamental pillars of justice and prevention are built, it is up to institutions to ensure promises from policies come to fruition, or at least try to, says female students.
For New York University, it may be harder than others. In a school that brands the city as their campus, the line often blurs between institutional and law enforcement responsibilities, which birth obscure processes and a confused student body, female students say. This perpetuates the toxic culture surrounding sexual assault in educational spheres.
Reading through the university’s annual crime report, students can learn the punishments an assaulter may face, the victim resources offered by NYU, and the steps following a potential police report or rejection to report. Students may also receive safety alerts when an incident is reported; which are especially common in the case of serial assaults.
When NYU Junior, Maya Ribeiro, noticed an alert notifying students of a third groping committed by the same passing motorist, she couldn’t help but read it. “It was probably the only safety alert I actually looked at, because it was serial, but I still couldn’t read the whole thing. It’s infuriating to see,” Ribeiro recalls. These alerts, which are anxiety-inducing at times, are perhaps the most clear communication students will receive when crimes occur. But what happens once someone is charged, what closure do students receive? Riberio elaborates, “I actually have no clue what happened with that, what’s the point of wondering? It’ll never be an answer I get anyway.” For female students, these unanswered questions left in an alert’s wake are a reflection of their college experience, and at this point, almost an expectation.
COVID-19 washed a clean slate for the minds of many returning to in-person life, but the previous dangers of in-person remain, especially for the women who face the consequences of them. “One slip up meant that my friend was in danger, because she had to walk alone for 5 minutes, she was risking her life,” said one student when recalling a friend’s attack just weeks prior. The student had separated from her friend just above Tompkins Square Park moments before receiving a call; a masked man had attempted to grab her friend on her short walk home, forcing her to flee. Following her friend’s attack, the student accompanied her to NYU Public Safety, where they were provided with a counselor, therapy dog, and victim resources. “They were honestly nice, which I really appreciated for my friend because it was overwhelming,” the student says, “but I don’t know how far that care goes.” The issue, as she describes, was whether she believed what they said; how could they be sure that NYU would follow through with their promises? “I just don’t know how they do anything or what they’ve done before, so I can’t guess what they actually do,” she concludes.
NYU did not respond to requests for a comment, or interview.
This confusion is echoed by other students, who fear that obscurity throughout the institution instills a toxic mindset in female students: if they don’t know where NYU’s help and protection extend, will they feel comfortable enough to report?
Sophia Opferman, a Sophomore at NYU, questions “if we don’t know how we would be treated or how we would be helped, why would people report it. And there’s probably a lot worth reporting.” Opferman highlights what seems to be a reality, with the majority of sexual assaults going unreported. NYU reported 16 fondlings and 8 rapes in 2018, but how many went unreported because of a victim’s fear of judgement or even worse, dismissal. Creating this open environment isn’t easy, but transparency may be a propelling first step for NYU. “Like, are you working with the police for serial cases? What happens with the people who are caught? Are you interviewing NYU students? That would be nice to know,” adds Opferman. In all, “it’s not that people aren’t doing the right thing or maybe that NYU can’t do much past what they said they do, but if the majority of students are saying a system doesn’t work then why would anyone go to them,” says Opferman.
Female students at NYU have constructed their safety over time, passing along knowledge of recent assaults, what streets to avoid and which pepper spray may malfunction; they have naturally adapted to the environment others have created for them. And although NYU experiences the complex nature of a city school and its many caveats, there are still steps that have been neglected, female students say, that are vital to the establishment of an open environment.
Student Maya Ribeiro again ponders the potential improvement NYU can foster once they listen, and the change it can make for female students and victims, alike. “Telling us what streets to avoid won’t necessarily solve that, but even that would be a good start to letting us know that they see us, and that they’re listening,” she concludes.
