Sexual assault is obviously an unconventional topic for both the Vision and the Belmont community. I have been a student here for three years and I don’t recall there ever being a dialogue about this subject. Until this story idea came up, I had no idea what resources were available on campus in case it ever happened to me or one of my friends. 

Thankfully, research has shown that Belmont offers a wealth of resources to victims of sexual assault. According to Terry White, director of Campus Security, there hasn’t been a reported sexual assault on campus in five years. The key word in that sentence, however, is “reported.”

The idea of a series of stories on sexual assault came from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s 2007 Campus Crime report, which showed that the number of reported rapes on Vanderbilt University’s campus quadrupled in 2007 to 13 up from three in 2006.  While 13 may not seem like very many, the real number is likely much higher. 

Rape remains the most underreported crime in the United States because of the shame associated with the violation of such a personal and sacred area of a woman’s life.  We at the Vision feel it is a subject that deserves to be brought to light and discussed with no preconceived notions of awkwardness, sensitivity or shame. The very reasons we might hesitate to write about it are the very reasons that victims of sexual assault do not report the crime. And it is time for that to change.