On Oct. 22, an email was sent out to the Tufts student body as a follow−up to an email sent the night before, regarding a sexual assault involving a student. After investigating and researching the incidents for ourselves, we came to our own conclusion that the second email was an immediate response to a potential connection to an attack that occurred on Elm Street, extremely close to the Shaw's in Porter Square, at 11:30 p.m. two nights before. However, the email did not communicate this. It instead vaguely alluded to other incidents without explicitly stating that police are investigating whether a serial offender perpetrated the attacks. This lack of transparency led to a confusing and insensitively worded email that repeated tired tropes of victim−blaming. We recognize that the safety alert emails are certainly time−sensitive, but while the efficiency of the response is important, the nature and tone of the language within the response is just as crucial. Analyzing the language used within the email can be used as a means of starting discussion about the problematic ways in which sexual assault is discussed on campus; from these issues, suggestions can be made about necessary improvements to the currently insufficient resources for student safety.
After recapping Friday night's events, the email continued, "Information recently received from the Somerville Police indicates that this incident is similar to others reported in different parts of the city beyond the Tufts area." This sentence provides no specific information beyond alerting readers to the obvious fact that sexual assaults happen. The email should have explicitly stated the possible connection between the two specific attacks if the email's purpose was to warn about a potential serial offender. "In these incidents, women have reported being grabbed from behind by a man and indecently assaulted before scaring off the attacker." The fact that the woman was able to "scare off" her attacker implies that this was an attempted assault that was interrupted before any real harm was done, when that is unfortunately not the case. This also puts the responsibility on women to protect themselves and implies that all women should be capable of similar defensive behavior.
The email continues, "The target is typically a lone female, usually wearing a skirt or dress, who is walking late at night or early in the morning from the Porter Square or Davis Square MBTAStations." The rhetoric here is outdated and accusatory; this specific language used portrays the women in the situation as victims of their own lack of precaution. In this sentence, the responsibility is placed on the "lone female" and although it does not say, "Don't walk alone if you're a woman" or "Don't wear a skirt or a dress," the implication is clear. In the way the sentence describes this "target," it polices women's bodies and places the onus on them to avoid sexual assault rather than focus on those who perpetrate it. There is no way for anyone but the perpetrator to prevent sexual assault from happening and this warning implies that if you are dressed differently or walking at a different time it won't happen. Should it be a woman's job to constantly see herself as a moving "target," always turning around in fear of being "grabbed from behind?" If we are constantly looking behind us, how are we ever expected to move forward? Instead of using language that focused on the individual, the email should have spoken to ways we can raise our collective awareness of sexual assault.
If the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) is going to take the time inform the Tufts community, they should take the time to explain the situation in as specific terms as possible and to provide important information instead of relying on terms that you could find on any stranger−danger website. This issue becomes more complicated when we look at the actual precautions that a student could take. The email encourages students to use the Tufts safety escort service, while at the same time stating that these events have occurred on the walk from the Porter or Davis T stop. The Tufts escort service does not consistently extend to either of these spots, so the "lone female" is potentially left with no other options if she is in a similar situation. Though cabs from off−campus locations are a relatively secure option, this is a security that is only available to a group of specific class privilege. With the changes to Red Line starting in November, this raises some very important issues about the TUPD escort service. If we are trying to articulate risk reduction techniques, maybe we should be having a discussion about how to extend and improve escort services so that fewer students have to walk home alone in the first place.
Regardless of whether the boundaries did extend further, many students avoid using the service because of its reputation for long waits and judgmental and often insensitive interactions with dispatchers. In the past, students have complained that dispatchers insist that callers wait outside for the car to come. While we understand that this increases efficiency and allows for more people to be picked up on any given night, by making students wait alone outside, the service has the potential to endanger the students it intends to protect. In the past, the service has also denied intoxicated students use of the service, when these are the people who in the police's own terms would be the most vulnerable. With the recent series of attacks, if Tufts had a commitment to the safety of the students, the boundaries of the service would be extended and the policies would be changed. Additional options could include extending the hours of the Joey or offering a Rape Aggression Defense workshop for students not currently enrolled in the class. By providing useful resources rather than generic tips about how we should be more vigilant, perhaps we would feel safer.
As two women who live off campus, this is of particular relevance to us. But this is not a women's issue; this is a Tufts issue and sexual assault is something that has and continues to affect the Tufts community. As part of a progressive institution, the language of our police should reflect this and be as sensitive and current as possible. As the investigation continues and additional information about the incidents is made public to the Tufts community, we hope that these suggestions will be taken into consideration. Shifting the way we speak about sexual assault is the first precaution we can take to prevent it.
The Department of Public Safety, the Dean of Student Affairs Office, the Women's Center and Health Education will be holding an informational meeting on campus safety following several recent reports of sexual assault in the neighborhoods surrounding the campus. Please join us if you have questions or concerns about safety on and around campus. The meeting will be held tomorrow, Oct. 28, from noon to 1 p.m. in Braker 001.
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