President Barack Obama recently announced that a task force was formed to address sexual assault on college campuses.
I think the task force is a load of bull.
Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s important that something be done about sexual assault. It’s great that the president has made it a priority to reduce assault on campus.
But creating a task force is not the way to go about it.
Rape is just like any other crime in that it’s unreasonable to expect change overnight. A task force can’t just decide to stop sexual assault and magically do so.
This task force seems to serve mostly as a Band-Aid. You fell and got a cut, so you patch it up with a bandage to forget about it and let it heal.
The cut is still there, though. Wouldn’t the most efficient way to heal the wound be to avoid falling in the first place?
It would be more productive to prevent rape rather than to teach schools to handle assaults that have already happened.
Band-Aids are important, though. So is this task force. I’m not saying nothing good will come from it.
The task force just seems to be fixing the effects of rape rather than actually stopping assault before it occurs.
Rape is a societal problem. It’s not something that can be fixed by just a few government workers.
It will take the help of everybody because it’s a problem for everybody. So what can you do?
For starters, don’t rape. That’s an obvious fix, but hear me out.
Make sure your partner always says “yes,” and look for nonverbal cues of consent. These cues can be things such as laughing and smiling, touching you back and “open” body language, according to Scarleteen.
Don’t take advantage of someone who has been drinking too much. Legally, he or she cannot give consent.
Basically, respect other people, and don’t be a d**k. Follow the golden rule you learned in elementary school: Treat others how you want to be treated.
If you know someone who is a rape victim, support him or her. Victims should be tested for sexually transmitted diseases after assault, even if they do not want to go to a hospital to complete a rape kit.
It might also be a good choice for females to take emergency contraception, like Plan B, after sexual assault.
In addition, it’s important to help your friend emotionally. The emotional damage from assault is often worse than the physical.
UF offers free counseling at the Counseling & Wellness Center, so if you or someone you know has been assaulted, I recommend talking to someone about it.
In the meantime, I support the president, the task force and universities around the world in their effort to stop rape — or to at least raise awareness of the problem.
It’s a huge step toward eliminating assault. I am just not holding my breath for the results.
Last week, the Alligator wrote an article on the announcement of the task force. In it, a source said she wasn’t sure if the task force could do anything other than create awareness.
I think she’s right. I think the task force can help universities be more aware of assault and can teach them how to help victims after the fact, but this task force cannot stop rape itself.
Only we, as a society, can do that.
[Robyn Smith is a UF journalism sophomore. Her columns appear on Mondays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 2/3/2014 under the headline "Task force not the solution to rape issue"]
