By Bryn Fawn
In a society permeated in violence, from mass shootings to instances of abuse, how often could a victim be right beside you?
All students were emailed several times to take the SUNY Sexual Violence Prevalence Campus Climate Survey. The survey is so victims can be heard and to better understand how students know their resources on campus.
There was also STOP Domestic Violence held April 28. It was an information session on interpersonal and domestic violence hosted by Brianna Reeves from Behavioral Health Services North. The session was recorded, and those interested to see the video should email Andrew Christy, Assistant Professor of Psychology, at achri021@plattsburgh.edu.
Now the tides are turning again, as self-proclaimed misogynists and incels — involuntary celibates — swarm the mainstream media and spread their hateful dogma against women and those assigned female at birth. Andrew Tate, one of these self-identified misogynists, is the figurehead for this new movement. While he is currently incarcerated in Romania, clips of his hatred are still circulated online and other “self-help” figures have tried to fill his shoes online.
“I’m not a rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want,” Tate said in a video. “I like being free.”
Tate encourages his fans to reupload his clips and videos, oversaturating his market. This gives a better chance for his dogma to be exposed to young men with malleable minds.
The “alpha male” and “sigma male” thought process have also grown in popularity ever since COVID-19 forced people to socially isolate. These schools of thought assign attributes to men and boil women down to nothing but objects to breed with and desire. “Alpha males” dominate socially and easily take women when they want, while “sigmas” are the “underdogs” who are still appealing.
Kliden, a research council in Norway, stated, “One key finding is that misogynist online communities have increased in numbers and become more extreme in the past decade.”
College is the most common place for assault to occur statistically. According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, college women are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted than robbed, and 23% of queer college students have been sexually assaulted.
It is inexcusable how students still need to walk on campus and worry about their peers, feel the need to carry a personal defense tool or for bathrooms to have static-clings with instructions on what to do after being assaulted. College is designed to be a place of education and learning, not a hunting ground for predators.
According to RAINN, out of 1,000 cases of rape, only 310 are reported to the police. From that 310, only 50 are arrested. In the end, statistically, only 25 of the perpetrators face jail time. Furthermore, only 20% of college women report the crime.
University Police and Title IX are the appropriate departments to turn to in the event of an assault, but it’s not always easy. Society has crafted stigma around victims, often blaming them for the assault. This is why the #MeToo movement took off on Twitter, as victims stood together to speak out against their assailants.
It’s appalling how these lines of thinking have not only exploded in popularity, but are seen as acceptable by men, especially online.
