Panel: Students need to report sex attacks

Police officers, students and counselors joined together at Civic House last night for a panel discussion on sexual violence at Penn. The event was part of "Take Back the Night," a week-long series of programs and discussions designed to raise awareness of sexual violence against women. The six panelists in attendance included representatives of the Division of Public Safety, the Office of Student Conduct, Counseling and Psychological Services and the Penn Women's Center. Before an audience of 10 students and Penn staff members, the panel members discussed the roles of their individual organizations in preventing sexual violence at Penn and providing assistance for its victims. "We are totally victim-driven," said Patricia Brennan, interim director of the Special Services sector of the Division of Public Safety. She went on to describe the process by which victims of sexual violence can report a crime to one of Penn's support organizations, and she emphasized that they can receive confidentiality if they so desire. Kurt Conklin, the advisor of the campus group Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape, also stressed that Penn's support network is extensive. "We're really blessed at this university that there are so many resources for victims of crime," said Conklin, who works for Penn's Office of Health Education. However, much of the discussion focused on the fact that, for a variety of reasons, these support systems remain largely unused by Penn students since many incidents of sexual assault go unreported. "If you were to go by our office's statistics, there is no issue of sexual violence at Penn," OSC Director Michelle Goldfarb said. Several panel members emphasized that Penn's numbers are therefore not completely accurate, since it would be illogical to assume that such a large university could have so few incidents of sexual assault. "It is one of the most under-reported matters on campus? and because it's under-reported, it's also under-addressed," Goldfarb said. Panelists and audience members agreed that more needs to be done to encourage women to come forward when they have been assaulted. And they said the fact that women have been hesitant to report such crimes in the past has only added to the problem. "We need people to come forward and say to these victims, 'You're not alone here,'" Brennan said. She and the other panelists also emphasized the importance of reporting sexual crimes even if victims cannot provide proof to back up such claims. "It's hard to prove, and in our system it ought to be," Goldfarb said of sexual allegations. "But that doesn't mean there's no point in coming forward." Craig Abbs, an employee of Penn's School of Social Work who sat in on the discussion and organized this evening's "Take Back The Night" event, said it is important to support people who come forward to report a sexual crime. "We need to let victims know that regardless of whether or not there is any legal evidence to prove your case, you will always be believed," he said. And according to University Police Officer Stacy Livingston, who coordinates the department's free Rape Aggression Defense seminars, it is imperative that organizations continue to assist the Penn community. "Being a teenager in the year 2000 is nothing like it was for me in the 1970s," Livingston said. "But one thing remains the same: You're responsible for your own safety."