On April 8th, 2021, a post on the Facebook student group perplexed the community with its students, faculty, and staff. It is a post of a girl who claimed that her friend was harassed inside the cafeteria by a staff member. The story goes further into telling us that the harassed girl chose to not act until she had recorded proof. This news traveled fast, and people were discussing it all around campus. Opinions were made, questions were asked, and rumors were spread. That event brought attention to the topic of harassment and while it became a “normal” phenomenon in our society, being harassed on the streets is a far cry from going through it within the walls of a campus that counts as your home. One question imposed itself times and times again: is our campus a safe environment?
Wempower is a club that aims to empower women, and harassment is one of the issues it is advocating against. They had worked on the topic of harassment with international NGOs. In this context, they have recently organized a storytelling event entitled “We Hear You” after gathering stories from female students that were victims of harassment. We interviewed a Wempower club representative – who chose to not reveal themselves- and they confirmed that girls face harassment on a daily basis in various university facilities, such as the gymnasium and classrooms.
“They [harassers] do not understand that No is No, they take it as being spoiled”
Wempower representative
Indeed, we have heard countless harassment stories within the walls of our campus. This harassment could be physical, or emotional, and includes things along the lines of girls being asked to put more clothes on, or getting stared at improperly around campus areas.
The nuisances go on but speaking up to them occurs only in very few cases. Most victims choose silence over legal action, especially in an academic institution where figures harass girls who are kept quiet by the fear of not being believed and the hierarchy of forces. While the Wempower club representative stated that “if something really happened, he [the harasser] must be accountable for it”, there are many obstacles in the way of achieving this, mainly the legal process and the culture. “Would they believe you? [Not really] unless you have proof which is hard to get.” the representative exclaimed. A harassment victim would then find herself in a dilemma: on one hand, she wants to take action, but on the other, she does not have enough proof or any proof at all. Then again, even with proof, can a harassed girl confront the harasser if they are a respected person in the institution and they have more credibility than she does?
“If we are going to make it happen in 20 years we need to start now.”
Wempower representative
It is hard to deny that harassment is deeply rooted in our culture, perhaps because we assume that a woman outside her house is disposing herself to the public, but a small community like AUI is supposed to be opposed to it and fight it. This is not a matter that could be disregarded or overlooked since, not only does it affect the students, but it harms the university as a whole. Even if we choose to believe that our campus is secure, the stories and frequent incidents testify against it, which begs the question: What changed? Did we use to hear the same number of cases? and Why? The cases have increased, but the motive behind this change is hard to pinpoint. Different individuals will have different opinions about the shift that the campus witnessed in what concerns the safety of its students, but could it go back to the way it used to be? According to the Wempower representative, we can work on making it an optimal environment, but change is a process. She is confident that there are many things that could be implemented to make our campus free of harassment and it is a matter of priorities.
