It’s the unspoken rule to not walk on campus alone at night. It’s the fear that causes women to cover their drinks at parties. It’s the music, lyrics or the graphic images on the internet that sexualize human beings.
Emilie McLarnan said rape culture affects everyone, and it needs to be discussed.
“Rape culture can be a constant bombardment in everyday life,” said McLarnan, the coordinator of Violence Prevention Programs at the University of Idaho. “Some people can find it exhausting to watch certain movies or listen to certain songs. They get this feeling like they’re forced to make their own space separate from our culture, just to be able to deal with what is disturbing.”
But employees of the Women’s Center and Violence Prevention Programs said they hope to bring these issues to light.
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the two campus organizations will host a poetry slam Thursday evening. Called SAAM Slam, the event is open to any student, faculty or community member who wants to share their experience with sexual assault and rape culture.
“We want to create a safe space for the voice of survivors and allies,” McLarnan said. “We also encourage people who may have not been personally victimized, but are feeling the effects of sexual violence in our culture, to share. We want to make a space for people to speak out and express themselves creatively.”
The only requirements — the piece must be under four minutes and not be hateful or hostile. Bekah MillerMacPhee, associate director of programs at the Women’s Center, said hope is the key element they want to emphasize at this event.
“We’re asking people to share their hope and their vision of a future without sexual violence,” MillerMacPhee said.
MillerMacPhee said the inspiration to organize SAAM Slam came from the positive response the Women’s Center received after the F-Word Live Poetry Slam in November 2016. Many people approached MillerMacPhee and other Women’s Center employees, wanting other live spoken word events that were accessible to the community, she said.
“In the fall, we had gotten a lot of cheers, snaps and ‘hell yeahs,’” MillerMacPhee said. “That’s what’s unique about spoken word events. There’s so much engagement back and forth between the poets and the audience. That’s where the energy comes from.”
McLarnan said many students leave campus after surviving sexual assault. If survivors do choose to report the assault, they often have to undergo an emotionally intensive process involving telling their story, going to counseling and talking with law enforcement and other officials on campus.
On top of the mental and emotional trauma, McLarnan said many survivors of sexual assault often feel their experience is a heavy weight to bear alone. She said recovery takes longer than many people think, and it doesn’t help that the topic is often regarded as off-limits in conversation.
“There’s this pressure to act as if nothing is wrong, the pressure to stay on top of everything,” McLarnan said. “There’s pressure to keep everything as normal as possible.”
But the implications of sexual assault extend far beyond its victims, MillerMacPhee said. Because students often hear about cases of sexual assault regularly in the news and on campus, she said they feel forced to follow a set of unspoken rules.
“It can restrict people in a lot of ways,” MillerMacPhee said. “You can be conditioned to think it’s against the rules to walk on campus alone, to not cover your drink at a party or not bring your own alcohol. Because we’ve been told the consequences of breaking those rules can be dire.”
While these rules are seen as restricting women and girls, MillerMacPhee said the rules affect men as well.
“For male students, there can be this misunderstanding where they’re seen as a predator walking home from class at night,” MillerMacPhee said. “Rape culture affects all of us.”
SAAM Slam will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Vandal Ballroom of the Bruce Pitman Center. The event is free and intended for mature audiences.
MillerMacPhee said she hopes SAAM Slam will inspire engagement around the topic of sexual assault. She said she wants the event to be a place where people can feel connected to the issue and feel empowered to take action against it.
“You don’t have to be an activist, victim or public speaker to be engaged,” MillerMacPhee said. “You just have to be a member of the community to be a part of this.”
Taryn Hadfield
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