It has been six months since IU announced it would place more than 6,000 posters with sexual violence definitions and resources in ?bathrooms across campus.
These posters have been placed in spaces that force you to interface with them. No toilet stall is safe from a ?University definition of sexual assault.
Can we please rethink this ?strategy?
I find sexual violence a very troubling issue on this campus and support informing as many people as possible about University policies related to sexual violence, but I find it equally troubling that a person could walk into a toilet stall, pull down their underwear, and be forced to read about sexual violence.
Toilet stalls are private spaces, not rape education centers. Recently, an updated policy on sexual violence was released by ?University officials.
It seems the posters may need to be updated to include new ?information.
I propose a modest solution to the issue of forcing men and women to look at a sexual assault policy while sitting on the toilet: move the posters from the toilet stalls to the general bathroom areas.
Move them any place where I don’t have to be half-naked. In general the campus continues to make great efforts to educate ?students about sexual violence.
However, the posters seem reflective of a few administrators who are more concerned with enforcing policies than appealing to sensibilities.
I believe these administrators have an authentic desire to be helpful and represent the University in a positive light, yet policies that invade a person’s privacy reflect poorly on the decision-making of the administrators responsible.
It seems unlikely that someone who understands trauma would ?advocate for such a policy. Who is creating these policies, and what are they thinking?
My advice is to rethink who is making the decisions to address sexual violence. Perhaps including those who ?understand trauma is a good start.
Mak Huxley
makhuxley@gmail.com
