Rape awareness sign taken down

An unknown person took down a banner designed to promote increased awareness of acquaintance rape on campus Thursday. "It was so hurting to some group of people that they felt they had to tear it down so they wouldn't feel threatened," Gill said. "That's scary." Gill said the group received permission from the Physical Plant Department before hanging the banner, and added that department officials told her later they did not remove the sign. College junior Wai-Sum Lee, a member of the Penn Women's Alliance, said last night the group is planning to hang another banner on the Walk next week. She said she is glad people are at least paying attention to the displays, but added the act makes her worry how people will react to actual acquaintance rape situations. "We weren't antagonizing anyone in particular and we were trying to put in people's heads that rape is wrong and women have the right to their own bodies," Lee said. "If people get so threatened as to pull it down, you wonder what people can do on a one-to-one basis." Gill said the banner was a part of the Womens Alliance's efforts to increase awareness about the "alarming" numbers of acquaintance rapes on college campuses. The group has also posted flyers on Locust Walk and in campus buildings describing the statistics of rape and abuse of women and children. She said several of the flyers on the bridge were also torn down. College senior Tristan Svare, a member of Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape, said last night that taking down the banner is "counterproductive. . . to the aims we all have of decreasing acquaintance rape on campus." But Svare said he can not speculate whether the act was malicious or just random vandalism.

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