Letters to the Editor: Responses to alleged assault

Help is available

To the Editor:

In light of the recent alleged sexual assault at Penn, we at Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape would like to inform students of the various resources available to victims.

First, it is important to attend to immediate medical needs. A medical examination will allow doctors to check for physical injuries, pregnancy and STDs and to collect evidence. Jefferson Hospital and Episcopal Hospital are designated by the city as treatment centers for victims of sexual assault, and it is necessary to go to one of these locations for evidence to be collected. It is important not to shower or douche before going to the hospital, and to remove the clothes you were wearing at the time of the incident, place them in a paper (not plastic) bag and bring them with you to the hospital.

If contacted, the Special Services Unit of the Penn Police (215-898-6600) will send an unmarked car to pick you up and take you to Jefferson Hospital. Emergency contraception is also available at Women's Health (215-662-2874) and can be taken up to 72 hours after the incident.

Counseling, support and crisis intervention are available from several on- and off-campus locations. Penn's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) can be reached at 215-898-7021 during normal business hours or 215-349-5490 after hours. The Penn Women's Center (215-898-8611) also offers counseling and advice regarding judicial options to rape victims, their families and friends. Rape counseling is available through the Women Organized Against Rape hotline (215-985-3333).

Remember that victims of sexual assault have been denied control over their own bodies; friends can restore power to the victim by allowing them to make their own choices about when and how to proceed with any medical help or legal action.

For more information visit the STAAR Web site at dolphin.upenn.edu/~staar/

Alexandra Guild, College '05

The author is a member of the executive board of Students Together Against Acquaintance Rape We're all neighbors

To the Editor:

The recent incident near 40th & Pine gave rise to familiar and understandable fears among campus-oriented students. But it is important that educated young people learn not to live inside a mental prison of inaccurate fears. And in truth, "neighborhood" has little to do with the act of rape.

Most rapes are perpetrated by acquaintances of the victim. So if most of your acquaintances are on campus, that's where most of your risk will be also.

Students have been living happily and safely among us on 44th Street for many years. We neighbors look out for each other, and when you live and walk around here, you're a neighbor too.

Tony West

The author is a resident of University City

Feeling unsafe

To the Editor:

After reading the articles about the incident last Friday and the escort services available, I wanted to comment that besides impatience and embarrassment, there are reasons that some of us choose not to use 898-WALK even when we feel unsafe.

On Halloween this year, I was walking back from a thrift shop in West Philly in the late afternoon with a couple of female friends when a Penn transit bus slowed down near us as we approached the intersection of Locust and 41st. We figured the driver was offering us a ride since I had a Penn sweatshirt on, but to our dismay the driver began catcalling at us. When we stared back at him in horror, he simply grinned nauseatingly at us and drove off, laughing.

Later that evening, I encountered a similar situation, this time involving a group of security guards. As we walked back from a party on 40th Street around 1 a.m., I noticed a group of yellow-jacketed Penn Police on bikes standing on the corner by Copabanana, watching everyone go by and, I figured, making sure no one was assaulted or harassed. However, as we walked past them, I was again shocked as they began whistling after me and my female friend. So much for protecting students from harassment.

It's demeaning and aggravating when random guys on the street make comments at you, but when the men who are supposed to protect you from feeling unsafe do it too, that's a serious problem. I'd always wanted to give 898-WALK or 898-RIDE a try, but after being harassed twice in one day by the people who would potentially be walking or driving me home late at night, I decided to just stick to calling up a male friend who can I trust.

Personally, I'm just not comfortable being alone at night with a man I don't know who could be having sexual thoughts about me as we walk past dark alleys where the supposedly ubiquitous blue lights are no where to be found. While these two incidents were minor, when something like the incident that took place Friday morning occurs, it really makes me reconsider who I should and should not trust on this campus. I don't know how many other women have experienced similar situations, but it's certainly not impatience, embarrassment or a sense of false security that's keeping me from using the escort services. It's fear.

Samantha Durante

Wharton & Engineering '07

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.