Yuni Kim
News Editor
“I raped that exam.”
Way too many times I hear these words being thrown around in York’s hallways after midterms or finals. Of course, a lot of the time no one means it and it’s just another way of saying that you completely destroyed the exam, triumphed over it, and conquered it.
But what students forget is that these words feed a thriving misogynistic, victim-blaming society.
Personally, I find it highly ironic that ever since York president Mamdouh Shoukri announced about 60 per cent of METRAC’s safety recommendations have been implemented, there seems to have been a spike in campus crime and sexual assaults.
First came the numerous on-campus gang robberies, and then came the voyeur who peeped on women in the washroom stalls of York. Now we have an unknown coward using violent words to threaten survivors of sexual assault in a place they consider a safe haven.
I am not pointing fingers at the university. There is only so much that a university can do, just as there is only so much police officers and law enforcement can do. There is no way a single institution can track the actions of every single student and non-student that comes through campus.
But we can track our own actions and track the things that come out of our mouths, because sadly, these problems are not unique to York. They are widespread ideas, firmly rooted in a patriarchal world where rape victims ask for it by dressing like “sluts” and assault victims need to “get over it.”
Boys and girls, we were taught to be tolerant. We were taught to be accepting of different cultures, to embrace them and to celebrate in their diversity. But this toxic culture of victim-blaming and misogyny has got to go, starting with its harmful words. There is no place for tolerance for these repressive attitudes, and they must be cleansed—wiped off the face of society—in their entirety.
Words aren’t important, you say? Of course words are important. Every time you voice thoughtless, hateful words, it keeps another victim quiet. Speak up, I dare you, and be showered with supposedly righteous sticks and stones; what an upstanding message to send to the hurt and victimized.
Start by refusing to tolerate bullshit like this. Only then can we even begin to put a dent in this problem, and it’s only going to be an uphill battle; one survivor, one ally at a time. In the end, that’s far more important—and difficult—even than fulfilling 110 per cent of the METRAC recommendations.
