Break the Silence: Protect South Asian Girls from Campus Sexual Violence

Campus sexual violence is rampant throughout the US with more than 1 in 4 female students experiencing it. It is deeply damaging to the student’s psyche, self-respect and coping skills. The effects can vary from poor academic performance to suicide.

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=13298&context=etd

Protect South Asian Girls from Campus Sexual Violence

Unfortunately, South Asian parents who are eager to see their children succeed in college are either not aware of this risk or ignore it, and therefore avoid having necessary conversations.

Only 10% of assaults are reported, WHY?

https://www.apa.org/apags/resources/campus-sexual-assault-fact-sheet

Shame, guilt, fear of being misunderstood, fear of reprisal have a lot to do with it.

South Asian survivors, above all, report a feeling of “shame.” The repression is inevitably for cultural reasons. If the incident is shared with family, the survivor is pressured to disregard the incident in most cases. No blemish should fall on the “nice girl” image and bring “dishonor” to the family. The pressure to stay silent is immense.

Author Sajni Patel says the community “emphasizes the importance of a woman’s purity…instead of creating safer environments for women to be able to live without fear of experiencing this, people place the burden on women to be careful.” For a sexual assault could be “detrimental to your chances of getting married.”

https://browngirlmagazine.com/sajni-patel-using-authorship-to-address-sexual-assault/

Lack of sex education and exposure

Young people in conservative patriarchal homes invariably grow up to be more accepting of male dominance, which also makes them more vulnerable to assault.

Moreover, sex is a taboo subject. Daughters go to college with a rudimentary understanding of how to manage themselves, cautioned to “be careful” but not tutored about the right to say no. Brought up in primarily ethno-centric environments, young women are exposed to unequal sex equations. According to Anaya, a student who participated in a research study, “In a lot of Bollywood movies, the woman exists for the man . . . Growing up seeing things like that, that really shifts your mentality and then you start to think of yourself as an accessory to whatever the guy is doing. I think having that kind of mentality, growing up with that kind of media, and then having something like [sexual assault] happen to you, it’s very natural to think that it’s okay.”

https://careprogram.ucla.edu/education/readings/Harris2020

The highest number of campus assaults take place in the Red Zone
https://wellbeing.jhu.edu/blog/2024/08/21/the-red-zone-of-sexual-assault-3/

The start of the Fall semester and through Thanksgiving is the time when 50% of assaults take place at campuses. Parties and social events are abundant and drugs and alcohol can play a role. And new students are at their most vulnerable as they are unfamiliar with the campus and social practices, and unaware of support resources.

While there is a relationship between sexual assault and alcohol, it’s important to state that sexual assault is never the fault of the survivor. Alcohol use brings up the question of consent, which is defined by uncoerced permission and includes “the presence of a yes rather than an absence of a no.” This article goes on to state, “A person who is incapacitated by drugs or alcohol is not able to consent.”

Universities and colleges are responding with wide-ranging support services that include consent education, intervention and counseling. There’s also a growing understanding that all students are not alike and cultural sensitivity is critical to help persons of varying ethnicities.

What is Ashiyanaa doing about it: Campus Voices for Change Program

Ashiyanaa launched a program in 2024 to help South Asian students address campus sexual violence. Motivated young men and women are entrusted as Ambassadors and equipped with the tools, knowledge, and support to organize campus workshops, hold dialogues and interact with students and prepare them to prevent and respond to sexual violence effectively. Topics cover healthy relationships and consent, gender-based hierarchies in South Asia, and how to engage in effective, grassroots advocacy.

Coming from the same cultural construct, our Ambassadors have empathy, understanding and, most important, no communication barriers.

Talk to us

Ashiyana is here to listen, support, and stand with those impacted. Together, we can make campuses safer and ensure every student can chase their education dream without fear.