by Whitney Marie Halaby ‘14

The total prevention of rape is impossible, but our schools can better educate women about being safe at parties, not walking alone in the dark and taking other safety measures. Sometimes, horrible things happen; however, we can help the victims.

I recently had a friend tell me that she was raped; I was shocked, scared and worried. This event, coupled with the highly publicized rape scandal at a high school in Ohio, got me wondering just how prevalent rape is.

My friend was roofied; she was drugged, beaten and raped. She believes it is her fault and that she could have done something to prevent it.

I looked up rape statistics and discovered that approximately two-thirds of sexual  assaults are committed by someone the victim knows. With 54 percent of sexual assaults never being reported, and 97 percent of rapists never spending a day in jail, something needs to be done. The most startling statistic is that one out of every six American woman will be or has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime.    These statistics speak for themselves and school systems should do more to protect their students.

The education system can better inform students. In the Montgomery County health curriculum, students are taught what to do if they are raped, but it is not made clear that a non-consensual sexual advance is always wrong.

The perpetrators are obviously taught that rape is okay whether it is through teen culture or media. It is important to make it clear that rape is wrong across the board and that no one is ever “asking for it.”

Education is one of the most vital parts to success in our country, and in some areas it is still lacking. Our education system needs to realize that rape isn’t a rare occurrence that only happens when someone is drunk. Students all over need to be educated that rape isn’t their fault, what to do once it happens, and that there is no excuse to violate anyone.