Venice Personal Statement

The chapter “ Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why are some fraternities more dangerous places for women?” by A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade helps to shed light on why some fraternities are associated with high number of sexual assaults on women. I was surprised to learn that “frat brothers rape 300% more and 1 in 5 women are raped on campus” (Valenti, 2014) and despite these horrendous statistics fraternities are still around. So why aren’t there more stringent actions set into motion to stop sexual assaults on women on campus or better yet ban fraternities. A lot has to do with how society as a whole sets double standards with regard to gender sexuality. Men who sleep around are viewed as “studs” or a “player” and women who sleep

As a previous volunteer in the Friendship of Women non-profit organization I’ve deliberately been well-informed of modernized anti-violence reforms. During my hours I learned about domestic violence, primary prevention, dealing with distressed clients, and promote empowerment. That’s where Washington D.C comes into place and I represent victims who’ve concealed with violence, discrimination, or any type of disconformity. It is my aspiration to help women in need to move on forward with their lifestyles. I want to be as opportunistic and communicate with people from all over the world, share and make an impact on society with empowerment movements.

I am a graduate of Pope John XXIII Regional High School. I graduated with my involvement in the National Honor Society and Italian Honor Society. Currently, I go to Rochester Institute of Technology for Software Engineering. I am a part of Women In Computing and am helping run the all women's hackathon, WiC Hacks. At RIT, I am currently a notetaker for the deaf and hard of hearing students in my classes helping them succeed in the classroom. In the past, I have worked for Cora Hardware as a cashier for various summers.

A typical teen, fresh into adulthood has just graduated high school. At this point in their life, they must choose how they want to proceed forward, their life is no longer necessarily decided upon by their parents. A majority of recent high school graduates typically decide to further their education, whether this may be to achieve the career goal they most desire, or if maybe they just want to be able to say that recieved a degree. These next four or more years they will experience all sorts of new things, they may make new friends, go out to parties, and most likely have lots of fun. However in today’s society, going off to a college campus could end up being their worst nightmare. According to the article “Campus Sexual Violence Statistics”, “Women ages 18-24 are at an elevated risk of sexual violence” (RAINN 1). By this statistic, college aged women are at a higher risk for some form of sexual violence. Campus sexual assault is so universal because the justice system does not treat sexual assault as seriously as they should, a large amount of sexual assaults are left unreported, and sexual assault cases are very difficult to prove.

Promoting women’s equality in the workplace has been a central focus throughout my professional life. As a journeywoman carpenter (prior to my current academic career), I volunteered as a project leader for the Oregon Tradeswomen Inc., OTI (http://www.tradeswomen.net/) in Portland, Oregon. In this role, I taught women in OTI’s apprentice program introductory skills that allowed them to enroll in various trade union training programs throughout the Pacific Northwest. The goal of this work was simple, to increase the number of women in careers that were predominately male-dominated. At every stage of my academic career, I’ve made a concerted effort to mentor female students, and took great joy in watching them succeed. I believe that serving

Women are more likely to be assaulted than men. However, one can delve even further to predict rise by utilizing intersectionality and crossing over factors such as gender, race, and sexuality. When you do that you realize that not only are women more likely but within women, black women are at higher risk to be assaulted than Asian women as well as bisexual women are at a higher risk than heterosexual women. This applies to organizations and one’s involvement as well finding that sorority women are at a higher risk than non-sorority

Throughout history, there has been many different types of sexual assault cases. In all of these cases, sexual assault pertains to forced, sexual actions or behavior on a person without their explicit consent. In an article conducted by the New York Times, it said, “In four years of college, more than one-fourth of undergraduate women at a large group of leading universities said they had been sexually assaulted by force or when they were incapacitated”( Perez-Pena). An abounding amount of women are being sexually assaulted during their time as a college student. One in four women in college will be sexually assaulted in college. To add to being sexually assaulted, in a recent research conducted by the National Institute of Justice, researchers discovered that, “Sexual assault is widely considered to be the most underreported violent crime  in America. Most sexual assaults on campus are committed by an acquaintance of the victim, which explains, in part, why these crimes are underreported”(Karjane ii). There are many people who are afraid to report their incident to the school or the police. In most cases, they are afraid of letting their friends or family know, so they don 't have a support system to help them. The EROC provides support systems for students by connecting them to a survivor. By doing that victims will be able to heal quicker.

“The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network reports that college-aged women are four times more likely than any other age group to face sexual assault” (Lam par. 3). Sexual assault unfortunately occurs at every university. This letter is not going to solve the issue completely and make Penn State a 100% safe campus where sexual assault never occurs. This letter is intended

College can be one of the most influential and exciting times of self-discovery and exploration in a young woman’s life. In addition to expanding academic horizons, a woman’s college years can be used as a time of self-exploration and discovery. For some students, however, despite all the wonderful experience college has to offer, young women need to be mindful of a silent issue plaguing campuses everywhere: sexual assault. Gager defines sexual assault as “a public health and public safety problem with far-reaching implications.” According to Wikipedia, sexual assault is any “involuntary sexual act in which a person is coerced or physically forced to engage against their will, or any non-consensual sexual

The first social justice organization I discovered while researching, is one that focuses on an issue I personally can relate to, feminism. The Feminist Majority Foundation, founded in 1987, considers themselves a “consciousness raiser,” supporting the feminist population in America and informing the community of the strong social backing it receives with 56 percent of women in the U.S. self-identifying as feminist. The three main focuses of FMF include supporting women’s equality in the U.S., ensuring female reproductive health, and promoting non-violence within households and policing methods. The president of the organization, Eleanor Smeal, has dedicated FMF’s time to advancing women’s standing politically, socially and economically to

For years, women have been sexualized publicly on television and other forms of media. With twisted TV shows such as Law and Order and CSI glorifying the stone-cold reality of sexual assaults and rapes that occur daily on college campuses. Television gives away a blissful ending with every sexual assault or rape, but it is far from the truth. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 80% of rape and sexual assaults of female students goes unreported to the police. (Langston) This does not mean it was never documented, the reports were made to the campus police, then should be passed on to the Special Victims Unit, but almost always the report is put aside, forgotten about, then eventually lost. Two solutions of trying to help this overwhelming statistic are to constantly educate female students about the harsh reality of sexual

Sexual assault is something that is increasingly common on college campus’, 1 in 4 women are assaulted at some point during their university career. Some might say “are you serious? That’s some feminist propaganda!” But this is the truth, and is the reality of universities across the US and beyond. When you see a promotional video about Harvard University, they don’t show you the statistics of sexual assault/misconduct. They show you an idealized view of university, they want to show you how you can achieve the American dream! Harvard, as the top dog of ivy league universities, has one of the highest numbers of sexual assault and misconduct. They are top in education, and in crime.

Our “Wooster Clothesline” would draw attention to this crucial issue and we hope that it would produce less tolerance in the campus community towards those who perform these actions. This clothesline is inspired by a similar project that has been carried out at Utah Valley University every year since 1998. There, the community and college come together to “recognize and prevent violence, reach out to survivors, and make a difference in the community” (“Clothesline Project” 1). This project, we hope, would reap the same benefits, allowing victims to break the silence and stigma associated with sexual violence. We chose this project because of its ability to show how wide-spread effect sexual violence has. If this form of violence has not happened in someone’s immediate group of friends, they may be likely to brush it off, thinking that it doesn’t encompass as many innocent people as it does. Even on campus, some students are not comfortable with sharing their stories and yet have faced some degree of sexual harassment. Contrarily, some students have committed some amount of sexual violence and are still welcome to further their education. Less than 7% of accused college-age perpetrators actually face prosecution for their crimes (American Association of University Professors 2). As stated on “The Clothesline Project’s” website, “women are battered

The All-China Women’s Federation can also partner up with international organizations. There are many nonprofit organizations that are currently taking action on opposing gendercide. The Gendercide Awareness Project is an organization with no religious or political affiliations, and they are hoping everyone can work together to end gendercide. This organization has raised awareness up to 1.3 million people through all types of media and they also provide financial support for women and girls that are in need for help to survive and to get education (Gender Awareness

New York is the city where opportunities, dreams, education, and hard work thrives. Being in the heart of New York, Barnard offers opportunities unique to the city and provides resources which are essential for the success of women. Being a woman, there are already limitations and expectations placed on me by society. These limitations are escalated when taken into account my pursuit into surgery and medical research, which is currently predominantly males. So being placed in an university that has a student body that consists of mostly females, who share the same aspirations and ambitions as I, would constantly motivate and allow me to feel comfortable to express my perspective and voice, which most women don't have the courage to do because