| Dear Lake State Students |
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| Written by Anonymous | ||||
| Friday, 11 April 2008 | ||||
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Dear Lake State Students, I felt that I needed to write this letter to all of you, not just for my sake, but for your sake, as well. As many of you have been made aware, either through hall meetings or announcements from Public Safety, there have been several sexually-based crimes committed against LSSU students recently. I was one of the victims; I was raped. I have heard some of the “advice” that the RA’s have given at their hall meetings, and quite frankly, I find that they would have been useless in my situation. Sure, having your key ready, being aware of your surroundings, and traveling around campus with a friend are all great ideas, but what are you supposed to do if you aren’t out and about, but in your dorm room, instead? I’m sorry, but having my key in my hand and being aware of my surroundings would have done nothing. No, instead, I found myself comfortably sitting in my dorm room with a man whom I considered to be a fairly good friend of mine. Yes, we broke campus policy and had alcohol (a bit too much, apparently), and yes, I let my guard down…but who is paranoid around their friends? I write this, completely embarrassed, admitting that I had fallen victim to the belief that “something like that could NEVER happen to me…” But believe me, I know now more than ever, IT CAN. It can happen to any of you, too. I, under the comfort of the “it can’t happen to me” belief, drank cup after cup of the cheap wine that my “friend” provided; I laughed, I joked around, and I got drunk; I got so drunk, in fact, that I blacked out…and THAT, friends, was my BIGGEST mistake. My “friend” ended up taking advantage of the fact that I had no idea what was going on around me. I was blacking in and out and can only remember bits and pieces of what happened between him and me that night. The next day I sat down with a few good friends of mine retracing the night before, step-by-step, and discovered that I had in fact been raped…then I had to tell my boyfriend, the man I am in love with, that somebody had hurt me in the worst way possible. I don’t think I’ve cried so many tears in my life. To make matters worse, I had to lay on a hospital bed, completely vulnerable, and endure the worst hell I’ve been through in forever--a rape kit. I was poked and prodded, had blood drawn, bombarded with question after question…and then sent to the police station to be bombarded with even more questions from a detective. They took my sheets, blankets, and clothes for evidence. I was humiliated, then told that I had contracted an infection…Great, just great. It’s been a few weeks now, and I still feel pangs of guilt, shame, anger, hurt, and emotions that I’m honestly not even sure I can put a name to. I’ve missed classes and fallen behind on schoolwork, and I am ashamed to go out in public alone for fear that I’ll randomly collapse into tears. Therapy tells me that none of this was my fault, but my mind tells me that if I had just gone to bed that night instead of drinking…none of this would have happened. I can’t stress to you enough how important it is to follow the campus alcohol policy, no matter how ridiculous you might think it is…the policy is actually there for a reason. I know it sounds horrible, but I also ask that you not be too trusting of your friends. My “friend” told me that “nothing will happen…I promise,” but I was raped. In the worst case scenario you do find yourself in the position I did, I beg you to go to the police and hospital; call Public Safety, the Diane Peppler Center, 911, or even a friend. Tell them what happened. It was terrifying, but I know that later on down the road, I won’t have the guilt of “I should have turned him in…” Basically my letter comes down to this: I urge all of you to take proper precautions the rest of this semester- and for those of you that will be returning students in the fall, please remember my words. I have been stripped of my comfort and left only with medication for coping and nightmares for memories. So please, learn from my bad choice and the situation it put me in…Please. Sincerely, Your Anonymous Friend  Add as favourites (0)
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