The practice of rape kits after a sexual assault has revolutionized the way victims can seek justice against their assailants. Rape kits are invasive and are to be administered by a professional in a hospital or women’s care facility. They are then logged into a government database to help track serial offenders. Unfortunately, rape kits seem to be forgotten by the government or an equally scarring experience to the victim.
Rape on college campuses is a serious problem, as statistics show that 1 in 4 women will be raped during their four years of study. At Penn State specifically, rape kits are hard to come by. The assaulted student must provide his/her own transportation to Nittany Medical Center because the on campus University Health Center does not administer rape kits. The University website says to call an ambulance, but this is extremely costly to the patient.
When it comes to covering the cost of the service, Penn State or the PA Victims Compensation Program will cover the initial visit and one follow up, which is reassuring. Interestingly enough, when navigating Penn State’s Student Affairs webpage about women’s health, the links about “Penn State Center for Women Students” do not link through to anything. There is simply a blank page and a “domain error of unknown.” This is not only unprofessional, but is highly concerning to Penn State women seeking information about women’s programs available.
Penn State often held women’s safety seminars and lectures during the school year. The courses are roughly $13.00. The police.psu.edu website describes Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) as, “To develop and enhance the options of self-defense so that they may become more viable considerations to the woman who is attacked.” I feel as though this is a very harsh and not sympathetic explanation of the course.
Problematically, these sort of courses were held at night off campus without direct transportation to the location. They are taught in three, four hour blocks, which is unrealistic for any college student to allot after a day of classes. When calling the RAD phone line, I was deferred to the University Police phone number.
The Penn State Office of Women’s Health seems to be a maze of phone numbers, contacts, and websites that don’t have definite endings. On the police.psu.edu website, services such as engraving personal items and Ride-A-Longservices are offered under the same tab that shares Sexual Assault Prevention. Furthermore, “Sexual Assault Prevention” does not have a click through link, and simply says, “A prevention program that presents issues involving sexual assault and corresponding relevant statistics.” It seems that Penn State does not take women’s sexual health and safety seriously by redirecting users through irrelevant pages online.
It is thoroughly disappointing, as a woman on Penn State’s campus, that all these services are confused online and through the University Health Services. Hopefully into next year there will be big changes as to the sexual health policies on campus.