New Development on the Sex Crimes Audit: 55-Schools to be Investigated

            Chico State’s 2014 spring semester is coming to a close, and so to are the days when the result of the sexual crimes audit will finally be released. However, the release of the audit itself does not necessarily mean the end of sexual assault issues among college campuses in the United States.

            In fact, reports within the last few months suggests, that the four colleges investigated in the audit is just the beginning of a nationwide crack down that the U.S. government are planning, to tackle the issue of sex crimes on universities across the nation.  

            Earlier this month, the White House announced that they are going to do another round of investigation within the next couple of months. The upcoming audit will be at a much larger scale, and it will involve 55 college campuses. Among the schools chosen is Butte College, a community college located in the city of Chico.

            Similar to the current audit that is being done to Chico State, the investigation that is going to happen will investigate the universities’ procedures, policies and implementation of sexual assault policies, and an examination of each school’s Clery Report and Title IX documents.

           

What it Means:

            The upcoming audit should benefit the four schools currently being audited on some of the stigma that has been attached to the current investigation. It will help get rid of the assumptions and questions as to why Chico State, and the 3 other schools involved were chosen for the audit.

            It should also benefit sex crimes victims (past and future), in knowing that the government is doing what it can to address this issue that has plagued college campuses across the nation.

            This new development will help motivate students that were victimized by this particular crime to come forward, and speak about their experience, without worrying about the repercussions, and whether or not, they will get the proper assistance they need.

To learn more about the new audit that was initiated, here is one report from the L.A. Times that talks about it:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-campus-sexual-assault-20140428-story.html

Here is a new website that the United States government has created addressing the issue of sexual assault in college campuses:

www.notalone.gov

  

Chico State Bike Trail and the Rape Graffiti Warnings

             

            Graffiti murals garner mixed feelings from people in every community. Some view it as an artistic expression, while others see it as a form of vandalism that destroys property and lowers a city’s economic value.

            In contrast, people who do graffiti are similar to the people who see their work, in that they too have a number of reasons why they decide to cover walls with banner-like designs and murals.

            Like most middle class cities in the United States, there are plenty of graffiti and vandalism that can be seen all around Chico.

            One in particular that has caught the attention of Chico’s community are the “rape graffiti” that has been popping up all over the city's downtown area, and the Chico State campus.

            I first heard about this from a student in one of my classes. He brought it up after I read my article to him about the sexual harassment audit that is currently happening in Chico State.

            According to my classmate a number of these graffiti signs has been appearing all over Chico State and its surrounding area, but he had no idea who exactly was doing it.

            I thought it was something that could help me in writing my article so I decided to check it out...

            The first place I went to was the GSEC office since I figured they could give me plenty of information about it, and tell me where exactly I can find one of these “rape graffiti.”

            After talking to some of the GSEC members, they told me that they to had no idea who was responsible for it.

            I originally thought that it was some sort of sexual harassment activism aimed towards students of Chico State that a school organization was doing, but it turned out that I was wrong.

            According to Sarena Kirk, GSEC’s LGBTQ Program Coordinator, it is some sort of “guerilla activism,” that someone in the community is doing.

            It is safe to assume that whoever is responsible for this “guerilla activism,” is familiar with Chico’s sexual crimes problem, as the sign can be seen in all of the places where a rape, or an assault has occurred.

            I asked Kirk where I could find one of these signs, and one of the places she told me to look was the bike path along Chico State.

(The Bike Path along the Chico State campus)

            The “Bike Trail” as most Chico State students calls it, is a path that students take to go in and out of campus. It runs parallel to the train tracks that operate through downtown Chico.

            Kirk said that due to the high rate of sexual assault that occurs on the trail, it is not a surprise that a number of these graffiti has been found there.

            She said that some students have even gone as far as calling the path the “rape trail,” due to the amount of assaults that have happened around that area.

(Bike Trail/"Rape Trail" on Chico State)

            Unfortunately, I was unable to see one on the bike path when I went there, because according to Kirk, they are often gone as quickly as they appear.

            However, while walking around downtown and talking to student who lives there asking if they have ever seen this particular graffiti, I came across one by Third Street and Cherry.

(Photo of the Graffiti that is popping up all over Chico)

            After seeing one for myself in just an hour of searching, it has led me to the conclusion that maybe sexual assault is a serious problem in Chico, and that may have been one of the reasons why the university is being audited.

            While talking to Kirk and Joe Wills, both of them brought up the fact that Chico State is a college institution that has close ties to its community. This got me thinking that maybe Chico State is not the one with the sexual crimes problem, but the city itself, and the school is affected due to its location in the downtown area where most of the assaults happen.

            Of course, the issue of how many sex crimes that involves students is not the only factor that plays into the audit. It is also about how well the school’s officials deal with the problem when they do occur.

            But again, these questions can only be answered when the audits results come out, but the “rape graffiti” that can be seen all around the city does verify the fact that sexual assaults are indeed a problem in Chico.