Saudi Rape Case Spurs Calls for Reform
By RASHEED ABOU-ALSAMH
Published: December 1, 2007
The case of a rape victim who was sentenced to be lashed has provoked a rare public debate in Saudi Arabia.

One of the situations that has come up to SAFER’s attention this year is that of assault victims, having failed to convince a disciplinary committee that they were assaulted, being found to have violated a school “no sex” code and being disciplined themselves. (Because if it wasn’t rape, it was consensual sex, which they weren’t supposed to be having.) Yes, different end of the spectrum from the Saudi case, but same spectrum.

Ok, so our latest, greatest project is The Policies Database Project. Basically, because people keep asking, we are developing a database of college sexual assault polices from across the country. For each school, we’re noting whether they have specific elements of a better policy, and commenting on what we think a school is doing well, and what they could do better. Once the database is online, students will also be able to submit comments about their own school and see hoe their school compares to others.

Well, there are over 4,000 colleges in the U.S. I believe, so this is definitely a long-term project. But you can help speed things up by sending us a link to your school’s policy and any related programs, as well as by telling us what you think of your school’s approach to sexual violence. Tell us here, and we’ll be sure to include your school in the first version of the database, which we plan to launch in early 2008. Thanks!

Check out our Benefit Show online! Many thanks to Chelsea for filming for us. Intrepid Chelsea used her digital camera at the end when her video camera ran out. It was a great show, enjoy!

Grab a camera, SAFER’s having a video contest!

SAFER has finally set up its YouTube page (http://www.youtube.com/safercampus), now we need some videos for it. While we work on getting sections of our trainings recorded, we want to hear and see what you have to say about sexual violence at college.

Submit a video (5 mins or less) that addresses sexual violence (what colleges should do about it, what you’re doing about it, the causes, what can be done to address rape culture, a performance, etc.), and if we like it, we’ll add it (properly credited to you of course) to our YouTube page, Facebook, and web site. Email your submissions to organizers@safercampus.org. There is no deadline; we want to hear from as many students as possible. Thanks!

Did you wear red yesterday? Check out photos of folks who did.