“The more I resisted, the more he wanted. The more I said no, the more he pushed. The more scared I was, the more powerful he felt.”
Emma J., a student at the University of Tennessee at Martin, gets emotional recounting this incident months after it occurred. (Student’s full name will not be used.) She said she was more fortunate than others because she was able to escape the assault before penetration.
“What’s really sickening is that I had to resort to other distractions to get out of the situation,” Emma said. Even in her trauma, she was able to tell her attacker, someone she was familiar with, to try to respect other women in the future.
“And the strength that I thought I had, it just wouldn’t get him off me. And at one point, you know, I just gave up and turned to God and said, ‘Please help, because I can’t get out of this situation by myself.’”
Ruby Camille, two weeks into being a freshman in college, was sexually assaulted. She was a student-athlete at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She was, more specifically, a track athlete that could throw 355 pounds. She was still unable to fight off her attacker. Now, a singer, songwriter and actor, she performed her song about the assault.
“The first time I sang it, I did cry during the performance because it was my first time sharing. I even had a woman admit to me, for the first time to anybody, that it had happened to her in college.”
Emma J., Ruby Camille and that woman are a part of the 20% of female student victims who are sexually assaulted each year and do not report the incident, according to RAIIN. Renee LeFleur, director for the Center for Women and Gender Equality at UT Martin, explained why there is a hesitancy about reporting.
“It’s feelings of shame, of embarrassment, of not wanting it to have actually happened to you. And then, of course when you see what happens to other people when they’ve been assaulted and have come forward.”
LeFleur believes the messaging for preventing sexual assault has mainly rested on women and that narrative should change.
“Assault, really when it comes down to it, is power over somebody else. Historically that power has been men over women, or stronger people over weaker people. If you respect women, you’re not going to rape them,” LeFleur firmly said. The statement that she most often uses is: start by believing. It is the beginning of change.
In 2019, there were three reports of statutory rape on UT Martin’s campus. The undergrad population at UT Martin is 6,779. Statutory rape is defined by the university as sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. The annual safety report from the university only documents the reported amount. Statistics on who has come to health services to receive counseling, or use WRAP (Wo/Men’s Resource and Rape Assistance Program) services because of sexual assault trauma is private information that cannot be shared.
Joe Henderson, Director of Equity and Diversity, Title VI Coordinator and Title IX Coordinator, said UT Martin has resources to help create a safer environment.
“We require all incoming freshman to take the sexual assault training.” Speaking at a university online panel discussion about sexual assault awareness, Henderson added, “Every faculty and staff is mandated to take this training. We also made a conscious decision to make everyone on campus a mandatory reporter for sexual assault.” Henderson also said that he believes UT Martin is one of the safest colleges in our area.
On the university’s sexual misconduct page, it states that there is a commitment to creating and maintaining a safe and non-discriminatory environment free from sexual harassment, sexual assualt, violence and stalking.
Jenifer Hart, clinical coordinator of counseling services at the university, offered advice for students on how to protect themselves from sexual assault. “I would say to always be aware and have a buddy system,” Hart mentions. She also encourages anyone who has been assaulted to seek counseling.
Sexual assault on college campuses is a relevant issue that will hopefully resolve. “You can pass laws, but laws don’t change hearts and minds,” LeFleur says. Start by believing.
To contact and make an appointment with student health and counseling at UT Martin, please call 731-881-7750 or email shcs@utm.edu.
For the WRAP 24-hour hotline, please call 800-273-8712.
To visit UTM’s sexual misconduct page, click here.
