MU students gathered in Speakers Circle Wednesday to protest recent reports of students being drugged and assaulted in Columbia.
About 20 people congregated together beginning at noon, holding signs that read “end victim blaming” and “believe survivors.”
Chants of “no more silence, stop the violence” pierced through the thick, humid air as the campus buzzed with its typical daily activity. Many students who passed by raised their fists in support, others picked up signs to join the thralls of the protest, and some walked straight through the line of protesters with their heads down.
This protest was organized by Stronger Together Against Relationship and Sexual Violence, an MU student organization.
Noura Alhachami, the president of STARS, said that it is particularly important to protest given the multiple reports from MUPD about sexual assault and drugging from the last few weeks.
On Sept. 17, the MU Police Department sent out an email about reports that the Office for Civil Rights and Title IX received about “individuals suspecting that drinks may have been drugged at various locations throughout Columbia,” and that, “some may have involved fraternity social events.”
The next week, on Sept. 24, MU police sent out another email about a reported sexual assault that occurred in the early hours of the morning. The next day, there was a follow-up email where campus police said that suspect of the crime from the previous day had been identified and interviewed.
“It just puts the blame on women to protect ourselves.”Michelle Le, a member of STARS.
In these emails, the university also offered a variety of safety tips for students. The email from Sept. 17 outlined various signs to tell if someone had been drugged as well as safety tips including covering drinks at parties. The other emails also included more tips, such as using the buddy system and even taking a basic self defense class through the MU Police Department.
The emails also state that, “individuals can do everything correctly and still be the victim of a crime.”
Some students at the protest don’t think this is enough.
“It just puts the blame on women to protect ourselves,” Michelle Le, a new member of STARS, said. “It shouldn’t just be our responsibility. We (the institutions) should be teaching and telling men to not be rapists.”
This sentiment was shared by many of the students at the protests.
“I think men in general need to come to a realization that you can’t get defensive over this. You can’t get this defensive feeling of ‘they’re coming after me,’” Bennett Lyday, a junior at MU, said. “No one can do it alone, and I think that to get this done, we need everyone here together.”
MU spokesperson Christian Basi said that the university wants to give students as many resources they can to protect themselves.
“Our goal is to focus on safety, and by providing these reminders, we can work to prevent this from happening,” he said. Basi emphasized that the university is in full support of the students who are bringing awareness to these very serious issues.
Over the next week, there will be two other protests. First, an annual Women’s March will take place Saturday at the Boone County Courthouse from noon-2 p.m. On Tuesday, a new group, Mizzou Against Sexual Assault, will be holding a protest at Traditions Plaza starting at 7 p.m.
