Feminists United (FU), Haverford’s student-run group that supports and addresses feminist ideals through political action, emailed a survey November 30th to all students about sexual misconduct on campus.
The survey was the first component of FU’s “Fucked Up” Series, a project that aims to question assumptions about safety and inclusion in the Haverford community while fostering conversation about how individuals can work to end rape culture.
According to the email, the survey, which consisted of one open response question, was created to provide students a safe space to “recount any experiences on campus in which they experienced sexual misconduct or sexual assault or felt that their boundaries were violated.”
As of Sunday night, 50 students had taken the survey.
The results of the survey were to be used “to confront the student body about its false view of Haverford’s community as a safe space for all and foster a conversation about how we can continue to improve our community,” according to the email.
When asked what prompted the creation of the survey, Kaylynn Mayo ‘17, one of the leaders of FU, said that it was not one, but rather several events.
“Many people on this campus have had their boundaries violated and have experienced sexual violence,” Mayo added.
Several survey responses, all of which were anonymous, were posted in the Dining Center lobby on Friday. Members of FU projected the message“Fucked up shit happens here too” on the front of Founders Hall Friday night as well.
FU also began selling t-shirts last week with a middle finger on them and the words “A Message From Feminists United” written below. The shirts, however, are not related to FU’s projects related to sexual violence and boundary violation.
In order to further examine issues of sexual misconduct on Haverford’s campus, FU is hosting an open discussion Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Founders Common Room. Mayo believes that this discussion will both clarify the intentions behind FU’s project as well as carry out its mission of standing up to sexual violence at Haverford.
“Because Haverford is safer for many people than a lot of places in the country it is easy to fall into complacency and not actively address these issues,” said Mayo. “Although Haverford’s reported statistic of sexual assaults on campus is lower than the national average, that number is still not zero.”
More information on Wednesday’s forum can be found by clicking the image below.
Looks like that poster board kind of backfired…
how did the poster board backfire?