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Hannah Graham’s disappearance is not evidence of the University’s shortcomings

With the ongoing investigation into Hannah Graham’s disappearance, we have had to process a lot of information and a lot of emotion. The speculation whirling around what information we have is overwhelming, and the unanswered questions agonizing. And in these difficult times, we desperately look for someone to blame.

Some students, overcome with fear and anger, have taken up arms. A rally against gender violence on Friday was partly in response to Hannah Graham’s disappearance. A website created to advertise the rally was called hoosbackisturned.com — a direct reversal of the University’s slogan for its campaign to combat sexual assault: Hoos Got Your Back. The rally also drew a thematic link between Hannah Graham’s case and three sexual assaults which occurred in the same weekend, demanding “this needs to end.”

Many students have also circulated a petition calling to “Make U.Va. Grounds Safe Again.” The petition argues Hannah Graham’s disappearance and incidents of sexual violence near the University would not happen if the University would “step up police patrolling and student alerts.” Some have also called for the University to expand the hours of SafeRide, and extend the blue light system.

When tragedy occurs, it is tempting to point fingers at institutions, because they are a constant in our lives, because in some way they have to be accountable to us, and because they hold power to make changes. Fear and anger are understandable emotions at a time like this, but we must not let them overtake us. We must not let them lead us to draw irrational conclusions, or to lose sight of the positive steps our community is already taking to address the issue of sexual violence.

The first week of this semester, first-year students were bombarded with information about bystander intervention. Weeks before Hannah’s disappearance, the Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition invited leaders from a diverse variety of student groups to a summit to discuss ways to address sexual violence at the University. The day before Hannah went missing, student survivors of sexual violence spoke to the Board of Visitors. As Charlottesville police have been working around the clock pursuing leads on Hannah’s case, Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced his appointments to a task force dedicated to ending sexual violence on campuses in Virginia.

The University has clearly recognized it needs to improve its policies surrounding sexual misconduct, and even the state government is starting its own initiative. Hannah’s disappearance may make us doubt the University’s efforts to keep us safe, but we cannot lose faith at this point, not with the massive amount of evidence that the University is trying to address this issue.

Some also pointed to the three other sexual assaults which occurred the weekend of the September 13 as evidence the University’s efforts are failing. But the report of multiple sexual assaults in one weekend could actually be seen as a positive sign. Extrapolating from statistics from the Department of Justice, we already know that approximately 280 rapes will occur each year at the University, so there will certainly be multiple weekends during which multiple rapes occur. The fact that multiple sexual assaults were reported could indicate survivors feel more inclined to report their assaults than they used to, which is a promising change.

We are not going to see incidents of gender-based violence disappear overnight. We must remember that tangible change will take time. We may see short-term changes that seem horrifying at first — like an increase in the number of sexual assaults reported — but we must try our best to be patient as we work to reach the ultimate goal of reduced rates of sexual violence.

Institutions are sometimes at fault. There is no doubt about that. But sometimes, the only entity you can blame for an act of violence is a perpetrator. This may not be satisfying for us, because the apprehension and conviction of one perpetrator does not rid the world of all threats to our safety. Directing blame toward the University is a way of reassuring ourselves that some change can be made which will improve our safety — that once the University answers our demands, our fears will subside.

We must remember, however, that we can never be completely insulated from the dangers of the world around us. We are each personally responsible for keeping ourselves safe to the best of our ability. Some dangers will always be out of our control, but we can take precautions like walking in groups at night.

Is expanding SafeRide a good idea? If the resources are available, nobody would argue that it’s not. But could such expansion have prevented Hannah’s disappearance? There is no way to determine that for sure. As Opinion Columnist Dani Bernstein argues, there is only so much the University can do to protect its students. Although we may not like it, we may have to accept this tragedy not as the product of a broken system, but of the unfortunate nature of the world we live in. Of course we should channel our fears and angers into constructive suggestions that make us safer. But to direct blame where it is not warranted will prevent necessary coalitions from forming. Now more than ever we must stand in unity, both for the sake of our emotional solidarity, and for the continued construction of a brighter future.

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