College
is supposed to be a time for personal and intellectual growth, but for some students
it has become a period of nightmares as a result of sexual assaults.
Tertiary
institutions have gone at length to shield such nefarious acts in a bid to
protect their image, but the situation on the ground is alarming.
Today,
there have been series of unreported sexual assaults in Ghanaian colleges. Many
college students suffer in agony and go through emotional trauma throughout
their stay on campus.
To
better understand the prevalence of sexual assaults on college campuses, its
perpetrators and key factors involved, I interviewed a few victims, and researched
the internet about the subject. Bear in mind, as you look at these numbers, sexual
assaults still remain one of the most unreported crimes in Ghana.
Statistics
The
findings revealed that 20 to 25 percent of college women experience rape or
attempted rape. Nine in 10 rape cases on college campuses are by serial rapist,
according to a 20-year-old study of “Undetected rapist” by psychologist David
Lisak.
One
in 16 college men that he interviewed said that they used physical force to
have sexual intercourse or had sex with someone who was too incapacitated by
alcohol or drugs to resist.
Of
college women who reported a sexual coercive experience, 84 percent said it
occurred when they were in their first year, according to a 2006 report, “An
examination of sexual violence against college women.”
The fear factor
The emotional trauma caused by a sexual
assault can be severe and long-lasting. In Ghana today, rape is very
rarely reported, due to the extreme social stigma cast on victims, or the fear
of being disowned by their families, or subjected to violence.
“These
little girls walk, patrol the university campuses in miniskirts and what do
they expect…they all deserve what happened to them,” said one Kwei in an
interview about sex crimes on university campuses.
A
victim’s account….
“I
did not report the incident to the police because I would not have been able to
stand the shame, what will people say? Will I ever be able to attend lectures
without people pointing fingers?” stated Adowa (real name withheld), a victim
and one of the numerous girls I interviewed about the sexual assaults at our
Ghanaian university campuses.
Though
there have been little or no police records of such acts, several girls have
suffered in silent agony. A few who have had the guts to come out to tell their
tales have been mocked, shunned and blamed for something they had no hand in.
Who is to blame…
Freshmen
and students who lived off campuses faced most of these sexual assaults due to
the lack of security and discipline. Although Ghanaian colleges and university
campuses have made available hostel and accommodation facilities for the
students, the facilities are not enough to house the large number of students
enrolling each year thus the resort to off campus lodging.
Was
it their fault? What are the factors which led to the rape? Was it by a friend
or a lecturer? Answers to these questions can only be given by the rapist or
raped victim, but how many times do we ask these questions. These and many
other questions kept rushing through my head as Adowa continued with her story.
“‘Kwaku
stop! I beg you, God will bless you if you stop, please do not do this to me.’ All
my pleas fell on deaf ears as my supposed best friend on campus ripped of my
cloths in a bid to satisfy his sexual desires,” she recalled as she closed her
eyes as if trying to re-live the moment.
“I
was a virgin then,” she said shaking her head. “I let go as my limbs had grown weak,
he was too strong for me I couldn’t fight him anymore, nobody there… nobody to
help me…”
“‘Sorry,’
he said after he was done, he dressed up and left, I did not cry, I could not,
the tears were too scarce to flow,” she sobbed.
Holding
her hand I let my own tears flow ……
To
a random person, a victim’s fault.
To
a parent, sheer disgrace and foolishness on the part of the child.
To
a victim torture, pain, agony, sleepless nights……..and the story continues…
Story by Akosua Asabea
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