Letter: All must work together to eliminate sexual violence

I must say I was both touched and pleasantly surprised by Nick Christie's commentary, "The strength of a victim." I too absolutely hate sexual assault; nothing makes me more livid than hearing about someone stealing something that precious from another human. I applaud Nick Christie for devoting his column to an issue vital to the health of Duke's campus.

However, I certainly disagree with his implication

that the survivor of the Wannamaker Dormitory assault and author of last Monday's guest commentary acted in a cowardly manner by writing her article anonymously. First, this young woman was discouraged by others from attaching her name to her column for compelling safety reasons. It was not her initial intent to write the commentary anonymously.

Secondly, I would like to point out how incredibly brave this young woman is. She not only has continued to live and study and thrive on this campus after experiencing such horrific violence here, but not even a month after her assault, she has begun a monumental effort to prevent future sexual assaults on this campus. Her call for others' stories about sexual assault and rape is the start of a long-term effort to make sexual violence such a frequent topic of conversation that eventually no one is so uncomfortable with it "that they are willing to bury their heads in the sand for comfort."

I would also like to suggest that Christie is wrong in saying there is little he can do to change things; in fact the fight against sexual assault is one that must be fought by everyone. I believe it is incorrect to place a heavier burden on survivors of such violence. To all of you who are bothered by sexual assault on this campus: talk about it with your friends, especially those who might be uncomfortable with the idea; write about it in The Chronicle; educate yourself about it; whatever you do, don't be silent! Sexual violence affects every one of us, and thus we all must work together toward its extinction.