This past week the news reported that there have been an increased number of assaults on/near campus this year.  The H-T reported five cases; four of them were assaults of 19-year old coeds.  This angered me.  Then Friday evening I was driving up Indiana Avenue around  9:00 pm—pitch dark—and there was a coed running ALONE at Indiana and 14th Street.  Poor lighting and alone!  I wanted to stop the car and chide this young woman.  What is she thinking?!

It saddens me to think that a woman alone cannot walk or run at dark without concern for her safety.  To disregard this vigilance, however, is not smart, especially in locations that are poorly lit.  Does such a young woman feel invincible or immune to assault? 

In early autumn IU sponsored the annual “Take Back the Night” which challenges the evil of sexual assault.  This event projects the hope of a coming future where no one’s security would be endangered.  For this future to happen we all need to cooperate: from women who are aware of her surroundings when venturing around campus; from men to understand if he has anger or control issues that yields to assault; and from other men who will defend a woman from assault; from a society that stands against this abuse.

Most every night on television one can view a police show with assault cases, mostly effecting women.  It feels veritably commonplace!  Is this merely descriptive of our society or a hyperbole?  I’m not sure, but it does seem to me that our society thrives on (if not endures) violence.  Our “conquest mentality” pervades social tissue.  We are ultimate competitors.  We see (physical) strength as laudable.  How much enjoyment is there in the violent hit, ‘checking’ or block?  What chance does one have if fighting is not one’s mode of reaction?  But this is wrong-headed.  Still, the strong often prevail…in the moment, in the short run, but the unintended consequences are drastic. 

Catholics are (should be) schooled with a different ethic.  Dignity and respect for all persons is capital to our ethos.  Sacrifice and sharing is paramount.  Abuse is not part of our religious vocabulary.  Oh, it is possible to find examples of religiously-condoned violence by Catholicism.  Usually the Crusades or the Inquisition are cited.  True enough, but these are the aberrations of our faith, not the norm.  Contemporary Catholicism has truly been pacific.  Look at the writings of the Popes throughout the twentieth century.  Look at the efforts—stutter step from time to time—to establish better and respectful relationships with other religious traditions (Judaism, Islam, Protestant churches, Orthodoxy).  Therefore, abuse, sexual assault is an evil for us…one to contest and combat (such a choice of words!).

Gentlemen, we must search our interior selves and see how deep-seated is violence and the (wrongly derived) “permission” to force ourselves on another.  This is contrary to the gospel, plain and simple.  No woman should ever feel insecure in our presence.  And sex is neither a weapon nor a plaything.  Our behavior is meant to be better than this.  St. Paul exhorted these community members to excel beyond their social surrounding (Gal 5:13-26, Eph 4:17-32, Col 3:1-17, 1 Thes 4:1-12).  This is the beginning of redressing this evil. 

Ladies, be smart about your movements and conscientious in your dress.  Don’t court disaster at night.  Be aware; be prudent.  This is the best vigilance of all. 

And let us all form the virtues of mutual respect.  It is necessary to teach this to our youth; it is imperative to model this as adults.   Our “bar” as Catholics/Christians should be honorable, no matter what society is doing.