How Abroad Change can stop sexual assault

“Oh baby, how beautiful!” I smirked. If I couldn’t avoid the catcalls and whistling, there was no use getting upset. Besides, as obnoxious as it was, it was somewhat flattering. I definitely wouldn’t get this sort of attention in the United States.

I got plenty during my winter term on the Spanish LSA in Mexico, though. Eventually, for me it became merely another part of my Mexican life, complementing the psychotic comvies we took to school everyday and the tacos arabes we ate by the kilogram. And so, despite the occasional low level of discomfort, I enjoyed my time in Mexico and the cultural lessons that I learned.

Because of this, when I first heard that a group called Abroad Change is trying to improve cultural understanding and support victims of sexual assault on study abroad programs, I was skeptical of its necessity. Although I had experienced firsthand how easily American women can be made uncomfortable in foreign countries, I didn’t see any serious problems. Furthermore, when I was reading through the goals of Abroad Change, I noticed that most of the focus of the new program is being placed on preparing participants more thoroughly for cultural differences. Thinking back to Mexico, I wondered why. I had already seen how well Dartmouth prepared us.

Before the program started, we had orientation meetings in which our professor told us again and again (and probably again, but I can’t remember) that she was a resource for us. The phrases I remember: “Boys, they lie.” “They tell you they love you like this. Not like American boys.” “If a boy gives you trouble, call me!” She meant it too. Veteran students had advice for us as well. They told us what words not to use and what skirts not to wear, and explained that catcalls and staring were considered a normal way to express appreciation - as twisted as it was.

I went to Mexico with this advice, and as a result, spent a completely happy and comfortable three months perfecting my Spanish. Being the tallest, blondest, and by far, the whitest woman on the trip made me an easy target for dubious attention, however. Even my Mexican mother would encourage my two-year-old “nephew” to make comments when I was dressed up to go out. But like I said before, it didn’t bother me. I had been prepared. But even when I did protest to my “mother” about her efforts with my “nephew,” she tried to explain that it was a compliment. And I’m not one to argue with compliments.

It turns out that my situation was unique.

Liz Allen ’06 and Robin Rathmann-Noonan ‘05, who are helping to direct Change Abroad, quickly informed me that every department that sponsors an off-campus program does things a little differently. There is no universal system of preparing students. While this allows for flexibility within each program, it also permits large oversights in important issues like sexual assault. Unless the department provides it, professors are given little or no preparation before they are sent out of the country. For experienced professors, this isn’t such a problem. They’ve been at Dartmouth for years and know everything they need to about conducting off-campus programs. But for new professors, this lack of unified guidelines presents quite a challenge. And when professors are clueless, so are we.

Why is there such a lack of organization? It seems that part of the problem stems from a simple lack of manpower. John Tansey, the director of off-campus programs, is in charge of all of the programs that Dartmouth offers (42 of which are based outside of the United States), which makes it difficult for him to pay sufficient attention to every program every year. This concerns me. We all know the college budget is tight, but when saving a few cents means forgoing the training of program supervisors and the development of specific protocol to help students in emergencies abroad, the money saved just doesn’t seem worth it.

Then again, maybe sexual assault abroad isn’t all that common. Maybe we don’t need to take such rigorous action. Honestly, the campus-wide survey distributed over blitz this winter by Abroad Change was statistically weak, with a total of only 89 people responding. It’s hard to conclusively glean information from so little data. Surprisingly, though, it was enough. Out of those few people who took the time to respond, nineteen reported some incident of sexual assault abroad. That’s a pretty high number over only the past two years. Furthermore, the comments made on the surveys made one thing very clear. Sexual assault abroad came from a whole range of sources, but many offenders were strangers. And even when respondents reported no actual incident, there were numerous situations of general discomfort reported. Sometimes catcalls don’t seem so innocent. Cultural misunderstanding really is a problem.

So what should be done? The solution seems so obvious that I am astounded it hasn’t happened already. What Allen and Rathmann-Noonan are proposing to do with Abroad Change is simply provide resources and information to students and professors participating in off-campus programs. It is important for students to know how to react to situations of sexual assault abroad and to feel comfortable communicating with program directors. And since program directors are the main resource for students abroad, they must feel comfortable reacting as well. We need a sexual assault support system abroad that operates in a similar manner to the one already established on campus—it’s not the professor or the student’s responsibility to know exactly what to do in every situation. Sexual assault is an extremely difficult and alienating thing, especially in a foreign country where people express themselves differently. Because of this, Abroad Change is taking the responsibility of providing information to students and professors in order to create the sense that no one is alone, even so far from home. It is a simple continuation of the sense of community that we value so highly at Dartmouth.

In order to do this, Abroad Change is suggesting more rigorous orientation activities for both professors and students outlining cultural differences in each specific country, and creating guidelines for reactions to negative situations. Conceivably, this is something that could be achieved with simply an extra half-hour session. Allen and Rathmann-Noonan are also organizing a packet for each program which makes information about program contacts, local hospitals, and important drug and testing resources easily available. The goal is to help professors and students realize their options when facing difficulties with sexual assault abroad.

There are more dramatic suggestions included in the Abroad Change proposal as well, for instance, that money be budgeted to cover return flights for violated students if necessary. Here again, I was slightly skeptical. If the administration can’t spend the money to hire more help for John Tansey in the off-campus programs office, it certainly can’t spend the money to fly students across the world. But here again, I was wrong. As it turns out, Dartmouth already budgets money for each program specifically for the purpose of transporting students having serious problems abroad. Abroad Change isn’t asking for anything new.

In fact, all Abroad Change is asking for is more organization. Allen and Rathmann-Noonan are simply looking to ensure that each student participating in an off-campus program feels the same sense of comfort and support that I had in Mexico. A safe learning environment shouldn’t be something that’s left up to chance. With no significant amount of money required on the college’s part, and all of the legwork being done by Allen and Rathmann-Noonan through Abroad Change, it’s a win-win situation for everyone. Oh baby, how beautiful, indeed.