Sexual harassment can occur in the confines of our own community

President Donald Trump. Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Television news anchor Matt Lauer. Politician Roy Moore. #MeToo flooding the internet with personal stories of sexual assault and rape. TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2017, the Silence Breakers (those who spoke out against sexual violence). Saturday Night Live’s video, “Welcome to Hell.”

These examples are some of the recent rumblings in a bubbling revolution of empowering women and men to speak out against sexual assault, but the truth is that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

One in five women and one in 71 men have reported experiencing rape at some point in their lives, according to a 2012 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Yet, all too often, victims are not believed and are shamed for speaking out. As one of TIME magazine’s Silence Breakers, lobbyist Adama Iwu said, “We can’t all be crazy. We can’t all be sluts. We can’t all be asking for it.”

Many times at Algonquin, I have heard students discussing sexual assault and harassment as if it is a foreign concept, a problem so far removed from the upper middle-class towns of Northborough and Southborough. It is hard to grapple with the notion.

Here’s a truth: sexual violence occurs in every community, without regards to the socioeconomic standings of its citizens, race of its members or any other demographic. Surely, the prevalence of the issue will vary from place to place, but it is always there, whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not. There is no place in this world that is “safe” from the problem of sexual assault.

Sexual assault and harassment happens at Algonquin; there are sexual assault survivors in your classes, and there are perpetrators walking the halls.

While I think the administration and faculty at our school are committed to helping their students, I often wonder why they tend to ignore deeper-rooted issues plaguing our school and our society as a whole. While the platform of “anti-vaping” is certainly valid, why spend so much time focused on this topic instead of deeper issues like sexual assault or bullying or suicide attempts? Are we scared to admit that these things happen within the hallowed halls of Algonquin and wealthy neighborhoods of Northborough and Southborough? Is ignoring these problems signaling indifference? Could the lack of conversation about such matters perpetuate them?

I know when I graduate, I am never going to remember the grades I got on my sophomore year finals or the poems I performed for “Poetry Out Loud.” But I will definitely remember acquaintances who, with tear-filled eyes, told me they had been sexually assaulted, and the fear that their perpetrators were sitting beside me in class.

So, what are we supposed to do about this issue? For one, speak up about sexual assault and misconduct. The era of speaking out about sexual assault and creating change with regards to this problem is now. Do not wait for acceptance or for a different social climate. It is your duty, male or female, to confront these problems, whatever your experience may be, for that is how we will pave the way for change.