Justice

Anonymous Student Finds Twitter to Be Their Only Safe Outlet to Report Their Rape

May 5th 2016

On May 2, 2016, a Twitter account popped up named "Raped At Spelman" (@RapedAtSpelman). The Twitter user claims to be a freshman student at Spelman College who was allegedly raped by four students at Morehouse College.

ATTN: reached out to @RapedAtSpelman via Twitter, but has not heard back. (Other news organizations have also reached out trying to verify the account and have not been successful. We will update accordingly.)

Here is what the student goes on to Tweet about the alleged rape:

"I went to a party with my friends there were alot [sic] of people there and it was really fun so we decided to drink with the upperclassmen."

"I was drunk but that doesn't mean I forgot about what happened. I went to the bathroom upstairs to throw up and when I opened the door I was surrounded by 4 Morehouse students who took me to another room and took turns raping me. I was in shock about what had happened."

And here's what the student tweeted about the aftermath:

"After it happened I went to find my friends who had already left the party so I had to walk back to campus by myself. When I got there I went to public safety to do a report and I was sent to the hospital for a rape kit. It took Spelman a month to get back to me about my case."

"When I got to the meeting with the Dean and Public Safety they asked me what was I wearing, why did I seperate [sic] from my friends, & why was I drinking under age. The Dean also said that Spelman & Morehouse are brother & sister so I should give them a pass. I never felt so worthless in my life. I got so depressed that I wanted to take my own life and I started to self-harm. I don't want to be at a school that does not make me feel safe and wants to silence me. So I would like to say goodbye to Spelman and to the amazing people I've met along the way.

"Spelman has taught me to be a free thinking woman and also to be a woman who has to keep her mouths closed to protect her 'brothers'. You can NEVER say Morehouse has their sisters back if they are just going to force her on it."

The student received an outpouring of support.

Twitter users were thanking @RapedAtSpelman for sharing the story, while letting the student know that they weren't alone:

To which @RapedAtSpelman responded:

The college released a statement.

Spelman College President Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell released a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that read:

"Our hearts go out to this student and I want to personally offer her our full support and assistance. We are a family at Spelman and we will not tolerate any episode of sexual violence. No student should ever have to suffer and endure the experience she has recounted on social media. Spelman is conducting a full and thorough review of these events."

Spelman College is a historically Black women's college. It is located in Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta University Center (AUC), which includes the historically Black college for men, Morehouse College, the Morehouse School of Medicine, and the historically Black university, Clark Atlanta University.

One in five women are sexually assaulted while in college.

As ATTN: previously reported in 2014, one in five women are sexually assaulted while in college, leading the White House to create a task force in hopes of protecting students. Vice President Joe Biden is also involved in the organization It's On Us, which works to end sexual assault on campus.

Sadly, rape on college campuses has become so prevalent that a campaign, "Unacceptable Acceptance Letters," was launched in which incoming college students received fake acceptance letters warning them of their impending sexual assaults.

According to The Washington Post, over 18 percent of female college freshmen from just one university were raped in their first year.

Ultimately, the student felt that Twitter was the only safe place to tell their story.

ATTN: also reached out to Venkayla Haynes, who is Student Advisory Committee member for It's On Us, a student at Spelman College, and a survivor, to discuss It's On Us and Spelman College. Haynes declined to comment.

UPDATE 5/5 7:08 a.m. PST: This story was updated to reflect Haynes' decision not to comment.

[H/T Ebony]

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