Survivor 1

Reporting my sexual assault to Tufts University was the biggest mistake of my life. There isn’t a day that has not gone by where I have not thought about the injustices Tufts did against me and it weighs heavy on my heart. I now know to.o well why most rape victims don’t report and why many regret it. I am amongst those many.

My rape was a secret that weighed heavily upon me. I realized that I wanted help and finally mustered up the courage to share my story. As Audre Lorde said, “We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.” I wanted to be saved, but instead my trauma has been increased tenfold because of how I was treated.

I will never forget the looks that deans and other admin gave me when I told them. A mixture of horror, being uncomfortable, and yet…a lack of concern. Most told me there’s nothing they can do. Those who said that they would help me…didn’t. It was clear they didnt think the worst period of my life was serious. I knew they thought I was lying. They were quick to ask questions, but slow to answer them. Eventually they disappeared without saying or doing anything – leaving me to feel that a piece of me was given away for NOTHING.

My rapist took a part of me that I will never get back. Tufts took another, bigger piece. I opened myself up, only to be dismissed. All that the school did was ensure that they were not liable to protect or do anything to help me. All they did was wait on the advice of their lawyer to make sure they dont do anything to be sued by my RAPIST.

TUFTS UNIVERSITY DOES NOT CARE ABOUT RAPE SURVIVORS. They care about being sued. Through their selfishness they violated me and told me and my rapist what he did to me was okay. He got away with what he did and I had to walk away humiliated.

Reliving what happened is painful, and tears come easily, but I want to speak out. I don’t want this school to get away with sweeping people like me under the rug. The school claims to have my best interest in mind, but they dont. Going to Tufts University was the biggest mistake of my life. To this day, I tell women to not go to this school. Twenty-five percent of them will be sexually assaulted (sexual assault by other students is rampant on this campus) and if they report, they will be retraumatized by the system like me.

These administrators have a lot to learn about rape survivors. Their ignorance combined with their overwhelming concern to prevent legal action by my rapist created the most horrible situation in my life.The school isn’t there to help you. I would urge survivors to report, but have no expectations that they will help. They need to know that it is a problem at the university. They need to change their policies. I pray that they do and realize that this FELONY CRIME is something not to be covered up, but to be taken seriously and severely punished.

I am not just a survivor of sexual assault and domestic violence at the hands of another Tufts student. I am a survivor of the traumatic treatment by its administration.