Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to the letter about women not running alone. Its really sad to me to see that a woman feels it necessary to blame other women for exercising their freedoms and jogging alone. While I recognize the fact that it is important to try to always to be aware of your surroundings and try to stay safe, this letter is just perpetuating the myths and problems relating to sexual assault.
First of all, it is important to note that more than 90 percent of all sexual assaults happen in a home or a vehicle, and with someone they know. A very small percentage of rapes actually are committed by strangers, yet that is what we always hear and what most women fear.
It is ridiculous to keep reminding women not to run alone, or walk home alone, as it only encourages the idea that sexual assault is somehow the woman’s fault. Attitudes like this lead to the extremely low reporting of rapes, because people are so traumatized by the rape and on top of that are scared that they could have somehow done something to prevent the rape.
Instead of putting limitations on women’s freedoms to prevent rape, let’s focus more on fixing our rape-prone culture, and working together as men and women to stop these crimes against humanity.
