A new Twitter account, @SpeakUpOU, has been created to help students combat sexual harassment.
As sexual harassment and abuse continues to be an ongoing problem on college campuses nationwide, one Ohio University student is using Twitter to encourage people on campus to speak out against their harassers. The account, @SpeakUpOU, is meant to give victims of harassment a public platform for support.
Harassment comes in many forms, from strangers catcalling on the street to friends who give too much unwanted attention.
“Hopefully, it spreads the word about how, when and where these things are happening,” Rachel Baker, the creator of the account, said. “It shows people we have a community where we support each other and say, ‘Yes, stand up for yourself.’ ”
When she was a freshman, Baker said she experienced harassment on campus.
“If you’re harassed or followed on the street, it can be really uncomfortable. You don’t know how to deal with it. Looking back, there were times when it would have been nice to call it out for what it was and share with others.”
She thought that Twitter would be an efficient way to garner attention to the issue given the popularity of the social media platform. She started the account on Aug. 8 and has 103 followers, as of press time.
The groups she said have the most trouble with harassment are women and those who identify as LGBT. While these are the most common cases, she said she plans on taking male claims just as seriously.
Baker intends to retweet any user who claims they’ve been victims of harassment on campus in order to showcase how many people are affected.
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While the question of honesty comes into play, Baker has faith in her classmates.
“Really, I trust the people who would be sending these things because it’s an important issue,” Baker said.
She also has no problem using the accused’s full name on her account, as she said she thinks it’s more important that people know that harassment is happening than whether or not it hurts someone’s reputation.
“Considering the fact that we live in a society where a man can be accused of raping a woman and, whether he did it or not, can be found not guilty and go on to get a sports scholarship, putting it out there probably won’t ruin their life,” Baker said.
Some students, however, urged a more cautious approach.
"It's important that these issues are talked about because it's a problem on campuses,” Johannes Nyborg, a graduate student from Denmark studying political science, said. “But the way you go about the discussion is just as important.”
Another student, Alex Burke, agreed the account was important but suggested a change in its policy about using full names.
“It’s good in premise, but there will always be people who misuse it,” the graduate student studying environmental studies said. “Overall, I think it's worth the risk, but maybe use first names only.”
Baker said she believes one of the biggest problems is “toxic masculinity” and the social constructs that tell men to “be in control and have power” at all times and tell women to accept it.
“More blame is placed on people who speak up than those who harass,” Baker said. “It seems more disruptive to talk about it than the fact that it’s happening in the first place. The overall goal is to challenge that.”
ae554013@ohio.edu
@AustinREickson
