Editor's note: This editorial discusses sensitive topics such as sexual assault.
In the words of musical icon Lily Allen, it’s hard out here for a bitch.
Recent events have left female students feeling unsafe on and around campus. A sexual assault occurred on Sept. 13 in the Shortbread Lofts parking deck. On Sept. 17, a group of women were sexually harassed outside Davis Library. And residents of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority house said a man tried to break in at night last week.
So far, none of the suspects have been caught. And because of that, we feel even more paranoid.
The fact that sexual violence would take place on UNC’s campus isn’t surprising. After all, the University was featured in the 2015 documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which highlighted the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. But the frequency at which these incidents have occurred seems higher than normal — and we are, understandably, scared.
As the number of reported crimes targeted toward women increases, yet another problem has emerged: students received an Alert Carolina message for only one of these events. However, the message, which alerted students of the sexual assault at Shortbread, was not sent until nine hours after the incident occurred.
The other incidents did not meet the criteria that would warrant an Alert Carolina notification. According to the Alert Carolina website, these criteria include “sex offenses including rape, incest, statutory rape and forcible fondling,” as well as burglary.
Sexual harassment and attempted burglary — while “troubling,” the University’s spokesperson said — apparently aren’t things UNC thinks we ought to know about (We are, however, inundated with messages practically every time a thunderstorm occurs in Chapel Hill).
But the thing is, we hear about them anyways, through word-of-mouth and social media. Rumors spread like wildfire — and the story can quickly turn into something that it’s not.