Harassment abroad
When I first read the article on Rachel Jamison in the MNdaily, I was in completely awestruck. The article talks about sexual assaults on Jamison during her study abroad program in Tanzania, and the lack of support from the University of Minnesota center.
Having a bunch of friends from Tanzania, I have had the opportunity of learning about Tanzania, and relating to it from a perspective of a native. Anecdotes from friends had led me to imagine Tanzania as being one of the countries where white is still considered a better color. It might not be explicitly said, but white skinned people are seen either as either better human beings or filthy rich upper class. One of my very close friends told me about the royal treatment they gave to the American people in Tanzania. In the same line of thinking, Jamison believes the main reason for being the target of assault could have been her body type - tall, light skinned, and full figured, which attracted some African men.
Such incidents make me realize the importance of teaching about races, class, and gender; not only in American context, but also from the perspective of international relations and globalization. However, the incident in question forced me to question the mind set of the assaulted. I know about one very similar incident as described in the article happening at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, which was laughed away by the woman who had been assaulted.
In their recent study (AAUW 2006) on sexual harassment at colleges and universities, the AAUW reported:
• 62% of female college students and 61% of male college students report having been sexually harassed at their university.
• 66% of college students know someone personally who was harassed.
• 10% or less of student sexual harassment victims attempt to report their experiences to a university employee.
• 35% or more of college students who experience sexual harassment do not tell anyone about their experiences.
• 80% of students who experienced sexual harassment report being harassed by another student or former student.
• 39% of students who experienced sexual harassment say the incident or incidents occurred in the dorm.
• 51% of male college students admit to sexually harassing someone in college, with 22% admitting to harassing someone often or occasionally.
• 31% of female college students admit to harassing someone in college.
In spite of the small scope of the statistics, they show a rough idea of what the American education experience brings. The fact that sexual harassment policies and their implementation is highly critical is an obvious outcome of this incident, but the spotlight that Tanzania is under from this and other similar incidents is what I want to question. How much is this seen as a racial controversy rather than harassment? How would it be different if some similar incidents happened in a European country?
I cannot possible imagine the extent to which situations might be different or similar in other countries, but it seems that there are a lot of obstacles that race, class, and gender put in front of us, in order to be United Nations, let alone the idea of one United Nation.