Real Issues with Public Safety

I have lived in the Charlottesville area for my 19 years of life. I am now a college student, and though I may sound ridiculous, but my age terrifies me. In the past six years, five females have gone missing from this area. UVA is going through a major federal investigation due to unreported rapes. In 2014, a high-profile fraternity was accused of a drunken group rape. I am not saying everyone is bad, but I am saying I shouldn’t have to carry mace with me, and I definitely should not be terrified to walk to my car after my evening classes. I get out of class at 8:50 p.m., and I make sure my dial pad is out on my cell phone just in case.

I believe that our safety standards are dropping; we look at rape as something that can just be brushed off. As a 19 year-old, I am frightened by what could happen to me on a Saturday evening when I’m walking to my car. I go to concerts. I have friends that go to UVA. Why are we so okay with forgetting about abduction and sexual misconduct? Why are we so okay with blaming the female that has been abducted, raped, or killed?

I spoke with a current Piedmont student, Morgan Shepherd. When I brought up being alone and walking to her car, she said that “doesn’t frighten me as much, as being alone leaving a party, but yeah, sometimes if its dark out and I’m alone, I get nervous. I don’t know what is out there.”

Why should females be scared to walk alone? Why should a girl be afraid to leave somewhere by themselves? Society is so focused on the blame game that we don’t stop and say to ourselves, “Maybe I’m a part of the problem.” We become so focused on what the next hot topic is that we forget that locally we may have a safety problem; we may have a problem with our lack of judgment.