OPENING UP THE CONVERSATION
Trigger warning: sexual assault/harassment
Sexual harassment stories
BY ZORAYA KING Staff Reporter
Sequoia High School, “a Place of Friends,” has contributed to the silencing and dismissal of sexual harassment. Our school that prides itself on its safe and supportive motto needs to take more action on protecting students and listening to victims. Sexual harassment is a behavior that is rooted in sexual remarks and actions, most commonly towards women, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), a website dedicated to assault information and relief. Sexual harassment manifests in many forms, one of which is catcalling. This variety of sexual harassment is classified by small and quick remarks with sexual or demeaning connotations. Oftentimes, catcalling occurs by strangers and is a fast interaction, but has long-lasting effects on the victim.
Many woman-identifying and femalepresenting students have attested to having been catcalled by strangers or even by students near and on Sequoia’s campus. “I’m on the cross country team and I’ve noticed a pattern of specifically men looking or saying random things to me and the girls I run with,” sophomore Alex Parker Rogers said. “One guy said something like, ‘you better run faster if you’re gonna beat the boys!’” Even while running in her own neighborhood, Rogers reports that she still experiences feeling unsafe. “One time when I was running alone, a car pulled up to the sidewalk and stopped for a minute before a masculine voice yelled, ‘last place!’ at me, followed by other laughter from inside the car,” Rogers explained. “Kinda funny, but I got scared knowing the car was almost at a stop close to where I was running and [was] full of young men.” Students that walk to and from school sometimes hear sexually driven comments or have noticed body language that suggests similar intentions. “I felt unsafe a lot while walking. I’ve definitely been catcalled,” junior Rowan Jones said, a student who wishes to remain anonymous for their own safety and comfort. “A few times they’ve been like, ‘hi sweetheart,’ or, like, commenting on what I’m wearing when they’re driving fast which is really weird.” Even with Sequoia’s Unaliyi motto, students have turned against each other and contradicted the slogan that we so strongly stand for. “Sometimes around Sequoia, like, because there have been Sequoia students who have catcalled me and said weird, horrible things about my body to me, I can feel unsafe, even in ‘safe’ spaces,” Jones expressed.
The impact The ramifications of sexual harassment, and its more common derivative of catcalling, have severe negative effects on a students’ mood and performance in school settings. “It definitely would [really] negatively affect my day, I don’t think I would be able to do work or really focus on anything,” Jones said. “I would definitely go and talk to someone but it would just kind of ruin my day and probably the days after when I was sort of dealing with the aftermath of it.” Judy Romero, a Teen Resource Center (TRC) specialist at Sequoia, works to help support and aid Sequoia students who are in need. Romero has heard stories and reports from students on sexual harassment and has seen firsthand how such cases can influence a student. “It affects their self-esteem. It affects their self-confidence. It affects their body image. It affects their [...] relationships with other students, their peer relationships,” Romeo continued. “Especially, for example, if it’s a friend and their friend group that’s making comments. Then they feel kind of stuck because they feel like, ‘oh, you know, my friends are gonna be like ‘come on, [they’re] just joking.’” Even outside of school, sexual harassment can affect the well-being of a person and change how they feel and act in public spaces. “I couldn’t walk anywhere alone for a while, and I had several panic attacks while trying to walk alone, even in the middle of the day, when nobody was around and it was like I didn’t even see anyone,” Jones said. “[Walking alone] definitely has made me afraid of that feeling again, and I feel very unsafe when I do that. And it’s not just that but like all the catcalling when I’m walking, running, or all those things.”
The importance of education Often, Sequoia students don’t know the resources our school provides and are hesitant to report their experiences. “I know we have a sexual harassment policy, but I’m not sure if that’s only for incidents that happen on campus,” said Rogers. “Anyone who harasses someone could face school punishments like suspension or expulsion.” “I know that there are, there’s a policy in place to deal with things like this, and sort of know kind of how the procedures go [...], [But] I know that that’s not really well known information,” said Jones.
RAVEN REPORT | NOVEMBER 2021
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