Everything You Need To Know About The 97%

The statistic, Sarah Everard, Minnesota, and how this affects you.

by KAROLINE LEONARD ★ APRIL 14, 2021

TW: Assault, Rape, DV, Sexual Harassment

A survey conducted in the United Kingdom found this staggering statistic: 97% of young women have experienced a form of sexual harassment at some point in their lives. The results of the survey were released shortly after the murder of Sarah Everard. 

We are all taught what things women can do to make us safer, especially at night: only walk under lamp lights, call somebody on the phone, have somebody track you, don’t wear anything too provocative, hold keys between your fingers… the list goes on. Sarah did all of these things. She was walking in a well lit area, had recently gotten off the phone with her boyfriend, and was a few short blocks away from her home when she was kidnapped and killed by London police officer, Wayne Couzens. Unfortunately, her story is one that is all too familiar. It sparked major outrage in London because everybody felt like they knew her, or at least somebody just like her who suffered similar fates and experiences. 

After Sarah’s story was released to the public, thousands of women began telling their own stories, causing the 97% statistic to go viral—sort of relaunching the #MeToo movement from 2017. All over social media, women started sharing Sarah’s story and their own experiences. A vigil held in Everard’s honor quickly turned into a protest, with organizers calling for an end to violence against women, especially considering her suspected killer is a London police officer. Police later arrived to break up the protest, saying that they were disobeying COVID-19 regulations. Met with the voices of chanting protestors, officers decided to use pepper spray and gases to forcibly disrupt the demonstration. Women across the globe are seeing the extent of Sarah’s story, speaking about their own, and changing the way we teach young people about sexual harassment. Many women have advocated to say that while not all men are perpetrators, almost all women are victims.

Instead of women being educated on how to keep themselves safe, we should instead teach men to not harass and assault women. 

Shortly after the events surrounding Sarah Everard in the UK, Minnesota passed a new consent law; one that gained massive amounts of criticism on social media. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled “that it is not r*pe if the victim is voluntarily intoxicated.” This means that voluntarily consuming alcohol or drugs does not constitute a person to be mentally incapacitated since they did so of their own will, therefore they are not victims of r*pe. 

So, what does this all mean for us?

College students in the United States experience sexual assault at a rate of 13%. Women are nearly 4x more likely to experience sexual assault or harassment from the ages of 18-24 than men are. 

Minnesota’s law does not directly affect our lives on campus, but it does break the understanding for consent across the nation. Minnesota’s Supreme Court defended the decision by noting that nearly 40 other states have similar or more strict laws on the qualifications for sexual assault already in place. Minnesota merely shined a light on a much larger epidemic; one that directly affects our lives, the women on our campus, and women across the world as a whole.

There is no denying it: sexual assault and harassment are major issues on college campuses. The things women are taught to do to stay safe are not solutions, but rather another form of victim blaming. Advocates and protestors hope that this trending statistic will lead to a change in protections for survivors and victims of sexual harassment and assault. With the recent movement, many people believe that this will lead to new lessons and teachings about consent for men and women. Hopefully, we will soon see the statistics start to decrease.

If you or anyone you know are experiencing or seeking help regarding SA, Harassment, R*pe, etc. Here is a list of resources to call or email today. 

Barnes Center at the Arch Sexual and Relationship Violence Team (315)-443-8000

Vera House Syracuse, NY (315) 425-0818 

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE

Cover photo credit: Aljazeera.com