Does the Death Sentence Truly Help the Survivor? by Blogger Ashley from Bradley University

Ariel Castro, the monster from Ohio who kidnapped and held three young women for 10 years, agreed to a plea deal the other day. He accepted a deal where if he plead guilty, he would serve life in prison with no chance of parole nor the death penalty. Considering the years of abuse and pretty much torture that these young women suffered, many people wish the death sentence was still on the table for him. This man has nearly 1,000 charges against him, including the possibility that he terminated the pregnancy of one of the young women (which would be counted as aggravated murder), so the death penalty seems acceptable in his case, but would that actually help the survivors of his abuse?


My mother and I were having this discussion, and we found ourselves at opposite ends of the spectrum of views on the death penalty. My mother believes that Castro should be sentenced to death for his actions, as he legally qualifies for the death penalty, and never be allowed to hurt anyone ever again. I, on the other hand, felt that killing him would not really solve anything- it’s an easy way out for him. He made these women suffer for so long, so he should be imprisoned just as he imprisoned them. But my mother does bring up a good point- why should taxpayers have their tax dollars go towards feeding and housing such a horrible criminal for the rest of his life? It’s not fair to us to have our money support a person we would not allow to step foot on our property. But this is the issue with the prison system as a whole and not simply in cases of rapists and murderers.


So should this rapist and kidnapper, and others like him, be given the death sentence (if it were still available to him)? Or should he “rot” in prison for the rest of his life?

Responsibility on Preventing Sexual Assault by volunteer Cassandra!

It is everyone’s responsibility to help prevent sexual violence on colleges’ campuses everywhere. If you just take a second to read some of the statistics and think about the amount of people, friends, family, fellow students, you know that are in college, maybe even including yourself, it hits you and you realize the amount of people that are or could possibly be affected by such a horrific crime. We need to help spread the awareness, let the truth come out, and help the victims find their voice to speak out against their attackers and find help, support, and reach out to the police and report their attacks to prevent their attackers from striking again.

Staying Safe Abroad by Bradley University blogger Ashley

Recently, a few friends of mine traveled to Dublin, Ireland for two weeks as part of our university’s study abroad program. I had the opportunity to ask one of my friends three questions about safety abroad. I paraphrased most of her response, but some sentences are direct quotes:


How safe did you feel? More safe than Peoria. There were times when I walked back alone. I think it’s because we were in a very tourist area. Also, it would still be bright outside at like 9, 10 o’clock, and plenty of people were still on the streets. I was never really on the street by myself. I feel like the culture there, crime-wise, are mainly people getting mugged more than sexual crimes, but I really don’t know. I’m not sure of the statistics.


How worried were you about yourself or friends meeting people in Dublin? People were really social, so meeting them was really fine. Most of the people we met were tourists. But I felt cautious because I know people knew that we were tourists, so they could take advantage of us if they wanted to. They know we’re trying to have fun abroad, so we might try to do things that we wouldn’t normally do back home, so it’s different.


Is there any advice you would give anyone traveling abroad (with a group for school or alone/with friends)? Realize that you’re naïve to the culture and the norms. Just because it might be a European culture similar to ours, doesn’t mean that it’ll be the same. People will know that you’re a tourist, based on how you talk and whatnot. Don’t go crazy, especially when drinking, just because you can’t really do that back here (since the drinking age is 18). You’re more naïve than you think you are. I’d say always use the buddy system, even though I did walk alone to places close by where we were staying, just because you never know.


………


According to the U.S. Department of State’s website on travel (


http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1145.html#crime

), “Ireland has a relatively low rate of violent crime. Petty crime and residential crime is much more common, especially in urban and tourist areas.” This reflects exactly what my friend said, but we also have to keep that Dublin has the highest crime rate of the country and is the most popular tourist area.




Whether you’re traveling to Ireland, England, China, Brazil, or anywhere abroad, the rule of thumb is to be aware of your surroundings, do your research on cultural norms, travel with a friend (or even a small group) if possible, and don’t get too carried away with the freedom and let down your guard.

A donde se fue el sentido humanitario? by Harold Washington blogger Juan

Hace unos días estuve en el autobús de camino a mi trabajo, y como de costumbre, esoty sentado, cabeza abajo, ojos en la pantalla de mi celular, tratando de encotrar algún articulo que vaya a entretenerme por el tiempo que pasaría en aquel autobús.Poco sabía yo que en unos 2 minutos desde ese momento mi búsqueda me iba a llevar de una sensación de paz, a una furia interna. Me topé con un artículo en la cual se me hizo difícil pasar. Este artículo es sobre una mujer en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos, qun país situado al sureste de la península arábiga en el Golfo Pérsico, que fue drogada y violada por varios hombres. Se encontró en una habitación que nunca había estado antes y no podía recordar el viaje que la llevó a ese lugar. Entonces procedió a hacer lo que cualquier persona haría en una situación similar. Acudió a las autoridades a denunciar a estos hombres y poder encontrar justicia y paz en el medio de la tempestad en la cual vivía en ese momento. Resulta que los funcionarios de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos tienen una creencia profunda que prohíbe a dos personas, legalmente, en tener relaciones sexuales fuera del matrimonio, y cualquier persona que no cumpla con la ley, pues el acto se categoriza como un crimen. No sólo los funcionarios descaradamente ignoraron el hecho de que fue violada, pero también le hicieron firmar unos papeles, escritos en árabe, los cuales afirmaban que ella supo lo que estaba haciendo, y el hecho de que no se acordaba tuvo que ver con la cantidad de alcohol que ella decidió tomar esa noche. Así pues pasó ocho meses en prisión.

Cuando yo reflexiono sobre la falta de compasión humanitaria que algunos países y culturas tienen, frustración asume el control de mi ser. Es como si mi mente no puede creer la ignorancia que existe en la creencia en la superioridad de género. ¿Por qué los hombres tienen que mantener constantemente un estado de poder sobre las mujeres? ¿Por qué las mujeres tienen que servir, contribuir, y dar constantemente a sus maridos, pero no pueden nunca exigir nada, o trabajar ciertas profesiones, o reclamar y obtener un sueldo justo de la misma manera hombres obtienen. Pero algunos países ejecutan y se basan en ideales que vienen de puro odio, ira, egoísmo y poder sobre todo. Y este es un tema que sólo podemos esperar confiados en algún cambio. Honestamente, la única solución que se me ocurre es criar una generación de hombres que piensen diferente; hombres que honestamente crean que las mujeres deben ser tratadas con respeto e importancia. Y quiero terminar este blog diciendo, que es bien importante ser amables con todas las personas que nos rodean; tratar a todos la misma forma que a le gustaría ser tratado. Yo podría animar a los hombres a centrarse sólo en el tratamiento de las mujeres, pero se trata de cómo tratar y ver a todos a tu alrededor. Se trata de un cambio de mentalidad en que uno quiera hacer cosas buenas, ser bueno para otros y aprender a tener un sentido de humanidad. 

Where did the humanitarian principles go? by Harold Washington College blogger Juan

A few days ago I was on the bus on my way to work and as usual, I am scrolling down some website on my iPhone trying to find something to read that will take my mind off my surrounding reality and place it somewhere interesting. Little did I know that in about 2 minutes from that moment my quest on finding the highly craved, interesting article was going to backfire on me. I stumbled upon an article that made it difficult for me to pass. This article was about a woman in the United Arabs Emirates, which is a country located southeast of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, who was drugged and raped by several men. She found herself in a room she had never been before and could not recall the journey that led her to that place.And so she did what anyone in her position would have had done.

She went to the authorities to report it and find justice for her tragedy. Turns out that the officials of the United Arab Emirates have a profound belief that in order for two people to be allowed sexual intimacy, they have to be married first, and in the instance that intimacy does occur outside marriage, well then that is considered a crime. Not only did the officials blatantly ignored the fact that she was raped, but they tricked and made her sign some papers she could not read since it was written in Arabic. She later found out she had just signed a document stating she had sex outside of marriage and it was due to her choice of drinking alcohol. So she spent 8 months in prison.

When I ponder upon the lack of humanitarian views some countries and cultures hold, frustration takes over. It’s like my mind cannot believe the ignorance that exists in believing in gender superiority. Why men have to constantly maintain a status of power over women. Why women have to serve and contribute and give constantly to their husbands but they can’t ever demand anything, or work in certain fields, or get paid unfairly and differently than men. But some countries run and are based on ideals that are founded on hatred, anger, selfishness, and power-over-everything. And this is an issue which we can only hope to be fixed sometime soon. Honestly, the only solution I can think of is to raise a generation of men who think differently; men who believe women are to be treated of equal respect and not used to an advantage. And so I want to end this blog by saying, be kind to everyone you see, treat everyone the same way you would like to be treated. I could encourage men to focus only on treating women better and with compassion, but it comes down to how you treat and view everyone around you. It’s about a change of mentality that will allow one to want to do good things, be good to others, and learn to have a sense of humanity.

Freedom by Blogger Eleanor from the Dominican Republic

Walking down a street or into the grocery store: two every day freedoms I have come to be more thankful for. Two examples of simple things that we as humans take for guaranteed daily. Why? The best answer is why not? It’s just walking down the street right? How powerless and vulnerable could one feel on an ordinary walk? Reality is that although many overlook such important questions, there are individuals all over the world who are stripped of freedoms and liberties, such as walking down the street. It has taken me twenty+ years to experience this feeling, a feeling that I would do anything to change.

Welcome to the Dominican Republic, a beautiful, magical, and breathtaking island, located in the heart of the Caribbean. Turquoise blue water, luxury resorts, and non-stop sunshine surround lucky tourists, who spend between $700-6,000 dollars to visit. What could be better? Little do they know, the Dominican Republic is country that faces everyday challenges of poverty, lack of education, unclean drinking water, a corrupt government, and an extreme machismoculture. After living in the Dominican Republic for the past ten months, I have become uncomfortably familiar with machismo culture to the point where it has become internalized.

What does this mean? It means that while my fellow Americans walk down the street independently, shop in the grocery stores, and spend time with their significant others without being bothered, I am mentally preparing just to leave my apartment. As soon as I leave the house, I can feel their stares. It’s like I’ve just walked into the lions den and I’m on the breakfast menu. They are not staring because I am American, but because I am a woman. Just waiting for the moment where I drop to my knees and fall madly, deeply, and hard in love with them. My sole purpose in life is to successfully fulfill men’s desire, lust, and needs. I’m a walking toy. When living in a small town in New Hampshire, I could walk down the street independently or in the grocery store without being eye fucked,cat called, or spoken to as if I was a product of men’s desire.

As a woman, walking alone is the last thing I want to do in the Dominican Republic. Everyday on my walk to work, I do not feel the sun as it beats down on my skin, leaving sweat all over my forehead. But I do feel their eyes. I feel the intense, slow, and sanctioned, examination of my body. Every curve and feature, inspected as if they have never seen a woman’s body before and all of the sudden craving it. I can compare the feeling to when I was an intern in a corrections facility. Anytime I would walk into the males unit, 100+ eyes would turn on me, as my body became the focus of the room. They do not just inspect my body, but any woman: white, black, Hispanic, or Asian, to them it does not matter. We are all the servants of men’s desire.

When does walking down the street or shopping in the grocery store become an everyday freedom? A freedom in which,women are able to live life without being seen as a walking sexual invitation? It is a great question and the possible solutions are what society labels “complex.” However, what I believe is that until men stop watching porn, sexually assaulting, raping, attending strip clubs, and engaging in prostitution,the simple freedoms of walking down the street, shopping in the grocery store, and living life without being classified as only serving a sexual purpose, will not go away. Some say that it takes a village to raise a child.Well in this case, it takes each and every one of us to change the negative and unfair views, expectations, and demands we hold on women and their bodies. As citizens of the world our focus should be providing and giving back freedoms to anyone who has felt deprived, vulnerable, and underprivileged.

Choosing Causes? How to take action in college? by Bradley University blogger Ashley

Being in college, we are bombarded with a plethora of options of campus organizations to get involved with. At the beginning of the year, you sign up to various emailing lists and attend a few meetings and events here and there, but actually choosing a few organizations to dedicate part of your free time to can be difficult. I have seen this firsthand as Vice President of an organization, and as a result I have slowly stopped going to meetings for some organizations, but that does not mean that I no longer support their missions. I believe this is also true when it comes to supporting various causes in general for people from my generation.

Looking back in the past, my main focus was raising awareness about mental illness in my community, and it still is. Now, I have grown to feel more passionate about other issues such as sexual assault, wrongful imprisonment, gender inequality, and poverty to name a few. Sometimes, I feel the pressure to be more of an activist for one cause over another, but I realize that this is impossible for me and that I should not have to choose anyway. The reason I can easily support multiple causes is because I see the risks that each have on someone’s mental well-being. Surviving a sexual assault can leave a person with not only physical but emotional/psychological scars as well; serving a prison sentence of 30 years for a crime you did not commit is mentally taxing; living below the poverty line or constantly being surrounded by people who belong to the upper class can affect someone’s self-esteem and cause them to be more self-conscious.

I bring this up because I see the growing support of my fellow colleagues in fighting sexual violence in this country. This is a great thing. It lets me know that even my “apathetic” campus can get behind some cause. Now, we have to take this support a step further. What can we do on campus to raise more awareness about these issues? How can we keep this as a top priority in our lives besides academia? Many people are vocal about their disapproval of sexual violence, but only few will actually take action. One of the sororities on my campus has fundraisers to directly support the Center For Prevention of Abuse, but only a few of those girls will go on to volunteer at the Center and have a more direct impact on supporting the fight against abuse. What can we do to get more people to volunteer at centers like this or to spread the word among friends?

I’ve been writing for Leila Grace for a year now, and my passion for this cause has grown even stronger. I write this blog to challenge all of you readers to think about what we and all of our friends and family can do to make a difference. As the great saying goes, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.