The Forgotten Assault

I still remember my first day as a first-year law student. My head was held up high, eyes still sparkling with pride, and the infamous almamater jacket hung on my shoulders, perfect against my frame. The dream I had since I was ten years old was finally coming true as I took my first step into the building of the best law school in the country. Hailed as an intellectual hub where the brightest of minds with the bravest of hearts bonded together, studied together, all under one roof. Our professors are prolific, some with names already etched in the history books of our nation. The sense of pride was nearly overwhelming as I had one goal in my mind, to make a difference and always strive for justice. I was among those who fought for the same values as I did, in the neverending battle against injustice, discrimination, and inequality. They surely couldn't be that bad, right?

Flashforward to the winter of 2019. I was on vacation in timezone much different from mine when I woke up, only to see that my phone had fallen off the table during the night. At first I thought it might be an accidental snag on the cable, but to my utter surprise it wasn't that. During my rest, something had happened, something so major that my phone commited suicide by vibrating off the table. A high ranking member of the most influential organisation of my faculty was dishonerably discharged due to a confirmed sexual assault case.

To understand how big this news was, I have to elaborate by comparing my faculty to Montesquieu's theory on the seperation of governmental powers. Trias Politica is a theory that divides the power of a state into three seperate entities, the executive branch (i.e. the president), the legislative branch (i.e. the congress), and the judicial branch (i.e. the supreme court). My faculty is divided into the same way, with the most noticable and influential being the executive council. They're the face of the law school, they're the ones who march the streets in protest of inequality, the ones who help in pro bono cases, the ones who are most seen, and most importantly the face of the picture perfect law students.

You could imagine the surprise and immediate affect it had. The fact that the assailant held the position of the head of department made it even more ironic. The department he led was known most for their major events against injustice, they were an elite group of handpicked students who were seen as the best and most fierce out of all of us. They were the ones who spoke the loudest, fought the hardest, and brought the most change. Just before winter break started, his department held an annual 16 day event that spoke out against sexual assault and harrassment. It was one of our biggest events which has been reduced to somewhat of a sensitive topic now considering the person who oversaw the entirety of it was the assailant.

A call for a social punishment was discussed in chatrooms and hushed voices but were shut down by that very same department. One even claimed that the case should be silenced as best as they could because the mental state of the assailant was at the same state of fragility that the victim was in. That the assailant was just as fragile as the victim. Ironically the person who claimed that was a survivor of sexual assault themselves and has bravely shared her story numerous of times online. An even bigger irony is that they continued to date the assailant despite knowing of the incident that occured and that the incident had occured when they were dating.

We weren't given too many details about what actually happened, but despite the discharge letter being shared by more than 300 people, it never reached the public. The assailant didn't suffer any concequences to his actions, despite it being enough to get him at the very least banned from having the normal rights we had on campus such as voting in the general student council elections and holding a position in an organisation. It should be enough to get a major exposé, considering how this happened on campus grounds. It should be enough to get him expelled or at the very least a warning from the university.

Surprise surprise, they did nothing.

Fast forward once more to 2020 where there was a rise of students coming out with their own story of sexual assaults and harrassments by fellow students, a mini #MeToo movement. One particularily large case happened in a neighbouring faculty in my campus. Despite the pressure from the public to drop the prepetrator out, the campus did nothing but strip away his student rights, which has no affect to his academics at all. By the time this happened, the case that happened in December was long forgotten. The assailant is still casually enjoying life as if he had done nothing wrong. Everyone else chose to forget it and pretend it never happened.

The question most often asked by us all isn't the still-hidden identity of the victim nor the timeline. But it was about how it never reached the public. It was a known fact that when you've been accepted into this university, every little mistake of yours would be scrutinised and seen by the country. When a senior of mine was arrested in a drunk driving case that caused the death of a man, the number one thing most media outlets underlined as that they were a law student at my faculty. That was the fact a majority of the public attacked them for. The case disappeared in a matter of weeks, never to be discussed again despite never getting a clear ending in terms of legal matters.

One thing's for sure, if you ever want to commit a crime, enroll in my university first, they'll do a pretty damn good job at covering it up for you.