Statement made by Joanne Tosti-Vasey representing PA NOW at the Window of Opportunity Rally & March on March 25, 2015:
We’re concerned that this mistreatment of women continues to happen in the PSU community.
These actions by KDR have resulted in the appropriate suspension of the KDR fraternity. It also resulted in both police and campus declarations to further investigate what and how this happened. We applaud the University and the national office of KDR for taking these actions. We also applaud the State College police for their pro-active investigation.
We also believe that these types of sexist activities need to be reviewed within the greater milieu of the Penn State environment. This review needs to determine what additional policies and protocols should be implemented to prevent such future acts by members of the community and to hold perpetrators accountable for their misogynistic actions.
The PSU President’s Task Force on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment was charged by President Barron to “[combat] sexual misconduct and to [engage] all employees and students in a direct call to action.” We call on PSU to add this social media bullying type of assault to this review.
In addition to calling upon PSU to review their policies, we are also asking the public here and across the country to view these actions within the larger scope of online harassment of women. Here’s what we are talking about.
Gamergate. Doxing. Revenge Pornography. Swatting. Posting of pictures of hazing and of nude and unconscious women without their consent. Threats of rape and death via social media. These are all forms of cyber bullying that we have recently heard about across the country. And most of the victims have been women.
In light of these social media attacks, Pennsylvania NOW and Ni-Ta-Nee NOW (the local NOW chapter) have signed on as organizational supporters of Representative Katherine Clark’s (D-MA) “Dear Colleague” letter sent to her Congressional colleagues in an effort to highlight concerns about gender violence on all forms of social media. This letter, through Congress’ oversight and review process, urges the US Department of Justice to “intensify their efforts to combat cyber stalking, harassment, and threats.”
Joanne Tosti-Vasey, NOW Mid-Atlantic Regional Director, Member of PA NOW Executive Committee, Vice President-Action for Ni-Ta-Nee NOW, and Past-President of Pennsylvania NOW.
Statement created with the assistance of:
Michele Hamilton, NOW Mid-Atlantic Region Board Member, Vice President of Pennsylvania NOW, and President of Ni-Ta-Nee NOW.
Marian Bradley, NOW Northwest Regional Director and Past President of Montana NOW.
