A female undergraduate was sexually assaulted a block from campus last Saturday by a man who claimed to be armed.
The attack occurred at 1:20 a.m. on Lovegrove Street, an alley that runs from 32nd to 33rd Street behind the 3200 block of North Charles.
"Hopkins Security responded to the scene when Baltimore Police activity was observed at the location," Lieutenant Mark Long wrote in a statement.
"Officers then responded to Union Memorial Hospital to gather information surrounding the incident and to assist the police and victim."
The woman involved in the assault suffered minimal physical injury, though a JHBroadcast sent at 9 a.m. on Saturday stated that the victim was being provided with, "whatever support and assistance she needs in the days and weeks to come."
The suspect was described in the Hopkins security report as being a 20 to 30 year-old black male. He was wearing a navy blue and black hooded sweatshirt at the time of the attack and the direction of his departure is unknown.
Monica Alston, the Baltimore Police Sex Crimes Unit detective in charge of the case, could not be reached for comment.
Campus Safety and Security stressed the importance of preventative precautions in both their JHBroadcast and subsequent Security Report.
The department's recommended safety measures include staying in well-lit and well-traveled areas, avoiding shortcuts, traveling in pairs or groups and staying aware at all times.
Baltimore City Police reported that there have been two other sexual assaults (both rapes) in the Charles Village area over the last two years. One occurred on the 2900 block of North Charles, and the other on the 500 block of West University.
Baltimore Police noted that in those incidents the victims (both female) were acquainted with their assailants, while in the case of the recent assault, the attacker was a stranger.
"Stranger assaults like the one that happened on Saturday are the rarest sort," Linda Song, Co-President of the Hopkins Sexual Assault Response Unit (SARU), wrote in an e-mail.
"There's a difference when it comes to reporting stranger sexual assaults. Most people know that, yes, stranger assaults are terrible things and yes, it is rape/assault.
But unfortunately, when it comes to the more common cases of acquaintance assault, people's perceptions get a little more blurry."
For some students and groups, such as SARU, the incident and its treatment raised longstanding concerns about victim-blaming and negatives stigmas associated with reporting rape or assault.
Both SARU and the Hopkins Feminist Alliance felt that the JHBroadcast inadvertently engaged in victim-blaming by focusing so much attention on preventative measures.
"The problem with the e-mail was that it does not mention that this could happen again, that the perpetrator could be a Hopkins student," Tom Smith, Co-President of the Feminist Alliance, said.
"The e-mail never gave any indication that this is a problem in our school, because it's a problem everywhere."
Song noted that focusing only on how people can protect themselves inevitably leads to discussion about what victims could have done differently to avoid being attacked.
"That's not right and it's not fair. There are should haves in this situation that don't even involve the victim's decisions . . . Instead of thinking about how students should protect themselves, it's more relevant to think about how students and the community can protect each other."
Smith added that societal change starts with personal standards.
"One of the most major things is dismantling rape culture, that our society can make jokes about raping people . . . that rapists aren't punished, rape victims aren't believed.
It's something you have to incorporate into your everday life and you check people around you . . . it's a built from the bottom up kind of attitude."
Both organizations are working to increase awareness on campus about how to securely report sexual assaults.
In addition to speaking with peer counselors at SARU, Song added that students can report rape or assault through the Counseling Center, Dean of Student Life and new Sexual Violence Response Coordinator (a victim advocate in the Office of Student Life.
"I hope the student from this weekend knows that this isn't her fault," Song wrote.
"I think that it's important for her and other victims to know that this isn't their fault. And I think that it's important for peers, the community, and the University to know that it isn't their fault and to show compassion and support to affected students . . . What is assault? What is consent? These are all important questions that need to be addressed. "
