Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences Beth Adubato, who teaches criminal justice in the College of Arts and Sciences, at New York Institute of Technology, is available to discuss the latest tragic cases of sexual abuse and cyber bullying.
Adubato, who has shared her personal story of sexual assault as a college freshman, holds a doctorate in criminal justice. She specializes in the area of gender and crime and has spoken widely on campus safety.
In late March, she led NYIT's "Take Back the Night" event to raise awareness about sexual and domestic abuse.
"Obviously, there are a number of offenses at work here--leading to the tragic deaths of two teen-aged girls. First, there are the sexual assaults—in both cases, these assaults were videotaped. Maybe we need some laws that hold onlookers equally culpable in this new world of video fame by criminal activity?
A police officer who spoke to one of my classes this semester, Inspector Keechant Sewell, said that there will be plenty of work out there for criminal justice majors, because criminals keep thinking of new ways to commit crime. We need to combat this scourge with new laws. We need to better police cyber-bullying and determine where First Amendment rights end and criminal activity begins."
"The most insidious part of these two crimes, however, is what led to these two young women to commit suicide. I say it’s the most insidious part because of the finality. We can learn to heal from sexual assault and become survivors, but we need to address the victim-blaming that is overwhelming to anyone, but even more pernicious to young people.
We need to change our “victim-blaming” culture. How do we do that? Let’s start with education. Let’s start with outreach into our schools through which we impress upon young people that no one deserves to be raped. And let’s bring in the voices of survivors. Survivors are powerful forces for changing the levels of understanding and awareness of the pain experienced by victims of sexual assault and family members of victims of assault and those who take their own lives."
Read more about Beth Adubato here.
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