This letter is in response to a small article published in your paper this Tuesday entitled “Student Won’t Press Charges”. The student mentioned in that article happens to be my roommate. I just wanted to let you know what a dangerous situation your article has put her in. Prior to the publication of this article, the man who was assaulting her was not aware that the girl had finally gone to the police about the situation. The reason it took her so long to go to the police in the first place is because she was afraid that the man would discover that she had reported him, and would harm her even more than before. After assuring her that he would not find out about her visit to the police, she finally gave a statement. Then your article appeared in the Chronicle, and included such specifics as where and when she was assaulted. If the man happens to see this article, he now knows that she has gone to the police multiple times. As a result, she is now even more hesitant to report him to the police again when these incidents occure. Also, my roommate is not allowed to be left alone for a single second anymore, not even when she goes to get a drink of water. And since the man knows where we live, neither of us will go in our room anymore. I have resorted to sleeping on friends’ couches.I understand the need to alert students that these incidents are occurring on our campus every day, but the specific details mentioned in the article were completely unneccesary. I hope you realize the dangerous situation you have put us all in. In the future please take more time to consider the consequences of the things you publish.
-Anonymous
P.S. Please do not publish this letter. Thank you