Content Warning: Discusses Sexual Assault
If you’re a college student whose university is located in the heart of a major city, threats may surround you at all times. In Austin, home to the state capitol and the mighty University of Texas, many of us students and residents of the city walk the streets and assess our environment for the ever-present dangers.
Is the person behind me following me or walking home like I am? Is that person reaching for a weapon in their pocket or their phone? Is the person I am about to walk by acting erratically and threatening those who pass them?
As a woman living in the city, I know the dangers women face all too well.
As of February 2024, assault offenses were the second most prominent type of crime committed in Austin and sex offenses were the 11th most reported crime in the city. Despite the pervasiveness of these crimes, the Austin Police Department reported roughly 9% of sexual assault cases are reported by individuals, meaning as high as 91% of these violent crimes go unreported.
According to the National Institute of Justice, sex crimes are predominately committed against women. A research study done by the nonprofit organization Stop Street Harassment found that “81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and/or assault in their lifetime.”
For University of Texas student Sadie Cude, the lack of crimes reported to the police is not surprising.
“I think if the police were seen as more of a protecting service… people would be more inclined to call them,” Cude said. “Because, honestly, there were times that I should’ve called them, but I (didn’t) think (it was) worth the hassle of calling the police and it (was) better to just walk away.”
When suspects are identified, it can take months for police to detain offenders. Dublas Vasquez, for example, was accused of assaulting a woman in West Campus in 2023 while he was out on bond from another sexual assault charge in 2022. Despite this, it took another six months to arrest him again.
When the suspect is detained, it is not uncommon to watch guilty assault offenders receive a sentence that isn’t on par with the severity of their crime, as with the case of serial predator Antonio Cordero-Rios. Cordero-Rios assaulted 10 people. His sentencing for causing serious bodily harm during an aggravated assault and injury to a child was probation for 10 years after pleading guilty.
Even if cases manage to get reported in the first place, hundreds of sexual assault kits may go unsubmitted to labs and thousands can go unanalyzed once there.
The issues with lab testing aren’t only that they may not be submitted or analyzed. At the beginning of this year, city leaders issued a public apology after a 2016 APD lab audit showed that thousands of testing kits may have been damaged.
The issues surrounding threats to women’s safety in Austin are an undeniable current issue. Despite this, the action taken to combat this is minimal. The lack of prevention efforts and combative measures signal that women’s safety and overall well-being aren’t taken seriously.
Acknowledging these shortcomings and failures often comes after the issue gains mass attention. This reflects how law enforcement isn’t bothered by their disregard for women’s assault cases unless they are being beckoned to care by a throng of people.
Julie Lunde Lillesæter’s 2024 documentary “An Army of Women” portrays this reality. The film followed 12 women as they filed the first federal class-action lawsuit against Austin police and prosecutors after two women’s rape cases got dismissed. The lawsuit argued that the scarce prosecution of sexual assault was because women were often the people targeted in the crimes.
It’s not just the lack of support from APD that leaves women feeling unsafe in the city, it’s also the lack of support for the unhoused population in Austin that makes it hard for women to feel safe when walking down the street alone. Though many unhoused community members are just trying to survive, some take to lashing out at those passing by.
“I think there’s a stigma around (unhoused people’s) mental health (and) maybe substance abuse,” UT student Bonnie Robbins said. “That can be concerning not knowing what someone’s next move will be.”
For Cude, this issue is personal and a daunting reality she has faced in Austin since 2015.
“I feel that I do fear for my safety in certain ways,” Cude said. “The majority of the issues that I’ve had are walking downtown, mostly with (unhoused) people, to be honest. I’ve had a lot of bad things said to me by (unhoused) men.”
Cude recalled a time an unhoused man shouted at her as she walked by, “If I could, I would rape you.” Another time, a man tried to assault Cude while she was at work and threatened her manager with a knife after they said they were calling the police.
“Keeping the area clean, I think that’s really important,” Robbins said. “Just because it kinda sets a standard for action. If we treat our space well, maybe we’ll treat the people around us better.”
There are also other resources currently available to UT students.
According to their website, the West Campus Ambassadors “are a specialized safety, cleaning, and hospitality team.” The program has both safety and cleaning ambassadors. Depending on the ambassador, they may help provide resources and information or escort individuals, but all ambassadors monitor West Campus. Cleaning ambassadors work from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and safety ambassadors are available from 3:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Sure Walk is a UT-specific resource. The service offers two Sure Walkers to accompany students, faculty, and staff to their cars or to another location within a given distance from campus. Sure Walk operates from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.
There is also UT Night Rides in partnership with the Lyft Rideshare Service. UT offers Lyft credits to each student to use if they want to be picked up from campus between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Students may be dropped off anywhere within a certain radius and rides are available all week.
These resources are helpful and should be taken advantage of to ensure our own safety and that of our peers. But there will be times when the resources are unavailable, and threats will still be present.
Cude encourages women living in Austin to maintain their awareness anywhere they go. Things that may seem small, like somebody walking behind you, should not be dismissed.
Robbins prompts incoming female students to educate themselves on self-defense in dangerous situations.
But even with extensive safety knowledge and self-defense tactics, staying safe spans past the measures we as women may take. It’s not just up to us to ensure we live in a world where we can move freely and without fear– it’s up to the men in our lives as well. Though it shouldn’t fall to us to educate them, Robbins said it may be crucial.
“Not that it’s our job,” Robbins said. “But (teaching) our guy friends and the males in our life how to be more aware of stuff like that and be aware of themselves and what they’re doing to help make women feel more safe.”
