went viral across social media
platforms and a wave of Pali
students became involved in
the conversation about the
statistic and its significance.
“I’m really glad that a com-
prehensive study on sexual
harassment has finally been
conducted because I feel like a
lot of the time sexual assault is
really the only aspect of harass-
ment that we have statistics on,”
Govindraj said. “It’s really lim-
iting in that so many women,
despite not being assaulted per
se, have been negatively affect-
ed by rape culture in some way.”
Also joining in on the di-
alogue was senior Jairo Ville-
gas, who experienced backlash
on Instagram after clarifying
what he considered to be mis-

conceptions about the study.

“People were using the 97

percent harassment statistic

[to say that] 97 percent of men

were the aggressors,” Villegas

said. “They were flip-flopping

the statistic, and that’s not cool.”

Villegas expressed frus-

tration that as the statis-

tic spread, misinformation

villainizing large numbers

of men spread as well.

“People are just making

statements without stating

a source, they’re just throw-

ing numbers up,” he said.

“That’s the problem... People

need to do their homework.”

Villegas said he considers

sexual harassment to be more

than just a women’s issue.

Mirroring his view, a 2017

CNBC poll found that 10 per-

cent of men reported being vic-

tims of sexual harassment or sex-

ual misconduct at work. In fact,

the Washington Post reported

in 2018 that men account for

nearly one in five complaints of

workplace sexual harassment.

“Sexual harassment is a

problem in general. Not just

women are harassed. I have

been groped and a lot of my

homies have also been sexually

violated,” Villegas said. “Under

the qualifications of what this

study was considering harass-

ment, I’m sure 97 percent of the

people on the planet have expe-

rienced harassment in that way.”

Some students have sprung

into action to address the issue,

trying to initiate productive

change in the Pali community.

Sophomore Shaya Key-

vanfar became a certified peer

educator last August with

SafeBAE, a student-led organi-

zation seeking to end sexual as-

Feature Feature by Ciara Kenneyby Ciara Kenney

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‘It impacts ‘It impacts everyevery single

aspect of our lives’aspect of our lives’

97%

97%