Emptiness — it’s a terrible feeling that I encountered upon returning to my condo after an event at ASU to find that my apartment had been broken into. Seeing that many of my possessions were gone leaves behind a stark myriad of bareness throughout my apartment. It is not just the immense monetary value one has lost that is frightening about being the victim of a robbery. Robbery and home invasions are terrifying crimes because of the personal nature of the items that have been taken from you.
My Macintosh was absolutely worthless to anyone but me because of the securities placed on the device but was a glamorous prize for the man who entered my home and took away the computer and with it, the safety that I once felt upon entering my dwelling. It isn’t that the computer was gone, what was absolutely heart-breaking was the amount of work I had spent on computer programs, on essays and on newspaper articles that are now out of my reach.
The emptiness goes beyond an empty apartment. I felt inside of me an emptiness of my spirit. My stomach felt as if it had dropped out of my body. It was difficult to maintain my composure as the police officer questioned me about the robbery. “Had someone left the door open?” … “Which items were taken?” It seems juvenile and inappropriate but you can’t tell an officer of the law that someone has stolen your sense of security and the safety that you once felt when you came home.
I was lucky. My things were eventually recovered and the incident was left behind.
However, there can be scars that never go away. In the instances of home invasion, which is the illegal and forceful entry into a home with intent to commit a crime such as robbery, rape, assault.
Ron Blake is one of these instances. Ron suffers from PTSD because one night he experienced a home invasion that was saturated with malicious intent. Ron said he lived right across from the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus. One night, his life partner and suitemate came home drunk with two other men. These men invaded Ron’s space. They, in a state of drunken disregard, sexually assaulted Ron over and over again. Lawyers told him that he couldn’t pursue litigation, he said.
Related: Ron Blake brings hope for people with PTSD to ASU, Arizona
This is a harrowing instance of a home invasion that was extremely personal and violent in nature. Ron knew his assailants, one of them was a man to whom he had pledged a special bond as a life partner. And that man violated the right to his body and made his home a place that would never feel safe again.
He is still dealing with the effects of PTSD from the rape.
These instances of home invasion are not isolated. I know several peers who also had their homes broken into — people living at Vertex, the District and Gateway. Young adult trying to balance the stressful experience of being a college student and learning to function as adults in society should not be forced to cope with these traumatic events.
College is supposed to be an environment for education, not only in the sense of book smarts, but also socially and emotionally. That education is compromised when one has to live with the fact that their home has been broken into before, and that it could happen again.
While the instances of home invasion are less common on ASU’s campuses, a single home invasion is one too many. Robbery and sexual assault constitute personal and inexcusable violations of an individual’s right to privacy. In one case, it is the violation of their dwelling that leaves the harm behind. In another, it is the destruction of the right to their own body.
Plenty of attention is given to recovery from these crimes and persecution of those who commit them. But not enough is being done to prevent them in the first place. Leaders within the community should get together and craft substantive policy changes to prevent these crimes from occurring in the future. Because even one rape is too many, even one robbery can completely change a person’s life and no one should have to feel unsafe in their own home.
Related links:
ASU Police arrests suspects on suspicion of Polytechnic car burglaries
Two ASU football players arrested on suspicion of burglary
Reach the columnist at ctvinson@asu.edu or follow @caleblikevauban on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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