STOP THE BIKE-BY GROPER!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Eight women have reported being groped by a man on a bicycle near Arizona State University's main campus since March. Eight? This is obviously not a series of isolated incidents.
When I first heard the reports of the serial predator last week, it was being stated that law enforcement feared he would escalate in the nature of his crimes to commit more "violent offenses".
Perhaps some knowledge was gleaned from the Baseline Killer crime-spree that lesson being...SEXUAL PREDATORS ESCALATE IN THEIR OFFENSES. Bingo. Criminology 101.
After all, the bike-by groper has seemingly gotten away with victimizing eight women thus far what's to stop him from doing whatever he pleases?
It is a shame and a disservice to victims that groping is trivialized. If you have ever been violated by a strangers touch, rub, grasp or slap then you would recognize the terror and complete helplessness that you experience. The trivialization of groping occurs similarly with regards to public sexual harassment or "street harassment". If you have ever been confronted with unwanted sexual advances in public and then been called a "bitch", "slut","dyke" had objects thrown at you etc...for not succumbing to these advances you would know how painful and terrorizing this can be. Even worse, imagine experiencing this while you are with your children, as I have, and you would quickly recognize the need to put an end to this form of harassment. I am inspired by the grassroots activism of groups like HollabackNYC, Stop Street Harassment, and HollabackDC who define these behaviors as: a blatant demonstration of a power dynamic that reminds women and subordinated groups of our vulnerability to experience assault in public spaces.
We are taught to stay quiet and tolerate these behaviors as part of our very existence.
When public sexual harassment is reported, which may include verbal threats, heckling, insults, indecent exposure and other public humiliations we are sent the message "Well as long as there was no physical threat or assault...nothing really happened."
When groping is reported we are sent the message "Well as long as no rape or forcible penetration occurred...it's not a big deal" case in point one reader's comment from today's report on the serial groper:

"Dude's copping a feel. This sounds like college students being college students. Probably happens several times a day every single day on every campus in America."                 

Lastly, when rape is reported we are sent the message "Well...just be glad you survived and weren't killed". The thought that this message is commonly being sent to survivor's is not far fetched. Best-selling author Alice Sebold writer of The Lovely Bones courageously documents this in her memoir "Lucky". As an 18 year old college freshman at Syracuse University, Sebold was brutally raped. When she reported her assault to police they told her that she was "lucky" the last girl that had been raped at that location was killed and dismembered.
Lucky???  Read this excerpt of her ordeal and decide for yourself.
Many times survivors are re-victimized by these types of responses and we wonder why 60% of rapes/sexual assaults are not reported to police.
Due to the brazen nature of the bike-by groper's assaults, (it has been reported that he rides past victims a second time, assaulting them again, while they are still frozen in shock from the first encounter.) I would not be surprised if there are more victims out there that have not been ready to come forward.
If this has happened to you, I urge you to report the assault. Eight brave women have come forward thus far and when the time comes for this scum to answer for his crimes, you deserve to be counted too.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THESE CRIMES PLEASE CONTACT ASU POLICE AT  480-965-3456
For more information on reporting sexual assault please visit RAINN.
College age women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than any other age group. I don't come from the school of thought that dictates that our experiences should be marred by fear and that fear should be the sole motivator provoking us to take action. As cliche as it may seem, I do believe that knowledge is power and that taking back power from perpetrators through the immediate means of self defense is  empowering in many ways.
IF YOU ARE A STUDENT AT ASU AND WOULD LIKE TO HOST A WOMEN'S SELF DEFENSE WORKSHOP FOR FREE PLEASE CONTACT REVA AT: girlpowerselfdefense@gmail.com 

To the coward biking around trying to make a name for himself, I give you this: YOU WILL BE CAUGHT BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO TAKE YOUR PATHETIC GROPINGS TO THE NEXT LEVEL. If we ever meet while I am out and about around ASU, I'd love to show you some of the moves I've been perfecting, to put creeps like you, back in THEIR place. 
...I'm in need of a new bike :)