Students at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City have issued fliers warning victims to not call the police. Part of that reason is because police officers are men.

According to MRCTV, a flier around school reads, with original emphasis, "DO NOT CALL THE POLICE." The fliers provides suggestions, such as going to a hospital or Safe Horizons, and includes a list of alternative resources. The flier goes on a rant against involving the police:

Police are under-trained and poorly handle rape cases. Often times rape survivors are forced to work on their case with police teams that are 100% male. Most cases are thrown out. Survivors are discouraged to press charges because it costs the police money they don’t want to spend. Investigations are re-traumatizing. People of color, especially black people, undocumented people and trans and gender non-conforming people are targeted and often criminally charged even if they are the survivor.



Women made up up 35 percent of the NYPD in 2015, according to remarks from Mary Jo White, chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

From personal experience, a police officer's gender is also not a factor in how sympathetic he or she will be to concerns. While arguments can certainly be made about the need for efforts to better prepare police officers to sensitively handle rape cases, the flier contributes nothing productive to that argument.

The flier also speaks as if its claims, about a discouragement to press charges and how investigations can traumatize survivors, are objective facts. There is nothing to back up the charge that certain victims may be "targeted" or "criminally charged even if they are the survivor."

The flier is not only anti-police, but anti-prison, and further politicizes the issue by claiming to know what's best for women. "Despite increases in prison populations, rates of sexual violence have not decreased. Prisons do not protect women, they hurt prisoners and their families," the flier reads.

The need to "build systems outside the harmful police state that provide transformative and restorative justice! Hold our school to follow and go beyond Title IX," is also asserted.

Cooper Union spokesman Justin Harmon explained to MRCTV that the fliers came from students in reaction to NYPD posters on campus, and in a way defended their actions.

"Our policy states that students have the right to call the police, not that they must," he explained. "We also believe that students have the right to speak out against any Cooper policy or any perceived failing of police in handling these matters," Harmon also noted.