An unusual protest for justice

A rape victim is carrying her dorm-room mattress with her everywhere she goes to protest the inaction by school administrators in bringing her attacker to justice.
Columbia University senior Emma Sulkhowitz is carrying the mattress as part of her senior thesis art project, and will only stop once when her rapist is no longer enrolled in school.
Sulkhowitz points out that the project - which she is calling 'Mattress Performance' or 'Carry That Weight' - could last as little as one day, or continue until she graduates this spring.
The mattress represents her specific rape, since she was attacked in her dorm room. The weight of carrying it around also visualizes how she continues to be haunted by the experience.
She says the incident was so damaging, she initially decided not to go to authorities because she was afraid and ashamed of what had happened.
The student newspaper has identified the student accused of the rape, but since no charges have been filed, Mail Online is not naming the man.
While she didn't report the incident to police at first, she and two other victims of the same man reported him to school officials the following spring.
Administrators held a hearing on the matter but eventually found the student in question 'not responsible'.
The experience of reporting the rape to police was just as terrible an experience for Sulkhowitz as well.
Officers showed up to take her statement at her dorm room on May 14, and she says they were dismissive and questioning of her account.  Police now have passed the case along to the District Attorney, and while Sulkhowitz believes it may be too late to bring up charges against her attacker, she still hopes for justice.