Campus Rape Culture

Sexual assault is defined by the department of justice as: any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. Women aged 18-24, in college, are three times greater at risk than the average woman any age. (RAINN). The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has 246 ongoing investigations into how 195 colleges and universities handled sexual assault under Title IX. (Huffington Post). Many ask, Why on college campuses? Why have these statistics been rising? For a rapist or an assaulter, college is

“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn't move” (Hummer, 1989). These were the words said by a freshman away at college after she had been sexual assaulted. From the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National network, statistics show that “over 90 percent of all gang rapes on college campuses involve fraternity men” (Hummer, 1989). Most often these woman may be labeled as trash, shameful, or ready for action, aside from a victim, prey, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these deprecating terms for women and cover the reality of a rape culture.

This study focuses on high risk and low risk environments and relationship interactions to gain a perspective on rape culture. According to, “ FRATERNITIES AND COLLEGIATE RAPE Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?” by Boswell and Spade (1996) indicate that the relationship that is developed between men and women influence the way in which people are treated. Women and men often seek relationships differently then each other. The environments in which people interact impact the quality of relationship building. Along with values of the culture people are living in also influence the type of interactions seen as worthy or unworthy. The researchers in this study observes and interview people in a college setting based apon lifestyle choices such as living arrangements, the campus’ social setting, social environments, participation, interactions, values, awareness, relationship characteristics, respect, aggression, and interpersonal

The chapter “ Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why are some fraternities more dangerous places for women?” by A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade helps to shed light on why some fraternities are associated with high number of sexual assaults on women. I was surprised to learn that “frat brothers rape 300% more and 1 in 5 women are raped on campus” (Valenti, 2014) and despite these horrendous statistics fraternities are still around. So why aren’t there more stringent actions set into motion to stop sexual assaults on women on campus or better yet ban fraternities. A lot has to do with how society as a whole sets double standards with regard to gender sexuality. Men who sleep around are viewed as “studs” or a “player” and women who sleep

Free-and-easy sex prides itself on being commitment free, no emotional ties attached. Today, this idea of leaving all emotions at the door is the supposedly, sophisticated choice on campus. It is now well understood that traditional dating in college has mostly gone the way of the landline, replaced by “hooking up”- an ambiguous term that can signify anything from making out to oral sex to intercourse - all complete without the emotional entanglement of a real relationship. As times have changed, students begin to view a relationship as “too time consuming” and something that no longer takes priority amongst their busy, high achieving schedules. However, hooking up threatens the sexual, physical, and psychological health of college-age youth. Today’s youth may want to think twice before engaging in the prevalent hook-up culture. Despite the popularity of positive feelings, hookups can include negative outcomes including emotional and psychological injury, and even more concerning consequences such as unintended rape. In order to protect our generation, and more specifically our women, society must acknowledge the detrimental effects of a hook up culture to create a greater understanding surrounding this risky sexual behavior and ensure a more powerful, positive presence for women in our society. The combination of a society seeped in rape culture and an alcohol infused hookup culture creates a compromising sexual environment where women have limited control, opening the

Sexual assault and rape among college campuses has been an ongoing issue across the nation for decades. In the state of Utah, this complex issue will not have a simple solution, but measures can be taken to prevent sexual assault and rape occurring on campuses. Utah Valley University is a campus that is taking considerably impressive measures to combat sexual assault, which will be a basis of this paper. Through university sex education, stricter laws and enforcement, and providing on-campus services to students, cases of sexual assault and rape in the higher level education setting will decrease, and students will be more likely to report these crimes.

Rolling Stone is a magazine that was first known for its coverage of music and politics now mainly focuses on pop culture and entertainment. In the November 2014 issue, “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA” story was published about an alleged rape on the University of Virginia campus. Rolling Stone released information about the alleged rape of a freshman and how the school mishandled the situation. The Rolling Stone wrote and published a story that was only told from the student’s point of view; the magazine never interviewed anyone else related to the case. “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA” story caused much controversy and many ethical issues came from the release of the

Sexual assault is defined as any vaginal, oral, or anal penetration that is forced upon another, regardless of sex and sexual orientation, using any object or body part. The issue of sexual assault in America is primarily encouraged by rape culture. Women Against Violence Against Women is an organization that defines rape culture as a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. The acceptance of rape culture, rape myths, and the disregard for sexual consent also allow for the perpetuation of sexual assault against women on college campuses. Recent examples of sexual assault on college campuses show how prominent this issue has become and how hostile campuses have become for female students. Some examples include the University of Southern California’s “Gullet Report,” Miami University of Ohio’s “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape,” and a sexual assault on the campus of Kansas University. Sexual assault is perpetuated by the acceptance of rape myths and rape culture, lack of effective sexual education, and the disregard for consent. The solution to this issue lies with defeating rape culture, increasing awareness and funding for campus sexual assault crisis centers, and enacting more prevention programs on campus.

Rape has always been a sensitive subject, but there is a certain kind of rape that is affecting college campuses at an alarming rate. Date rape is rape committed by someone with whom the victim has gone on a date with. Date rape has been a coined term for a while, but the increasing number of reported date rapes on college campuses involving college students has increased through the years. The definition of date rape has stirred up quite a buzz. A leading cause of date rape is considered voluntary or involuntary consent to people. Universities across the nation struggle with how to handle the alarming statistics of college date rape. Many universities have instituted surveys and educational courses for their students to be aware of date rape.

In the first critique of The Hunting Ground written by Robby Soave called “How The Hunting Ground Spreads Myths About Campus Rape,” Soave basically is trying to discredit the film and find ways to discredit the victims. Soave uses the fact that nineteen Harvard University professors have denounced the film, but of course they would because one of the main examples in the movie was a case that occurred at Harvard University. Soave also tried to say that the victims that were talked about in the two main cases in the movie had been faulty in their explanations of what happened on the night of the attacks. Soave also mentions the guy they showed in the movie who admitted to sexually assaulting someone and going to jail for six years, Soave says

College. It is labeled as the best four years of anyone who is granted the opportunity to attend any university. It is a time where an individual can decide who they are and what they want to become. While this is an accurate piece of information, it also raises the question, does college promote a rape culture that is seen in society today? Often with sites, such as I’m Shmacked and others, who posts videos of college drinking, presumably of underage students. These sites promote the damaging act of binge drinking, which can lead to negative choices. In addition, the banners many fraternities display at major universities welcoming students back, promoting the indecency and undermining the well-being of women on campus. In recent light of the Brock Turner case of sexual assault and others, does the darker side of this promotion come to light. Statistics show 28% of women who attend college will sadly be a victim to these malleolus acts (Diamond, vi). Are sexual assaults becoming an addition to the college experience?

Certain things are a given about college life. New opportunities, new friends, new living situations, but also, new dangers. No matter what college, what area, whether it is a notorious party school or not, there is always a danger that comes with placing hormonal youths in close contact with drugs, alcohol, and each other. Yet, few parents are afraid for the safety their young sons. Many parents fear for the safety of their daughters, in an environment where drugs and alcohol are the norm. The college party culture has been renowned for placing shame and blame on young girls who are the victims of rape and sexual assault. So, I created a model for a poster which protests this campus, and also nationwide rape culture.

Sexual assault has been a huge issue for many years on college campuses and universities nation wide. As society has evolved, thoughts on sexual assault have also evolved, becoming more focused on the details of victim treatment than ever before. The topic of sexual assault is debatable and sparks many opinions on weather sexual assault on college campuses is becoming more frequent, or if there is just heightened awareness. Sexual assault can happen to anybody no matter the gender, race, religion, or age. Recently there have been many studies conducted on sexual violence on college campuses and universities producing ample amounts of statistics. One may argue that sexual assault rates are the same, but there are simply more studies and attention on sexual assault in the past 20 years. Gender roles have played a huge part in sexual assault on college campuses. Women and men have different expectations when it comes to roles in the relationship, men are often expected to make the first move. One may ask what causes a perpetrator to sexually harass somebody and think it is acceptable. There are various reasons as to why perpetrators do what they do, and may vary from person to person. Although sexual violence is a large problem for many colleges and universities, there is a surprising shortage of federal laws/rules and regulations regarding sexual assault. Colleges are able to develop their own personal policies and procedures for how they will prevent and deal with sexual

That night, was the worst night of my life. Yet I am not even close to being alone in my circumstances. When we got to college, they had us take a course on campus safety, and in that course I learned that 1 in 4 females on a college campus experience sexual assault. 1 in 4. Yet so few people ever receive justice for that. While the law is designed to stop rapists and protect the victims, sadly, frequently it fails. The justice system is flawed, and in this society selling weed is likely to pull a tougher sentence than raping a woman. A majority of rape cases go untried, and it’s not hard to see why. We live in a society that blames the victim over and over and over again. Our justice system continuously fails women who have suffered at the

Preventing campus rape has become a focus in many government policies, most notably in California’s Affirmative Consent Law. Consent being defined by the bill as “voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity” (SB-967). Though this is a victory, the nation has failed to address high school sexual assault; only 24% of all sexual assault interventions are conducted on adolescents (Senn, 2013). Addressing consent in primary and secondary education may significantly prevent future incidences of sexual assault as students determine what is appropriate behavior in romantic relationships beginning in kindergarten (Little, 2015; Moore, 2011). According to the CDC 42.2% of female rape victims were raped prior to the age of 18. They face long-term repercussions including a variety of mental illnesses and 400% increased chance of college rape (Senn, 2013). In primary education, students are given insufficient education of sexual relations to be familiar with definitions of consent. Many women may not realize they have been raped and are discouraged from reporting their rape. Men often adhere to societal entitlement, 66% of men believed that “No” during a sexual encounter meant to try again or to continue (Little, 2005). By enacting mandatory affirmative consent curriculum throughout American public