Date Rape Among College Students

Assault in all forms is dangerous to both men and women. Sexual assault on college campuses is fairly common today, and occurs in a number of ways. Young women are most often the main victims of assault on college campuses. This is becoming a serious issue in American society today because either some of these cases go unreported or these young women are too scared to report them or are too embarrassed to report it because the men causing these might be their friends or someone they know. Many young women face this kind of problem, especially when in college. It is mostly at college parties where girls are at risk of having drinks that have been “roofied.” Roofied drinks are drinks that have been spiked with drugs and are most often used by men against women to make them sleepy or cause them to black out. These men are able to take advantage of these vulnerable women. It is difficult to tell if a drink is roofied as the color, taste and odor of the drink remains the same. These actions also put out a bad image of the “good” men and the men that actually care about a women’s safety and wellbeing. As a result, women will naturally form opinions based on experiences they have and will tend to be more cautious.

The alarming increase in sexual assault among male and female students is a source of concern. Despite improvements in the general statistics on rape cases, the college setting remains to be the hot bed of sexual assault, especially among the female counterparts (Allen, 2007). A victim, regardless being a male or a female, never feel safe in their life as something precious was taken from them once. Statistics show that 17.6% of women are likely to be victims of rape in their entire lifetime while only 0.3% of males are estimated to be the victims of sexual assault. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), the most critical ages men and females are likely to be engaged in sexual abuse is when they are children or adolescents (Gonzales, Schofield & Schmitt, 2006).

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

“Feminism has not prepared them for this,” states Camille Paglia in her essay “Rape: A Bigger Danger than Feminists Know.” The “them” in Paglia’s statement is referring to women, and she is discussing the topic of date rape. Susan Jacoby, on the other hand, writes in her article “Common Decency,” that feminism is not responsible for the rising cases of date rape, but that it is the men who are at fault. Paglia’s argument is insightful and accurate, but Jacoby’s writing is flawed and not well-researched. Paglia includes all rhetorical appeals and persuasive techniques, while Jacoby lacks in some departments of persuasiveness and fills the gap with logical fallacies. Comparing both of these papers will help the reader see why

So, let’s get started. Because we are in college, most of us probably spend some weekends out at the bars, parties or other events where alcohol is presented. Around 89,000 cases of rape are reported annually and of those cases 7.2% occurs at parties or other events, according to statistic brain. To be put that in a better Boone Pickens has 56,790 seats (O’ Colly). So, that’s almost 1.5 stadiums filled with people that have been sexually assaulted at a parties. Just think about that for a moment, we ourselves either know people or are the people who go out and have too much to drink sometimes, but is anybody asking to be belittled or taken advantage of? Being at social events make people less aware, especially when they are drinking, so their guard is being put down, which is how they may be taken advantage of. Not only does sexual assault occur out at public events, but it also occurs in people’s private time as well. Put yourself in the shoes of someone who may just experienced sexual assault. Who did it to you? Someone you’ve never met? Well, guess what if I told you it was your best friend, a relative, or your boyfriend/girlfriend. According to the National Institute of Justice, approximately 90% of sexual assaults reported are committed by someone that they know ( ). You probably never thought of that, just as most victims didn’t. Because most victims do experience this from someone they know, an estimated 63% of sexual assaults are never reported, according to NSRVC( ).

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.

Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape. The definition of date rape and acquaintance rape two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between the two parties involved. It’s a massive issue and is getting worse day by day, despite the continuous effort of law enforcement as well as many aware-raising organizations. Date rape is a grossly widespread issue among the United States and needs to be looked at closely and taken more seriously in order to get a handle on the constantly rising statistics, the mental and physical dangers of the victims, and the large amount of illegal pharmacies that are online supplying the very people who commit these heinous crimes.

One campus only had a single incident of date rape in four years that did not involve alcohol. Date rape tends to be fostered by poor communication and a difference of expectations. These problems are magnified by even a little alcohol.

When colleges and universities are constantly in competition with each other for students, there are certain issues that occur. Competition has turned into universities and colleges often mishandling sexual assault and rape cases. Campuses want to minimize the danger that they may pose which leads to sexual assault and rape crimes to often be veiled. With this veil in place, it counters the efforts of colleges and universities to address the issue of sexual assault and rape. In July 2016, a survey was released to 350 colleges and university presidents. The purpose of this survey was to showcase whether sexual assault and rape cases were handled correctly or mishandled. Over the last five years, “more than 40 percent of the schools had not conducted a sexual assault and/or rape investigation” (citation). It was revealed that

Sexual assault leaves a long term effect on victims and are afraid to speak up for help, especially if the attack happens on a college campus. Victims of sexual assault become timid to speak up about their attacks because more than likely they know justice is not in the question for them. It is sad to know the statistics that are shown for sexual assault occurring on college campuses are not 100% accurate due to more than half of the sexually assaulted students never have the courage to report their attacks. Sexual assault is a major issue affecting female college students and it needs to be addressed.

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

One night, “Amy,” a student at State, was hanging out with some friends in her room. “A bunch of people were there, and one guy I didn’t know was obviously drunk and kept asking me out. I tried to brush him off, and didn’t take it seriously because he was drunk. I left to go to sleep. “He followed me to my room and kept banging on my bedroom door, trying to push it open and asking me to talk to him. I talked to him for a little while just to appease him.” Finally, the guy’s friends coaxed him away from Amy’s door. “I don’t know if that’s sexual harassment,” she said. “I wasn’t worried that he was going to assault me. The whole thing was just annoying.”

Drugs and alcohol can play a major role in date rape and 25% of drugs are even are factored into rape. Drinking can help loosen inhibition and reduce common sense, and while at this act, drinks could also be spiked by a drug called rohypnol. Rohypnol is a common date rape drug that could be used anywhere but more commonly at a party or at clubs. Other drugs such as GHB and Ketamine have other types of drugs such as cherry meth and acid are mixed into one drug. Date rape drugs often have no smell or taste makes it easy for the persecutor to quickly put the drug in their drink without the victim's knowledge. People who have experienced these date rape drugs have said that they felt dizziness, confusion, paralyzed, and that they have problem talking. Drugs are the most dangerous when they are factored with drinking because it is almost impossible to detect, they make a victim feel weak and confused which can cause them to pass out. There are many precautions a victim can take when they are in a vulnerable environment. Some of these precautions may be, getting a new drink, keeping an eye on the bartender, and also bringing your drink along with