How Undergraduate College Women in the United States Perceive Rape and Sexual Assault

In her essay,” ‘Hooking Up’: What Educators Need to Know”, Kathleen A. Bogle illustrates that college students are having more casual sex aka ”Hooking Up” (248). Also Educators need be able to tell the different of casual sex and sexual assault. Bogle illustrates hooking up is a more common practice because the shift of social and dating. She explains that hooking up is the new dating system for college students to find “sexual and romantic partners” (249). According to Bogle hooking up is the thing to do for today’s generation even if it has been a part of social culture since the 1960s. Because so many students are doing it in today’s generation Bogle believes hook up culture has changed the way we react to subjects such as sexual assault. “Sexual assault on the college campus stems from the ambiguity of the ’unable to consent’ provision of state laws” (Bogle 250). “Hooking Up” usually occurs at parties towards the in the night when students are under the influence of alcohol. In Bogle’s view the shift of dating practices to hooking up have created more problems in the prevention of rape. She goes to explain that because of the rise in drunken hookups sexual assault is no longer limited to date rape situations. Bogle states that students also have a hard time of distinguishing a sexual encounter and rape due to victim-blaming. Bogle stresses that though college administrators can’t stop the fact that students are going to hook up they should educate students more on the

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

References Martin, S. L., Fisher, B. S., Warner, T. D., Krebs, C. P., & Lindquist, C. H. (2011). Women’s sexual orientations and their experiences of sexual assault before and during university. Women's Health Issues, 21(3), 199-205. http://dx.doi.org.libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/10.1016/j.whi.2010.12.002 Mullaly, B., & West, J. (2017). Theoretical and conceptual considerations.

Freshmen and sophomores have a greater risk for on campus rape and sexual assault during the first semester of college (Wyatt, T., Oswald S. 2014). One way to make incoming students aware of their risks they have while attending a university is by providing sex education in higher education setting. This curriculum should include consent education, which discusses having permission to perform sexual acts, as well as recognizing how and when to report a crime. It may be argued that this is something that should have been covered in high school, but a refresher course on sexual education could be beneficial. College students are adults, and adults should be given information to keep themselves and others safe while attending the university. This information could be given at incoming freshmen orientation, first year

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.

Many teens enter college expecting a different atmosphere from what they had in high school, but in reality they may have more to worry about than they originally thought. Although the number of cases of sexual assault on college campuses has decreased since 1993 it is still a relevant topic. 5% of women, every year, on college campuses experience rape or attempted rape as reported by One in Four, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of rape. 11% of women who experience rape actually report it to the police; most sworn campus law enforcement officials

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.

Sexual assault and rape are serious social and public health issues in the United States and throughout the rest of the world. In particular sexual assault on college campus are prevalent at an alarming rate and leaves serious effects on the victims. This essay will focus on statistics and the prevalence and effects amongst college students, through examining a number of reasons why women fail to report sexual assault and rape. This essay will also cover sexual assault prevention and things that can be done to mitigate the risk of becoming a victim to such matter.

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

“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.

College is a place where people experience many firsts. First time living away from home, first time having to pay for laundry, and roughly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men may experience their first sexual assault. (Krebs, C. P., Lindquist, C., Warner, T., Fisher, B., & Martin, S. (2007).

In Acquaintance “Rape and the College Social Scene,” the authors, Sally K. Ward, Kathy Chapman, Ellen Cohn, Susan White and Kirk Williams, main purpose was to report on a study they performed of the cases of sexual assaults at a specific college campus. The article provides estimates of the rate of acquaintance rape, recounting the situations surrounding the acquaintance rape, and people working toward making policies against this type of aggression. This article focuses on the themes of underreporting of the assaults, the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses, and the link between alcohol use and assault. Underreporting happens normally because the assault was done by someone the victim knew. If the perpetrator is known to the victim, people are less likely to label what transpired as rape.

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).

College-age adults are known to be high risk for sexual violence and most studies show that one in three women have experiences some type of sexual assault whether it was through physical force or harassment. These statics are known by most women on college campuses to ensure that women know and understand that this could happen to them. The issue is more than ensuring that women are aware of how protect themselves and know how to avoid these situations because it shouldn’t even be happening. When women are taught that they should know how to defend themselves we are saying that this type of behavior is normal and inevitable. We should shift from this dynamic and start teaching both men and women that this behavior is completely unacceptable and that sexually assaulting or harassing someone is NOT normal. This paper will mostly focus on incidents of rape and sexual assault on college campuses and what the outcome and reactions of these incidents were.

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