Survival of the Strong Minded
"There are wounds that are never show on the body, that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds" (Lauren K Hampton). Both men and women can be sexually assaulted. Sometimes known as date rape, sexual assault has been noticed around college campuses. Colleges, barely bring the situation to the surface; setting up certain phone lines to help people before and after being assaulted. Sexual assault rates are high, especially on college campus; who have been in denial, ignoring the situation, and providing injustice. Victims have suffered greatly and nothing will change until we all stand together and stop rape.
Ever since the 1700's, women have been fighting to earn an education. Being only able to "teach", women have always wanted to succeed. Women did not begin attending college in equal
…show more content…
At some of the country's most elite schools, that number climbed even higher: 34% for University of Michigan female seniors, 32% at Yale and 29% at Harvard” (Wallace 1). Within getting a degree most female students have experienced sexual assault. The numbers just keep rising and if we cannot stop it now then it will only get worse. Sadly, more than “50% of the women, who reported some of the most serious incidents, including forced penetration, didn't report it because they didn't think it was "serious enough," according to the survey. Others said they didn't come forward because they were embarrassed, ashamed or thought it would be too emotionally difficult or that they didn't think anything would be done about it” (Wallace). Society now, as a whole, needs to change. None of the campuses will be safe until sexual assault is taken
Despite having hundreds of sexual assault cases each year, most colleges take little action to resolve these cases. In fact, only 20% of female sexual assault survivors report cases, the rest believing that it was too personal to share, or that if they did, the police wouldn’t listen to them. If they did report, often times it was to the local police rather than the campus police in fear that they would be shamed or turned away by the universities.
Sexual assault on college campuses is an extensive topic that has concerned people for many years. The high rates and the case report cover-ups have brought about many varying opinions. Many people believe in changing the college framework to establish universities that are better equipped to deal with this issue. Others feel that the problem could be addressed by changing society’s outlook on crimes like these. While another group feels that the problem is in how we define rape. Despite these differences in opinions, one thing is clear, everyone agrees that something must be done to reduce sexual assault on campuses.
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).
In America, 1 out of 6 women fall victim to rape at some point in their lives—completed or not (“Victims of Sexual Violence” 1). However, this is only one form of sexual assault that women are forced to face. Groping and other non-consensual, sexual acts are also examples of sexual assault (“Sexual Assault” 1).. Many perpetrators of sexual assault roam free, practically unaffected and likely to commit another similar act, while the woman could feel the effects of this event for her entire life. This problem affects women from around the globe—and it’s time that we put an end to it, because if we don’t, who will? If boys were to be taught how and how not to treat women in their early years, sexual assault would not be as prevalent, thus, women, including us, would not have to worry as much about enduring this kind of torment.
Despite federal laws issued to combat sexual violence, each year 4,000 college women report to school officials that they've been sexually assaulted. What happens after they file those reports has stirred debate on campuses across the country, leaving parents and students fearful that colleges may not be the ivory towers of security and integrity that appear on their recruitment pamphlets.
According to Nancy Chi Cantalupo, writer in the University Chicago Law Journal, “twenty to twenty-five percent of college women are victims of attempted or completed nonconsensual sex” (Burying Our Heads 207). In October 2014, an eighteen-year-old freshman at Old Dominion University was sexually assaulted. She reported her case to the ODU Police Department where she was treated as a suspect rather than a victim (Jane). The university police department denied this young woman of many things such as a medical examination right away, food, drinks and even did not allow her to use the bathroom (Jane). These factors caused her to suffer multiple injuries mentally, emotionally, and physically (Jane). Many cases of on campus sexual assault has come
Approximately 20 to 25 percent of women are sexually assaulted within the duration of their college careers; this rate is also three times higher than
Danger can take shape in many forms, one of the most prevalent in our society today sexual assault. According to the Campus Sexual Assault Study (CSA), 1 of 5 women will be sexually assaulted during their experience at college. This is a staggering and frightening amount. A study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, The Sexual Victimization of College Women, has findings even more grim than the CSA. It states that 1 of 4 college women will be raped.
Look around at four of your female friends; according to “Not Alone,” a US Government report on sexual assault, by the time you graduate college, one of you will become a victim of sexual assault. For years, schools have struggled with figuring out how to handle this epidemic. Many schools just don’t focus on sexual assault; for example, according to Rolling Stone’s article, "Rolling Stone and UVA: The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Report" by Sheila Coronel, Steve Coll, and Derek Kravitz, The University of Virginia has expelled 183 students for academic dishonesty and 0 students for sexual assault. This shows how policymakers have pushed sexual assault to the side for decades on college campuses, despite frequent protests and requests from students for colleges to make campuses safer. Sexual assaults on college campuses have been mishandled throughout history, and colleges that have made policy changes have often made ineffective or misguided choices. Colleges need to adopt a “yes means yes” policy for verbal consent and should model their policies after the University of Kentucky’s successful “green dot” program.
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.
Over the past decade, sexual assault on college campuses has been overlooked due to failed communication from the victims of the attack, which also allowed many schools around the world to become oblivious to the epidemic. A survey commissioned by the “Association of American Universities” brought forth results which were released in September 2015, stating that more than 27.2 % of female college seniors reported having experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact entering college. The dynamics of college life seems to fuel the problem; many are abused while they are under the influence of drugs or otherwise incapacitated. Most victims are assaulted
As students graduate from high school they begin the journey of getting ready for the University they want to go to and get excited for the best time of their lives. As anybody on campus the last thing they want to be worrying about is whether they will be sexually assaulted or not. It is becoming clear that University's around the United States needs to broadcast what sexual assault is and why it isn't okay. In most cases, many campuses do not have an effective way to stop sexual assaults. Nobody wants to be a victim in a sexual assault case. Assuming nobody wants to be the attacker in a sexual assault case results to sexual assaults on campus must stop. University's must take the proper precautions to help stop campus assault. In the article, "Male students are victims of sexual assault, too" the author writes:
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
Rape also known as sexual assault is having sexual intercourse or any form of sexual penetration against a person’s will or consent. It could be carried out by coercion, the use of physical power or abuse of authority. It is an act many societies, if not all discourage, and attracts different form of punishment in different geographical locations. There are many consequences of rape; some people suffer from depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicidal tendencies, and Anxiety Disorder. It was not a surprise when the Mr. Cosby’s alleged case of rapes were waved and flooded to the entire media channels in the USA and other countries. Majority of people can recall number of such cases where some prominent African – Americans were sued
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.