Recently, Rolling Stone had removed an article they released last November that informed of a rape on campus of a Virginia university. Reason for removal was because the girl was lying. People seem to believe that because of one misconception that rape, or any type of sexual assault, never happens on any school’s grounds. There are plenty of truthful, realistic cases of rape and sexual assault on school grounds. It happens all too often, actually, when a woman can be abducted and assaulted by members of a fraternity as an “initiation”. And these assaults don’t only occur on campus. Nonetheless, sexual assault has been faked by many, but it is still all too real.
293,066 men, women, and children (age 12 and over) are raped or sexually assaulted every year. When a case dealing with the subject of rape or sexual assault is brought to the table in a courthouse, most counselors wouldn’t take the case because it’s difficult to prove. When a rapist is arrested and brought to court, the
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Victim blaming is a huge issue in our society. Most people don’t question why the rapist raped the victim, but instead ask what the victim was wearing, and explain that “she led him on,” and that “she wanted it.” Or, in many opinions, the worst one, “Boys will be boys.” Let’s say someone was robbed of a new iMac that they had in their home. Alright, how ridiculous would it sound if police responded to the report with, “Were you flaunting this item?” The owner would respond with, “It was out in my living room, you could say so.” And the police would say, “And you weren’t home.” Owner, “No.” Police, “So, you were you asking for it to be stolen by having it out in plain sight when you weren’t home?” That illogical argument is used by many officials who are informed of the assault of a student or citizen that reports it. “Were you wearing skimpy clothing? Were you asking for it? Were you
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.
These myths include that women often allege rape to get back at men; that rape isn’t legitimate if a woman doesn’t physically struggle to prevent it; and that survivors who were intoxicated at the time are partly responsible for their sexual assault. They also harbor feelings of male entitlement to sex. Unfortunately, many men and women of all ages, even those in law enforcement, continue to believe in these myths wholeheartedly. Fear of reprisal Many sexual assault victims don’t report the incidents to their colleges or to police.
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.
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 occurs on every college campus. Surveys from campuses across the nation could be used to try and challenge this claim, because within them, many universities reported of having zero cases of sexual assault; however, most schools can claim this small number only because they hide any reports of sexual assault. Why is it that an institution would hide an act that harmed one of its own students? A huge reason is that the perpetrator of the crime is mostly always one of the school’s own students as well. Being known as a school that admits and educates rapists will ruin a school’s reputation, and reputation is the primary aspect that a school prides itself on.
Students in campus and colleges are all entitled to protection by the institution and the law. However, despite the two organizations handling the welfare of the student, students have a risk to sexual assault. Reports released concerning the matter state that one out of five college students has suffered sexual assault during their college life. The report further explains that 95% of rape cases in United States campuses are not reported to the authorities. It is vital to understand what sexual assault means before identifying the problems and finally coming up with possible solutions. The Act of sexual assault tends to violate the victim's sexual integrity.
Every 107 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted. Each year, there are about 293,000 victims of sexual assault. Approximately four out of five assaults are committed by someone the victim knows; 47 percent of rapists are an acquaintance or friend. While 68 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to the police concluding in 98 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail.” If, as a society, we continue to blame victims and refuse to acknowledge the truth of sexual assault we cannot expect rates of sexual violence to improve. People who blame victims believe that if they do certain things - wear the 'right' clothes, don't go out at night, don't get drunk, teach their children about stranger danger - then they'll be safe from sexual assault. We need to give our survivors a fighting chance so they can step forward and speak honestly about their experiences. The more open our conversations about sexuality become, the more people will finally start to accept that rape is a crime and one that no one deserves, or should ever have to
Rape Culture is similar to dinosaurs: there is debate about the existance, yet there is an ample amount of proof that they both exist. There is so much controversy over the subject. People wonder how could society let such an awful thing exist. Other groups of people marvel that such a thing could ever exist. Tons of research and proof pile up to an even draw over the existence of rape culture. The debate has morphed from its existence to its validity. It has people questioning the morals of society. If such a thing did exist, why has it not been stopped? That question has a simple answer, people refuse to change, and if society is in fact a rape culture, it will always be.
“Sorry ma’am there just isn’t enough to bring this case to court” a statement that millions of victims of sexual assault, and rape must hear from the justice system. They must live the rest of their lives knowing two truths; first being that they were sexually assaulted and or raped, and the second truth being that the assailant was set free and may victimize more people. It is difficult to believe that even in modern times that this is happening, yet the truth of the matter is that these victims are truly being failed by the justice system. Usually a big issue with sexually assaults are usually they boiled down to “she says – he says” because of there’s no real tangible evidence of what really took place of the encounter.
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
In 2007, seventy-four percent of varsity athletes, seventy-three percent of social greek letter organizations, sixty-four percent of club sports teams experienced hazing. (Most frequently Reported Membership Hazing Experiences among College Students, 2007). The number has risen tremendously since then. Not a single person tries to help anymore. If only people would realize what hazing does to others. Many people try to ignore it all. No one wants to admit that their child has committed something like this. In all honesty not a single human on this earth can say they have never been hazed or bullied in some shape, form, or fashion. Hazing needs to stop if it does not stop suicide rates will go up, there will be more injuries and depression due to hazing. Hazing is very dangerous, harmful, and disrespectful.
This study showed that power, power meaning access to resources, played a huge role in the negative judgement of rape victims and perpetrators. In cases where the men had more power than the women there were a higher rate of victim blaming, opposed to when the women had more power. It was also seen that those who believed that women want to gain power and control over men tend to minimize the severity of rape incidents.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, also known as UNICEF, one in ten women worldwide have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives. Under President Donald Trump and his administration, women were supposed to be invested in and empowered according to his campaign. “We want every daughter in America to grow up in a country where she can believe in herself, believe in her future, and follow her heart and realize her dreams,” Trump has said. However, the administration under President Donald Trump has been doing quite the opposite by attacking women’s reproductive and legal rights, ending health benefits, and weakening protections against gender based violence.
“Jackie”, a freshman student at the University of Virginia, was brutally raped by 7 men after a fraternity party. She was lured up to a 3rd floor room by a man named “Drew”, and in the weeks in months after her assault she says, “He acted as though nothing unusual had happened, even thanking me for a ‘great time’”. Drew and his 6 friends who committed this assault, graduated that fall from UVA and were never charged for their crime. Jackie never received the justice she so desperately needed. Why? Because UVA handled her rape allegations internally, and a call was never made to the police. Yet another example of this occured at the prestigious Stanford University. This time to a sophomore, who had met a star player on the Stanford football team one Saturday night. She was raped. The football player claimed it was consensual. The women wanted to go through the correct channels so she first reported it to her school. Because of Title IX’s lax policies towards investigations, it was up to five board members to decide if sexual assault has occurred that night. They decided it hadn’t, without so much as rape kit. The woman said her investigation was shoved under the rug, “I realized that I got into this school and deserved to get an education here. He was a valued player, but I had earned my right to be here, too.” Under Title IX, it is up to colleges to adjudicate their cases of rape and sexual assault as they please,allowing them no only to never investigate, but to do so
According to studies conducted “one in five women and one in 16 men will be sexually assaulted while in college and… eight in 10 victims know their attacker” (Giller). It is an undeniable reality, sexual assault is a rising problem at colleges and universities all across the United States but, I am not writing this for nation-wide colleges to read. This is only directed toward you, Dr. Cathy Akens, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students here at Florida International University (FIU). As you may know, FIU’s “It’s on us” campaign is currently in place to raise awareness about sexual assault and support victims through a committee that was developed by you, in October 2014, shortly after the White House launched the It’s On Us campaign on September 19, 2014. As published in Jamie Giller’s article, you stated that “the focus of this campaign is emphasizing the personal responsibility that every member of our university community has to help end sexual assault. That includes students, faculty and staff. We want to teach our students especially, how to speak out and take action when they see something. We have been providing outreach and education for a long time and we are excited to participate in this national effort”. But all this committee is responsible for is creating “flyers, banners, t-shirts and other materials to bring attention to the matter” (Giller). Do you actually believe broadcasting advertisements for a campaign across FIU’s campus is enough to aid the