Rhetorical Analysis Of Campus Rape

It’s a statistic that has circled around the nation for years, one that imprints fear into the minds of young adults and rage into those that demand justice: 1 in 5 female college students will experience sexual assault in the duration of their college career (Clark), with only 20% of those rapes being reported to the police (Hefling). As a topic that is so highlighted in American society, there is a strict demand for an organized, thorough investigation that will result in justice served. Controversy regarding whether the colleges themselves or the criminal justice system should adjudicate the punishment for these vile crimes has arisen; some believe that as an actual crime, these assaults should be taken in a legal stance in order to serve justice at its fullest extent. Others believe that determining punishment through the court system is too nerve-wracking for the victims and that by allowing colleges to do so is the only way they can avoid feeling “skepticism” by the police, juries, or courts (Know Your IX). However, when juxtaposing the capabilities of the colleges and the court system when it comes to the adjudication process, it is evident that the courts are more competent in determining punishments for campus sexual assaults.

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

I interviewed two women and one man about the University of Iowa’s efforts with respect to sexual assault on campus. The first person I interviewed was a twenty-one year old woman from England named Gina. Michaela, an eighteen year old female from a small-town Southern Baptist high school, was the second female I interviewed. The only man I interviewed was Matt, a 19 year old male from a mid-sized town.

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.

Colleges and universities often do not execute strict punishments when it comes to sexual assault on campus. The police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and juries do not always view date rape as a serious offense (Neumann). Until government officials consider rape a significant violation when compared to other major crimes, colleges and universities will not establish sterner punishments for rapists. Colleges and universities also tend to diminish their punishments for the “star” athletes at the school. One study concluded that while athletes constitute 3.3% of the college population, they perpetrate 19% of all sexual assaults on campus (Ajo). Although male athletes commit multiple sexual assault crimes on campus, they are punished leniently. Researchers contend that when sexual assault crimes are committed by athletes, society fails to label the act a crime and does not impose harsh sanctions (Ajo). In fact, many boosters come to the defense of the team they so love (Ajo). In order to discourage college students from committing sexual assault crimes, harsher punishments need to be set in place. If the consequences for students’ actions intensified, the number of sexual assault cases executed on college campuses would decrease. Rape needs to be considered a serious offense in order for victims of sexual assault cases to attain

“Among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 5.4% of males experience rape or sexual assault” (RAINN). Rape is a threat virtually anywhere people go, but no place has a higher risk for sexual assault than college campuses. However, many of these occurrences go without penalties against the attacker, and even more are not reported at all. The lack of consequences for the accused indirectly suggests that rape and other forms of sexual assault are allowable and create further problems for the victims of the horrendous actions. Harsher punishments need to be given out for sexual assault on campus, as the current rulings are biased and immoral.

Current data and statistics involving sexual assaults on college campuses are very sad and depressing. According to Monique DiCarlo, who used data from the Department of Justice, 1 in 5 women are likely to be sexually assaulted during their time on campus (M. DiCarlo, personal presentation, October 17). However, many of these assaults go unreported to authorities or the universities. Some of the reasons victims do not report are because victims do not believe the school will do anything or help, do not believe it to be important enough to report and fear of reprisal (M. DiCarlo, personal presentation, October 17). With major advancements in policy including Title IX, the Cleary Act, and defining what is consent, one could assume sexual assaults on campuses should be declining. However, sexual assaults are not declining and many departments such as athletics and international student offices have to deal with the problem. In this paper, I will discuss the current climate of sexual assault on campus, provide a brief overview of rights and protections of Title IX, discuss how the office of international student services could be impacted and how Title IX coordinators are handling the problem and what still needs to be done to help protect all students.

In America, sexual assault is increasing on campuses. Colleges and Universities are insanely lenient with the policies of sexual assault and misconduct. Undergraduates get the worse since they are new and don’t expect it to happen to them. Date rape drugs are being used more often than any other type of assault. Over half of victims don’t report the assault, because they don’t believe it’s critical enough. Others never get justice for the crimes the rapist commits. “A relatively small percentage of students believe it is very or extremely likely they will experience sexual assault or misconduct. A larger percentage of students believe that sexual assault

Campus sexual assault is a complex issue whose effects can be traumatizing not only for victims but for perpetrators as well. Based on the troubles faced by both parties the best approach to solve the issue is through fair and diverse jury hearings, as well as, bystander intervention programs like Green Dot. Such changes in college systems for hearings and prevention can insure a safer environment for students. If colleges do not take the proper steps toward solving campus assault, women will continue to be victimized while men will continue to run the risk of being falsely accused. Students like Rachel Sienkowski should not feel that their safety and education is compromised by a situation that can be prevented by colleges with more precaution.

Recently while reading Rolling Stone and looking for an article for this paper, and came across an article called “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA.” In summary, a freshman at the University of Virginia was at a frat party and her date was a member of that certain frat. She chose against drinking which is uncommon in most rape cases that occur on campuses. He later asks her to join him upstairs, and being an innocent naïve girl she decided to follow him. As soon as she entered the dark room and he did not turn on the lights she knew that something was wrong. Soon after she heard many different voices in the room and after seven different frat boys did horrid things to her she understood that this was something that some of these boys were doing this as an initiation into that frat. Of course, her friends who were so-called ‘loyal’ to their college urged her to keep quiet for fear that “she may never be allowed in a frat again” or “put a bad light on the university.” Furthermore, the UVA is under a federal investigation to try to determine if there have been other cases of rape that may have been ‘swept under the rug.’ In this essay I want to investigate the psychology of rape and the rapist, why it happens largely in college campuses and specifically fraternities, and also to understand the “rape culture.”

In Thiel’s paper, she analyzes the article, “Campus sexual assault adjudication and resistance to reform” by Michelle J. Anderson. Thiel clearly gives the claim of the article—the act of rape is not taken serious enough. The article gives a great topic and a controversial issue in the society. And she also makes the problem more related to our lives by giving the sexual assault that happened in Baylor, which immediately takes my attention and interest to the paper. The essay has a great introduction that can attract readers and she gives a brief description for what will be discuss in the rest of the paper.

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

The main topic covered by this document is the fact that there are countless solutions to the increasing number of sexual assault crimes that colleges can and should use. Since many schools in the past have been hiding and disregarding reports of sexual assault, they do not have what they need to help victims. “To better address sexual assault at our nation’s schools, we need to both strengthen our enforcement efforts and increase coordination among responsible federal agencies” (The First Report of the White House). Considering this, schools will be provided with links and information about how they can enact their own bystander intervention programs on campus as part of a prevention program. Prevention programs are when men are empowered to step in when someone’s in trouble and teaching them how they can be part of the solution. Colleges need to have all of the parts of a plan in place, so they can act on the crime efficiently. Emergency services should also be available at all hours of the day, since sexual assault can happen at any time. Schools will also have trauma-informed training programs for school officials and campus law enforcement. This is due to the fact that trauma can leave the memories of victims fragmented, and insensitive and judgmental questions can cause victims to become more distressed. Some questions aren’t allowed to

On college campuses across the nation, more sexual assaults have begun to surface, but only a few of these assaults get attention. Sexual assaults can be a very touchy subject meaning that a lot of people, friends and even college counselors or therapists advise the victims not to speak up about the incident. I believe that most of the time administration tries to protect the attacker rather than look out for the victim. Because of this, very few cases are actually investigated properly. Men typically use alcohol or drugs to coerce women into having sex, and some will simply just use force or threats against their victim. While men perform most acts of sexual assault, women are typically the ones who are blamed for whatever happens to them. This blame is generally put onto the women because of the way they dress or act, while the men face little to no repercussions for their actions. Sexual assaults on college campuses have become a huge epidemic across the nation, which is why preventative measures need to be taken to reduce the chances of sexual assault on our college campuses.

John Stossel, a long time personality for Fox and ABC, believes that many of the stories put out by credible sources are in fact lies and made up statistics. Stossel has taken a side in the ever growing debate on sexual assault, “This idea of a rape culture was built on false statistics and twisted theories about toxic masculinity.” John Stossel is taking a firm stance in the belief that rape is not a big deal and people who claim they were raped are mostly lying about it to gain fame or attention. This is a sickening thought knowing how many people, their friends, and their families are affected by rape each year. People with the opposite mindset realize that rape is a real issue plaguing our schools around the United States and beyond. Even some of the most prestigious universities in the country have had problems with rape on campus. One of America’s top institutions, “MIT published survey results that showed 17% of female undergraduates experienced unwanted sexual behaviors while at MIT, involving use of force, physical threat or incapacitation” (Gray). That means that basically 1 in 5 undergraduate women at MIT have been non consensually touched or raped during their time in college. These types of behaviors are some of the most vile offenses one could commit