Sexual Assault

Start blaming the system, not the victim. Sexual assault is a crime that is very common, yet the punishment perpetrators receive is not as harsh as it needs to be to reduce the occurrence of these crimes. Laws concerning sexual crimes have been edited over decades to be stricter however, sex offenders typically receive little or no punishment. Sexual Assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient (“Sexual Assault”). Victims of sexual assault are often blamed as the reason for the crime being committed while the blame is taken away from the offender. Harsher punishment must be enacted on sex offenders because the victims suffer conflict from the crime throughout their

Frustratingly, these days, some people still treat sexual assault as an “okay” thing, making comments such as “she was asking for it” and that she was “equally responsible” for the situation. This is exactly the sort of mindset that is contributing to the startling statistics today.

Throughout the 1840’s and 1850’s a growing tension developed between the Northern and Southern states of America. That tension was primarily focused on the existence of slavery in the Southern states. Most Northern states had abolished slavery by 1850 and made a promise to the people to end slavery completely. They wanted the South to begin to become similar to the North, and to live under the concept of free labor, and not rely on slavery for productivity. The resentment for the interference of the North angered southerners because they felt that it was not the place of the federal government to interfere. Ever since the American Revolution sectional differences arose, the first being those favoring greater states rights and those

Anything from unwanted touching in a sexual manner to non-consensual sexual intercourse is classified as sexual assault in Canada. Male survivors of sexual assault frequently face unsympathetic attitudes after choosing to report the criminal offence. Unfortunately, despite the similar chances of sexual assault amongst both males and females during their teenage years, with 20% for males and 25% for females, there are fewer researches conducted on male sexual assault in Canada (Statistics Canada 2015). A large proportion (16%) of male victims are sexually assaulted in an institutional setting, which is over two and a half times greater than the percentage of females in the same location (Brennan 2008). The UCR2 (Uniform Crime Reporting Survey)

Assault laws have changed over the many years and will continue to do so later on. Laws treating and preventing sexual assault, domestic abuse and child abuse will increase and become more powerful than they are today. It has become easier and much faster to report someone of psychical assault than ever before, but how come not the same for sexual assault? Most sexual assault cases do not made it to trial, either they’ve been dropped or not seen as big enough to meet proper proceedings. Even though sexual assaults are much more frequent that simple assault, someone is being sexually assaulted in Canada right now as you are reading this. However, due to the work of many people today, protesting and informing others to stand up for their rights

When most people hear the phrase sexual abuse we all have a tendency to assume the victim is a female. It is only a myth that males are not sexually assaulted, or that it only happens in while incarcerated. Sexual assaults can happen to anyone no matter their age, sex, orientation, or even identity. In fact, in between 9-10% of all male rape survivors outside of prisons are male and 16% of men have experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18. These reports are only an estimate because most male survivors of sexual abuse will either never report it or they encounter barriers while trying to report it. (Male Survivors of Sexual Assault, 2015) “The U.S. Department of Justice records an average of greater than 12,000 reported sexual assaults of men annually, and predicts that if unreported assaults are included, the actual number of men who are sexually assaulted in the United States each year is approximately 60,000.” (Male Survivors of Sexual Assault, 2015)

Sexual assaults on campus is an issue gaining more and more attention throughout Canada, especially after the string of assaults that happened at UBC back in 2013. The staggering number of men and women that experience some form of sexual violence or assault in their lives is alarming. It is estimated that one in six men will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime and one in three Canadian adult women will experience sexual assault or violence (Statistics Canada,2013). According to a 2013 Statistics Canada

As teens and young adults, many people throughout Pennsylvania experience love for the first time. If they decide to act on their feelings, however, what should be a special time and experience may result in serious criminal charges. Depending on a couple’s ages, getting intimate with a partner could be considered statutory sexual assault.

One of the most influential of these are the affirmative consent laws. These laws are defined as “the choice of some schools to require the presence of ongoing agreement, not just the absence of refusal, in sexual encounters” (Boyd). The presence of affirmative consent laws would greatly help the victims in their cases, as without confirmation that the attacked was consensual throughout the entirety of the incident, the accused would be unable to be let off without some form of punishment. Despite this, the laws are currently not enforced in the majority of campuses, leaving victims susceptible to unfair judgments that are in favor of the accused, as rape is often unreasonably viewed as being acceptable if the person had never objected, even if they had not given consent. Additionally, even if they state that they protested the actions, numerous people can also claim that they are lying. In the case of people that had been drunk, unconscious, or otherwise unable to give a logical or coherent answer when being attacked, the blame will often be put on them, despite the obvious horrendous acts of the attacker. Moreover, laws stating the severity of these crimes and how harsh the punishments should be are often overlooked, or not fully enforced, like the affirmative consent laws. In the aforementioned case of Brock Turner, his sentencing was particularly light, even for someone who received some form of sentence, as he faced a maximum of fourteen years in prison, while the prosecutors asked for at least six years (Cleary). The lack of punishments given to sexual predators will go on to further harm the attacked and give the impression that there is nothing wrong with sexual

Sometimes we forget that men are assaulted too. In 2003 there was a scandal in New York about a football team that raped lowerclassmen. The players reportedly lured them into a cabin at camp and used things such as broomstick, pinecones, and golf balls to assault them. It got out a couple days later when one of the boys was still bleeding at told his parents. One of the boys was so injured that he needed surgery. When the media got ahold of the story it was automatically assumed as rape, when you hear about un-consented anal penetration it’s considered sexual. In the United States the definition of rape is as Wencelblat (2004) says

Sexual assault in the United States dates back to slaves and domestic servant who were vulnerable to sexual assault sine the law did very little to protect them. At this time society blamed women for being “promiscuous by nature” or for just not fighting of a perpetrator. By the 1920s female worker were expected to know how to deal with sexual assault in the work place on their own; if they were not able to handle it then they would have to quit their jobs. According to Amanda Reed “Cornell University activists coined the term sexual harassment in 1975, and this pervasive problem was finally given a name. Public awareness of the issue has risen since then.”

Sexual assault is a major issue in the world we live in today. The punishment that people get is never what they actually deserve.There has been all kinds of crime rates for sexual offence all over the world. Surveys in the United States have proven that one of every six women has experienced an attempt of rape or even a completed rape experience. Many women who are sexually assaulted are assaulted by men that they know,or has came into contact with. Women are rarely going to report that they have been raped when they know the asaultiant. With this being said there are alot of cases that are under reported. In this essay i will argue the many reasons why women are afraid to report a sexual assault crime made against them.

On September, 19, 2014 a young woman wearing a stoic expression stood in front of the American flag, and alongside the Vice President of the United States. She greeted the crowd of journalists and politicians with a pleasant salutation as she took her place behind the podium that had been previously used by the President of the United States during several political meetings. As the young woman expressed her gratitude for being given the opportunity to be present, one would infer that she was setting the stage for a political speech. Lilly Jay, a survivor of sexual assault began recalling her story with the following sentence: “Getting into college is hard. Getting your college back, reclaiming it as your own after sexual assault is nearly

Sexual assault on college campuses is a subject that comes up commonly in media today, usually due to the fact that these assaults happen on a regular basis. About one in four women and one in seven men are victims of some form of sexual violence during their college experience (Abooali). In most occurances when speaking about sexual assault on campus, people are talking about what the main cause of these cases of sexual assault could be, and if there is any way to prevent it from happening. There are many factors that play into these sexual assaults such as alcohol consumption, peer pressure, society's normalization of these assaults, and party culture.

What I learned about this video with Keith Cornillo Ed. D. of Madison College Senior Vice President and Title IX Coordinator. Is how Keith is committed in fostering a healthy campus climate. How a healthy learning environment is grounded in respecting of individuals right and demonstrating a courteous and respectful, interactions among all members of our campus community. The Sexual Misconduct policy and procedures applies to everyone on-campus and off-campus that would effect the learning environment.