Sexual Assault And Its Effects On Society Essay

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.

This essay will examine the social and cultural conditions, within the macro-diachronic and micro-synchronic theoretical models , that intensify or perpetuate sexual assault. I have chosen only one concept from each model because these are the only concepts that I feel that I can use to most accurately and comprehensively depict causes and reasons for why sexual assault is deeply entrenched in our social structure. I will thus explore, from these ideological viewpoints, some of the motivations and circumstances which lead offenders to sexual assault. I will also fuse some of the historical attitudes from which today's concepts have evolved to our contemporary understanding of this social

Sexual assault and rape in common language are usually referred to as the same subject. The word sexual assault is the main category while rape is a specific entity within this category. Rape is a term used to refer to the act of being forced or coerced into performing oral, anal, or vaginal penetration. While sexual assault is the term used to refer to any sexual act unwanted by the participant that ranges from being touched to penetration; that involves intimidation or deception. In general rape/sexual assault is the most underreport crime; however if rape/sexual assault is reported women are more likely to come forward than men. There are barriers that are keeping the victims of rape/sexual assaults at bay. According to Pino and Meier (1999) “the underreporting of this crime is the result of a number of reasons that are related to the ways in which rape is perceived and defined”. The general public when hearing about rape/sexual assault assumes that the victim was a woman; when approximately “5% to 10% of rape victims are male” (Sable, Danis, Mauzy, & Gallagher, 2006).

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.

"Introduction to Sexual Assault on Campus: Opposing Viewpoints." Sexual Assault on Campus. Ed. Jack Lasky. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

A lawsuit was filed this year in January against Northern Kentucky University in which a female student is suing the university for mishandling her sexual assault that occurred on campus in 2013. The female, who identifies as Jane Doe in the lawsuit in order to hide her identity, claims that NKU did not do enough to make her feel safe on campus because she feels the university neglected her and did not do anything to stop her attacker from having everyday contact with her. The university feels as if they did as much as they possibly could to help the female student and that they are not at fault for what has happened (Pilcher par. 4-7). Although there has not been a ruling on the case yet, NKU is at fault for the events that have transpired and should be ashamed of what they have allowed to occur.

Many college students, both men and women, experience some form of sexual assault while living on the campus due to the lack of safety taught and provided to the students. Therefore, colleges nationwide should provide the necessities that help students reduce their chances of being a victim of sexual assault or aid them with assistance if assaulted.

We have seen rape-law reform takes place in the United States over the last decade.The evolution of awareness of rape changed federal legislation which was enacted in 1994 and known as the Violence against Women Act (VAWA). This act was reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. Many attempts have been made by researchers to measure rape, and the findings vary across the board. There are a lot of rape statics that are very unreliable and misleading. Rape is determined and counted by the data source that is used. The FBI’s UCR Program reported 88,097 in 2009, and these were completed or attempted rapes. The best measure of rape is the National Violence against Women (NVAW) Survey. 18% of

Sexual assault on college campuses has become a hot topic in today’s society. From the Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, raping an unconscious woman (Miller, 2016, para.1) to the Florida State star football player, Jameis Winston, being accused of rape and FSU covering it up (Dick, 2016, para 1), sexual assault on campus is everywhere. The prevalence of reported assaults is often skewed, due to women feeling uncomfortable about discussing what they went through, but the numbers tell the story all on their own. Many of these occurrences happen because of frats, and the alcohol they serve. Groups have started to advocate for the ending of sexual assault on campus by creating apps. The government was involved in creating the Title IX law only recently. Sexual assault on college campuses has become a major issue in the United States, so that it has become increasingly prevalent to the public eye, the causes of these attacks are coming to light such as fraternities and alcohol, how the government is battling it, what colleges and universities are doing about it, and how prevention apps have become the new trend.

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.

On January 22, 2014, President Barack Obama signed the Presidential Memorandum, forming the ‘White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.’ This task force was established to help decrease sexual assaults in college campuses and create awareness of this little talked about topic. Many college students don’t believe sexual assault is an issue until it happens to them or someone they’re close with. Sexual assault affects the victims by making them feel helpless and causing serious negative effects on their emotional health. Many of these incidents don’t get reported due to students feeling unsafe or feeling like it isn’t that big of a deal. Even those that are reported, sometimes aren’t taken seriously by the school’s administrators. College should be a fun learning experience, where safety shouldn’t be a concern.

I argue that current research on sexual assault focuses disproportionately on the experiences of White, middle-upper class, heterosexual survivors. Due to this focus on White, college aged, female experiences of sexual assault, survivors who identify with minority groups such as the LGBTQ+ community, racial/ethnic minorities, and with the lower class do not have the support services needed to help them recover from sexual assault. Understanding how minority persons needs differ can help rape crisis centers and other sexual assault support agencies more accurately provide resources that not only help these minority groups individually, but also helps survivors who have multiple intersecting minorities as they can choose from diverse services for those that will best help them recover.

Although UTC has created solid policies in order to discourage sexual misconduct on campus, the execution of these policies - from victim protection to assailant prosecution - has been far from efficient or adequate.

     Sexual assault is a term that is used interchangeably with the word rape. The decision on whether or not to use the term rape or sexual assault is made by a state’s jurisdiction. Sexual assault is more readily used in an attempt to be more gender neutral (National Victim Center). Sexual assault can be most easily described as forced or unconsentual sexual intercourse. The individual that is performing these acts on the victim may either be a stranger or an acquaintance. In 1994, 64.2 percent of all rapes were committed by someone the offender had previously known (Ringel, 1997). Regardless, this type of crime can have extreme effects on the victim.

     Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.