Sexual Assault On College Campuses

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.

Way too often are sexual assaults happening on colleges campuses. Because of these sexual assaults, females students have a hard time being safe on campus, or even staying on campuses. Statistics state, “1 in 4 college women will be the victim of sexual assault during her academic career… Every 21 hours there is a rape on an American college campus… College women are most vulnerable to rape during the first few weeks of their freshman and sophomore years”(Sexual Violence on College Campuses). Everyone says that your college days are the best days. Well they are, until a sexual assault or a murder has occurred on your campus. Now students are afraid to walk on their campus and feel safe and secure. They are afraid to enjoy their college experiences, thus not making their college experience the best years of their life. Do you think that Campus Security is doing enough to help prevent these crimes from happening? Do you think that the college crimes are only happening to certain students? Is college really as safe for students as it is made out to be? To understand the dangers of college campuses, it is important to analyze the statistics of college crimes, the people committing these crimes, the data from high profile cases, and the steps to make campuses safer. I feel like if the students on campus know that they have a safe environment then they will enjoy life more, maybe even become more

Sexual assault and rape among college campuses has been an ongoing issue across the nation for decades. In the state of Utah, this complex issue will not have a simple solution, but measures can be taken to prevent sexual assault and rape occurring on campuses. Utah Valley University is a campus that is taking considerably impressive measures to combat sexual assault, which will be a basis of this paper. Through university sex education, stricter laws and enforcement, and providing on-campus services to students, cases of sexual assault and rape in the higher level education setting will decrease, and students will be more likely to report these crimes.

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.

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.

In the last few years, the issue of sexual assault on college campuses have been gaining popularity in the public. Campus sexual assault have been a recurring subject throughout history and it seems to only get bigger. People would think that college campuses will be safe due to the advance security on the campus. Hundreds of women and men are sexually assaulted on campus everyday. Many organizations have started to form in order to help victims and prevent such tragic, heinous acts from happening on campus. One of the organization that have been providing assistance to sexual assault victims is called End Rape on Campus. They are usually referred to as EROC. They are a type of organization that tries to provide more resources and

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.

Sexual assault is a topic that no one wants to cover, but almost everyone endures, or knows someone who has endured it throughout their lives. Particularly, sexual assault on college campuses is a huge deal. One in five women are sexually assaulted, which is a number that is insane to think about. In reference to the article on ending college sexual assault, the way the initial victim Maya reacted to the sexual assault is the same way many others do as well. Not only does it go unreported, which leaves the door open for continued sexual assault, she also fell behind on her studies as her mental state deteriorated. That example represents many students worldwide across campuses, and that is something that is just not alright.

Sexual assault is everywhere, but did you know that on college campuses one of every four people have been a victim of sexual assault (Stampler 1). That is a staggering statistic of just how many people are affected by this crime. Sexual assault, while a long standing crime, has been brought into the spotlight more and more over the last twenty years. While there are several steps already in place to help lower this statistic there are additional things that can be done to help reduce the rate of sexual assaults on college campuses. By being more open with conversations about sexual assault, having support groups available, and changing policies universities can be successful in reducing the number of sexual assaults on their campuses.

"Campus Violence is defined as any action or behavior that may threaten the safety of a member of the campus community, impact his or her physical and/or psychological well-being, or cause damage to campus property" (http://www.sacredheart.edu/officesservices/publicsafety/silentwitnessprogram/flashpointoncampuspowerpointtrainingslides). Many individuals think that violence on college and university campuses is rare and view their campus to be a home away from home. However, "Nationwide, 17 percent of college students indicated they had experienced some form of violence or harassment in the previous year" (http://counseling.uoregon.edu/dnn/ParentsFamilies/PreventingViolenceonCollegeCampuses/tabid/164/Default.aspx). The various types of violence that occur on campus include harassment, stalking, vandalism, physical assault, sexual assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence and suicide. Sexual assault occurs more frequently on college campuses and is estimated that a third of women experience an unwanted sexual experience. The majority of the time, sexual assault on college campuses are committed by someone known to the victim. (http://counseling.uoregon.edu/dnn/ParentsFamilies/PreventingViolenceonCollegeCampuses/tabid/164/Default.aspx)

Many young college students, girls especially, are targeted by other students or even faculty. Jamie Stiehm, a columnist for newspapers such as the huffington post, and websites like the New York Times online, believes that, “For now, college-age women remain as vulnerable in an atmosphere more highly charged with rape in the cultural conversation as ever before.” This holds true in many schools and situations around the country because of society’s view towards sexual assault and rape. People make it seem like less of a problem than it really is. In many colleges around the nation, undergraduates and younger students in general are not fully equipped with the knowledge or resources available to them for rape prevention. In that type of environment, one that makes new students unprepared, makes their shyness, their fear of the attacker, and their silence a weapon for the attacker to use (Stiehm). Armed with these types of weapons, it makes the “rape culture” very real for students, especially young women who have been intoxicated or overpowered. These factors create a plethora of dangerous situations students could find themselves

Sexual assault has always been a concern for young women and young adults all over. Women now account for the majority in the student body at colleges. Women should only worry about their education rather than a potential sexual assault. With an influx of women in college the faculty and staff have been under prepared to respond to sexual assault. Over the years the amount of sexual assault reported and unreported on American campuses has risen. The response of colleges towards sexual assault has not been effective in investigating or punishing the perpetrator.

A young woman carried a 50-pound mattress onto the stage at a graduation ceremony in Columbia University. Known as the “Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight)”, Emma Sulkowicz started carrying the mattress everywhere she went on campus in an attempt to expel a classmate who was found not responsible for sexually assaulting her (LATimes). She became an instant media sensation, as new reporters grasped the opportunity to cover this unique case and praised for her bravery. After receiving the National Organization for Women and the Feminist Majority Foundation awards, Sulkowicz became one of the most admired feminist icons at that time (NationalReview). However, along with the positive responses is the skepticism. When evidence of her unmatched accusations were published by Reason’s Cathy Young, critics such as the Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE) described her as an attention seeker whose project is “a personal vendetta”. As journalists continue to update the new findings, the public gradually become divided into the accused or the accuser side. Eventually it became a debate between Sulkowicz’s scarring from the rape and the accused unfair harassment. Instead of emphasizing on the emotional aspects of campus sexual assault, the media should frame rape as a violent act and portray it as a criminal issue.

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