Sexual Assault Survivors

According to RAINN, “Every 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted.” That being said within the course of a year, 321,500 are victims of sexual violence. Ages 13-34 remain at the highest risk of sexual assault and 90% of them are victimized females. Take a second to think back to the age of thirteen, imagine how life would differ knowing how sexual assault affects someone. People who have been raped or sexually assaulted suffer serious physical and/or psychological consequences: psychological effects, physical changes and PTSD.

A form of sexual abuse that is not talked or reported as much is, sexual assault of men and boys. “2.78 million men in the U.S. have been victims of sexual assault or rape” (Rainn). Men survivors are less likely to report an assault or rape to the police. The way society visions males, it makes it harder for men to report because they are embarrassed or scared that it happen to them. All victims, regardless the gender, undoubtedly suffer as the result of sexual assault. It is simply not true that women suffer more than men, or rather that men suffer more than women. When young boys are raised, they are taught to be “brave”, “strong” and “tough.” Therefore, it is extremely understandable that a man or boy experiences emotions, such as, loneliness, vulnerability, inadequate, ashamed, etc. “Male victims are extremely hesitant to report such crimes due to the risk of mockery, disbelief, and disdain both from the community and law enforcement who may perceive them as ‘un-masculine’” (Fuchs 98). Being victimized does not mean you lose all your masculinity or physical strength. Certainly, sexual assault or rape is not only an exhibition of physical strength, it is also considered an abusive form of psychological control. This happens so frequently that victims often blame themselves for their attacks. In

Depression is the most common side effect sexual assault victims suffer from. Sexual assault victims both men and women are three times more likely to suffer from a major depressive disorder. ← CITE? Symptoms of depression can lead to even more issues such as eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. People who have not been sexually assaulted with depression develop the following symptoms are unable to enjoy the beautiful things in life, irregular sleeping and eating patterns, difficulties staying on task with their concentration, decision-making, have feelings of hopelessness and decreased self-esteem. Victims of sexual assault also develop these symptoms, but they tend to develop more shame, guilt, and anger towards themselves. These feelings develop because they believe it was their fault that they were sexually assaulted. Anger, shame, and guilt are normal reactions after such a

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is loosely defined as the use of “persuasion, enticement, and other inducements to coerce a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct or simulation of sexual acts” (Wilson, 2010, p. 56). While all CSA is austere, the form and severity level of CSA falls on a spectrum ranging from non-contact CSA (lowest severity) to non-penetrative contact CSA (moderate severity) to penetrative CSA (highest severity; Negriff, Schneiderman, Smith, Schreyer, & Trickett, 2014). Since the form and severity level of CSA fall on a spectrum, there is no standard clinical presentation of CSA, which may obscure a clinician’s ability to identify the signs of CSA (Yancey, Naufel, & Hansen, 2013).

The Centers for Disease control reports that one out of every five women will be sexually assaulted or raped during their lifetime with most victims being girls or younger women. According to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (https://www.rainn.org) which calls itself “the nation 's largest anti-sexual assault organization,” nine out of ten rape victims are women and there are more than 237,000 victims of sexual assault in the U.S. every year, with a reporting rate of only 40 percent. Eighty percent of victims are under 30. Two-thirds of all the reported assaults are by someone known to the victim and only 3 percent of rapists get any jail time. The effects of rape are long lasting and have public health and social welfare consequences. According to RAINN, victims of sexual assault have higher rates of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and drug and alcohol abuse than the general population. Rape is a personal issue because of the trauma it induces in its

“One in five women are sexually assaulted while in college” (Not Alone, 2014). In our class of twenty women that means that possibly five women have been sexually assaulted. Out of the five women that I stated could have been sexually assaulted they may have known the perpetrator and often will not report what has happened. According to the spring count of students completed by West Chester University, 9,211 of those students were females (“Headcount Enrollment”, 2014). If I go by the statistic mentioned earlier that one in five women is assaulted that would mean that 1,842 women have been sexually assaulted while enrolled at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Out of 1,842 possible assaults only four were reported last year. Two of which the victims knew prior to the assault. Rankin and Associates consulting conducted a Climate Assessment on West Chester University in September of 2010, a section of the results focused on sexual assault on students. According to the report seven people who reported a sexual assault to the university described their reactions to the universities response. Two students shared the way they felt the response was inappropriate or poor. One described that they felt the suspension for one semester was not an appropriate response to an admitted rape, that public safety lost the victims statement, judicial affairs painted the victim offender as innocent, and that the registrar protected the offender putting the victim in harm’s way and everyone

Within society, there is an engrained belief of what makes a person a legitimate victim and often their status as a ‘victim’ is questioned. This is especially true if the victim does not fit the typical stereotype of who is considered to be a legitimate victim. This is most widely illustrated in cases involving male victims of sexual assault.

Our conversations prompted some other questions about the background knowledge they had on sexual assault, and how the University talked about it versus how their prior schools had discussed the subject. It was interesting to get a male point of view on the topic because I, along with a lot of other women on campus, feel like they don’t have to deal with the topic of sexual assault as much as we do. Especially with the required attendance of lectures and educationals on the subject for both the University and the Greek Life programs. I felt frustrated at times that we all wanted more information about the sexual assaults that have occurred on campus, but we obviously didn’t want to information about the victim to become public knowledge as it is their private business. I would agree with a majority of the responses given to the questions, especially the discussion of the “My Cup is Not My Consent” campaign. As well-intentioned as it was, that campaign is more a joke now, and we don’t want to the University of Iowa to be unintentionally promoting rape-jokes. I also think that the men on campus should be required to attend just as many sexual assault seminars as the women do. This issue should be just as much theirs as ours. Perhaps if everyone had a better understanding what to look for in potential sexual assault situations, then there would be less sexual assaults occurring on campus.

In the article “Athletic club weekend turns into a nightmare for college freshman” by Carol smith and Lee Van Der Voo, Emily Lorenzen shares her story of being a rape victim. Emily shares her account because she wants to help to prevent rape from happening to anyone else. After interviewing Emily the authors shared a statement expressing that “Emily lorenzen believes that if people hear her story, they will be more comfortable confronting the issue of sexual assault on campus. She wants more conversation, so that men get a clearer definition of rape, face stiffer penalties if they ignore it and administrators learn to reach out to women like her and show compassion. She especially wants bystanders to step up and protect people who are vulnerable.” Rape victims need support to not feel guilty or ashamed, and that is exactly what Emily and her father desire. On this topic, Shipman an influential contributor of the Spokane sexual assault

Each school struggles in different ways. Some University’s need improvement in different areas than others. There are many things that are said will be done, but victims and alleged assaulters should not fear that the information that is traveling through the case they are in, will not go any further than who is trying to solve the case in the first place. When Universities tell a victim that the situation will be taken care of, don’t they want to be trusted? Pushing sexual assault cases to the side to keep the University’s reputation in good hands only makes matters worse. Nothing is being learned and sexual assaults are nonetheless continuing to happen. Considering the problems that sexual assault can cause somebody and knowing there is a solution, we must act as a community as soon as

Sexual assault is a big issue on college campuses all over the country and it affects everyone that is involved. Sexual assault has increased throughout college campuses in the United States. Because of this the U.S developed a Campus Security Act in 1990 and Crime Awareness. George H. W Bush signed this bill into existence in 1990 (Lee 8). The government is putting a lot of pressure on college administrations to help prevent the chance that one of their students may be drugged and/or sexually assaulted. People are afraid that colleges and administrators are not doing their best to prevent sexual assault on students and they aren’t fully providing the support to the victims. One in five women who attend a college

As sexual assault incidents have an increasing presence in media, the importance of properly processing these cases has also grown. This guide will provide a brief overview of Sexual Assault Response Teams and how the various disciplines independently function for those with an interest in advocacy training.

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

Sexual assault leaves a long term effect on victims and are afraid to speak up for help, especially if the attack happens on a college campus. Victims of sexual assault become timid to speak up about their attacks because more than likely they know justice is not in the question for them. It is sad to know the statistics that are shown for sexual assault occurring on college campuses are not 100% accurate due to more than half of the sexually assaulted students never have the courage to report their attacks. Sexual assault is a major issue affecting female college students and it needs to be addressed.

Sexual assault has plagued the military since its inception. The chain of command (COC) is responsible for maintaining the good order and conduct of our service members (SMs). Unfortunately, the U.S. military has not been able to effectively combat the occurrences of sexual assault. Billions of taxpayer dollars have been thrown at the problem, programs have been implemented and task forces have been mobilized. To combat this epidemic, the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program (SHARP) is the U.S. military’s main effort. SHARP is designed to promote advocacy and provide support for victims of sexual assault, in order to decrease or eliminate the instances of sexual assault among SMs. However, the problem of