Sexual Assault Victims: Personal Statement Analysis

On college campuses in the United States, sexual assault and rape are significant public and social health issues so colleges need to punish the abusers and support the victims. Women are primarily the victims of rape whereas men are usually the ones to attempt any type of sexual assault.. The vast majority of women are sexually assaulted by men with whom they are acquainted. Women are far less likely to report a rape or assault when they know their assailant, thus instance of sexual assaults are greatly under-reported. This essay examines a number of reasons why women fail to report an assault to formal support agencies and examines some of the ways in which social services agencies can reach women

Every two minutes a woman is sexually assaulted in the United States (FBI, 2003). According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, sexual assault is the most under-reported violent crime in the United States. In 2005, the Armed Forces received 2,374 reports of alleged cases of sexual assault involving its members. Of these figures, the Air Force received 584 reports. That is an increase of 28 percent over the past year (DoD, 2005). The Air Force is concerned with the safety, dignity, and well-being of all its members. The Air Force does not tolerate sexual assault and has implemented a comprehensive policy that reinforces prevention, response, and accountability.

The alarming increase in sexual assault among male and female students is a source of concern. Despite improvements in the general statistics on rape cases, the college setting remains to be the hot bed of sexual assault, especially among the female counterparts (Allen, 2007). A victim, regardless being a male or a female, never feel safe in their life as something precious was taken from them once. Statistics show that 17.6% of women are likely to be victims of rape in their entire lifetime while only 0.3% of males are estimated to be the victims of sexual assault. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), the most critical ages men and females are likely to be engaged in sexual abuse is when they are children or adolescents (Gonzales, Schofield & Schmitt, 2006).

Being sexually assaulted as a child and teenager can ruin your life. As a child, you, really don’t

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.

There are many things I wouldn’t put past my estranged mother: she’s trolled me in the comment section of my online articles, publicly disowned me and my sister on Facebook more than once, and put me in very serious legal trouble. But I never thought I would see her openly defending a man who bragged about “grabbing pussy”, nor did I think I’d see her outright mock victims of alleged sexual assault, especially because she is a survivor of sexual abuse and assault.

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.

Officer arrived at her residence and she related Marshall BURPA was touching her 9 year old daughter.

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)

I was absolutely mortified by the administrators response to victims of sexual assault. I just couldn’t believe that they would rather uphold the prestige of a college campus than to do right by a victim of sexual assault. I honestly thought that administrators would be more supporting, it was really difficult to see how administrators are supposed to guide us in the right path but they spoke down to all the women that were rape survivors, it truly disgusted me. The structural issues that influenced the reactions survivors received were the issues from the administrators and even police officers, basically every institution where rape survivors are supposed to be able to turn to turned out to be a big let down to them. It’s terrible because sexual assault survivors don’t feel comfortable to turn to their own parents so they turn to powerful institutions like police officers and administrators but it was just a let down.

Women face mostly the maximum rate of dating violence. One in five women will be a victim of sexual assault while they are in college. One in nine girls will be forced against their will to have sex. One in ten will be hurt on purpose by someone they are dating. Men also go through these assaults the number of victims are fewer but nevertheless greatly essential.

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.

As Vice-Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, I am writing to request that the Rules Committee establish a rule to allow for the admissibility of certain evidence of similar behavior by the defendant in sexual assault and child molestation cases. The adoption of such a rule will effectively end the current disunion between the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Maryland Rules of Evidence.

Tom sat on the sofa, his shoulders hunched forward, his eyes staring listlessly into space. In his hands, a forgotten cup of coffee trembled violently, the lukewarm liquid spilling over his fingers. He hadn’t uttered a single word since his impassioned attempt to justify Booker’s assault, and as the minutes ticked by, his silence only added to Doug’s concerns. Although not an expert, as a cop, Penhall understood about trauma, and fearing his friend was going into shock, he made the decision to call 911. With an ambulance on its way, he dialed a second number, and after a brief conversation, he hung up. Turning his attention to Tom, he wondered how to proceed. While he wanted to offer comfort, he honestly did not know what to say. How did you console the victim of sexual assault when the perpetrator was a trusted colleague you worked side by side with day in day out? He was out of his depth and terrified of making matters worse, but he knew he needed to do something other than making a cup of coffee, and approaching Tom, he squatted down and laid a hand on his knee. “How ya doin’, buddy?”

     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.