Should College Promote A Rape Culture?

When it comes to choosing a college, there are many factors in this major life decision: price, location, type of education, and finally, safety. Young women in college campuses across the country, although no campus is immune from these heinous acts, safety is still a main concern. “If you knew your son had a 20% chance of being held up at gunpoint, you’d think twice before dropping your kid off,” says Vice President Joe Biden. “Well, my God, you drop a daughter off, it’s 1 in 5 she could be raped or physically abused? It is just outrageous.” (TIME magazine). Twenty percent of young woman will be sexually assaulted during their college career. Why is sexual assault prevalent on college campuses now more than ever?

“I felt his hands start to move down towards my shorts as if he was trying to unbutton them or pull them off. I was still crying at this point and felt so scared that I couldn't move” (Hummer, 1989). These were the words said by a freshman away at college after she had been sexual assaulted. From the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National network, statistics show that “over 90 percent of all gang rapes on college campuses involve fraternity men” (Hummer, 1989). Most often these woman may be labeled as trash, shameful, or ready for action, aside from a victim, prey, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these deprecating terms for women and cover the reality of a rape culture.

Sexual assault on college campuses is an extensive topic that has concerned people for many years. The high rates and the case report cover-ups have brought about many varying opinions. Many people believe in changing the college framework to establish universities that are better equipped to deal with this issue. Others feel that the problem could be addressed by changing society’s outlook on crimes like these. While another group feels that the problem is in how we define rape. Despite these differences in opinions, one thing is clear, everyone agrees that something must be done to reduce sexual assault on campuses.

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

This study focuses on high risk and low risk environments and relationship interactions to gain a perspective on rape culture. According to, “ FRATERNITIES AND COLLEGIATE RAPE Culture: Why Are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?” by Boswell and Spade (1996) indicate that the relationship that is developed between men and women influence the way in which people are treated. Women and men often seek relationships differently then each other. The environments in which people interact impact the quality of relationship building. Along with values of the culture people are living in also influence the type of interactions seen as worthy or unworthy. The researchers in this study observes and interview people in a college setting based apon lifestyle choices such as living arrangements, the campus’ social setting, social environments, participation, interactions, values, awareness, relationship characteristics, respect, aggression, and interpersonal

Despite federal laws issued to combat sexual violence, each year 4,000 college women report to school officials that they've been sexually assaulted. What happens after they file those reports has stirred debate on campuses across the country, leaving parents and students fearful that colleges may not be the ivory towers of security and integrity that appear on their recruitment pamphlets.

A typical teen, fresh into adulthood has just graduated high school. At this point in their life, they must choose how they want to proceed forward, their life is no longer necessarily decided upon by their parents. A majority of recent high school graduates typically decide to further their education, whether this may be to achieve the career goal they most desire, or if maybe they just want to be able to say that recieved a degree. These next four or more years they will experience all sorts of new things, they may make new friends, go out to parties, and most likely have lots of fun. However in today’s society, going off to a college campus could end up being their worst nightmare. According to the article “Campus Sexual Violence Statistics”, “Women ages 18-24 are at an elevated risk of sexual violence” (RAINN 1). By this statistic, college aged women are at a higher risk for some form of sexual violence. Campus sexual assault is so universal because the justice system does not treat sexual assault as seriously as they should, a large amount of sexual assaults are left unreported, and sexual assault cases are very difficult to prove.

Danger can take shape in many forms, one of the most prevalent in our society today sexual assault. According to the Campus Sexual Assault Study (CSA), 1 of 5 women will be sexually assaulted during their experience at college. This is a staggering and frightening amount. A study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, The Sexual Victimization of College Women, has findings even more grim than the CSA. It states that 1 of 4 college women will be raped.

As stated by an article from Bettercolleges.com, sexual assault can also involve forcing someone into non-consensual sexual acts by means of manipulation, any form of coercion, or psychological force. Sexual violence is more prevalent on college campuses compared to other crimes. In fact, according to Rainn.org college women are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted as they are to be robbed. The sad reality is that these victim’s voices are often never heard: only 5 percent of female student victims between the ages of 18 and 24 ever report to law enforcement because of factors such as distrust of authorities and fear of blame (“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics”). In regard to male victims, they oftentimes face different types of stigma branching from issues such as stereotypes about hyper masculinity, sexual desire, and what it means to “be a man” in society, preventing them from reporting unwanted sexual activity (“Realities of Sexual Assault on Campus”). In the cases of both men and women, these assaults are often enhanced by the increased presence of alcohol and drugs on campuses. For instance, one study found that 15 percent of young women experienced incapacitated rape during their first year of college, meaning that when were raped when they could not give consent because they did not know what was happening (“Sexual Assault on College Campuses”). Peer pressure to participate in these types of social activities puts victims in a more vulnerable position for sexual assault. This environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused by leaders within the school system is known as rape

College is a great place for teenagers to transform into young adults and receive a great education. However, college is also the place where a lot of dumb choices are made and bad things occur. These college students get credit cards, procrastination, indulge in underage drinking and taking drugs, and lots of parties that can soon turn into trouble. It is said that "11.2% of all students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation (among all graduate and undergraduate students)" (Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics). College is where lives can be changed for the better or the worse. Lizzie Crocker at the Daily Beast says that there has been an increase in campus sex assaults and I believe this to be

Sexual assault has been huge problem on college campus. College female students have been targets of sexual assault acts, According to Robin Gray “Between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career.” Sexual assault is when is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat. There are laws that protect women in all types of setting from being victims of sexual assault. The government had made some changes to the laws of sexual assault over the past decade to protect the girls and women so justice can be served. The president Obama has been enforcing a law for the young women in colleges.

College is a place for trying out, experiencing and learning new things and being sexually assaulted should not be one of them. Sexual assault in college campuses over the past decade has increased by over 50% as stated by Laura Stampler in her article “Report Sees Surge in Sex Crimes on College Campuses”: “The number of sex crimes reported on U.S. college campuses soared by 50% over the course of a decade, according to a new government report Tuesday, even as total campus crime decreased” (Laura Stampler). A national survey made by and released in April of 2014 by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault states that at least one in five college students, including men and women, experience some form of sexual assault during their time in college. In another article published on bestcolleges.com, the author states that over 95% of college campus rapes go unreported, which implies that there might be more than one in five students that gets sexually assaulted by the end of their college career. Not only that but the article on bestcolleges.com also states that women are most likely to be sexually

When young adults graduate high school and get ready to begin their first year of college, it is already nerve-racking to adapt to a new place and new people that a sexual assault is the last thing that one would think could happen to them. In an article, “Examining Sexual Assault on College Campuses,” by Kelsey Wank she reports

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.

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