Colleges throughout the United States need to take more action to prevent rape and assist rape victims. In order to prevail against the rape culture on campus, victim-blaming needs to end. Victim-blaming is a secondary trauma that can cause greater distress, increased depression, PTSD, and suicidal thoughts (Schroeder). Beverly Engel, a marriage and family therapist from Los Osos, California asserts, “the core of victim-blaming is that we don't want to feel out of control” (qtd. in Schroeder). Haplessly, people blame the victim for their rape to distance themselves from unpleasant circumstances (“Rape Culture”). In addition saying phrases in the manner of “she must have provoked him” or “they both need to change” implies the victim and offender …show more content…
In her article “College Leaders should Help Protect Survivors Not Their School's Public Image” Sarah Merriman discusses how college’s reputations are linked to their funding. Many schools believe that acknowledging campus rape will pollute their reputation. The organization Students Active for Ending Rape (SAFER) works with college students to help their activism be effective speculates that the United States is not doing enough to reform college campuses. Legislation for protection is not a complete solution to end sexual assault, but it does help make the one in five statistics smaller (Merriman). Under Title IX college administrators are legally obligated to take action to end sexual assault, but this does not mean women across the country are still not being contradicted (Webley). The article “Big Shame on Campus” by Kayla Webley mentions different accounts of women being contradicted and told that their rape was their fault. A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Kylie Angell was told by a campus police officer after reporting she was being stalked by her rapist, “Women need to stop spreading their legs like peanut butter, otherwise, rape is going to happen till the cows come home.” Likewise, Hope Brinn, a graduate of Swarthmore College, was also accused of her own rape when asked by the school's Title IX coordinator, “What did you do that would make him act like that.” In both cases, the two girls were blamed for their rape by the people who were supposed to guide them in the right direction (Webley). The silver lining according to Alison Kiss, executive director of the Clery Center for Security on Campus, says that when looking at colleges if the school has a high number of sexual assault report it means victims feel comfortable coming forward about their assault (Webley). Therefore colleges need to take more action in order to protect
As seniors in high school are committed to colleges and getting excited for some of the best years of their lives, they are preparing for early classes, late nights and good times. These teens have been looking forward to these years that have seemed to come so fast. Of course they’re getting excited about picking their dream job and looking forward to meeting life long friends that they should be able to trust. No one thinks about or mentions the number of rapes on college campuses. If the first thing colleges mentioned was the reported rapes on their campuses, would that change the minds of kids that have had a certain college in mind? Besides the reported date rapes, what about the estimated sexual assaults that go unreported? Knowing the facts and statistics about colleges and how they handle sexual assault cases would make anyone getting ready for college think twice about how safe they’re being and who they are trusting.
When university or police find out about the sexual assault, they immediately blame the victim or question what the victim was wearing, drinking, or doing. “Brownmiller identified four basic rape myths: (1) All women want to be raped; (2) a woman cannot be raped against her will; (3) a woman who is raped is asking for it; and (4) if a woman is going to be raped, she might as well enjoy it” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 432). In The Hunting Ground, the rape myth, which a woman who is raped is asking for it, is seen throughout the testimonies of the survivors. Clark, herself, was told by her dean that “rape is like a football game” and asked if “looking back, what would you have done differently?” (Ziering & Dick, 2015). These rape myths affect how many victims actually report and how seriously sexual assaults are taken within universities and the justice system. For example, some women, themselves, subscribe to rape myths because they see how current cases are handled. “Women who did not physically fight off the person who raped them and who subscribed to the rape myth that “it can’t be rape if a woman doesn’t fight back” were less likely to acknowledge that they had been raped” (Helgeson, 2012, p. 434). Universities need to teach first-year students about consent and how to
In an article written by John Alan Fox, Fox makes the broad claim that sexual assault is in an era of, “...Hype and hysteria--far out of proportion with the actual risk…” and “The often - repeated yet exaggerated claim that one in five college females are sexually assaulted during their undergraduate years…” (Fox, para 1&2 ). The claims of sexual assault have become more constant in the past years, yes the claims are repeated, but in no way are most claims of sexual assault “exaggerated”. It truthfully takes the victim a while to even talk to a friend about their assault let alone report it, “When students nationwide were asked why they did not report incidents of sexual misconduct...because they were ‘embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult’...” (Campus Sexual Assault Survey Details Prevalence at UT Austin and 26 Other US Universities, para 16). The claim of the “one in five college females” is an often repeated claim that many see in sexual assault campaigns and is most common among college women, but, “Sexual violence happens to people of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, abilities, professions, incomes and ethnicities” (Info and Stats on Sexual Assault, pg 9). In fact, “The rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate women and transgender, gender queer
Rape is currently on the rise on American college campuses and it is the most common committed crime among college students today. In their time in college 1 out of every 5 women and 1 out of every 71 men will experience some form of sexual harassment as reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. These numbers are growing each year and have raised a lot of concern in the administrative level of higher education institutions. In an effort to try and prevent these occurrences universities have begun to implement mandatory curriculum to educate students on the subject and have even begun to hold campus wide events and create clubs to spread awareness and show support because of the repetitive nature of this crime. While it is good
In the book Unsafe in the Ivory Tower; the Sexual Victimization of College Women, it is discussed how establishing one dedicated prevention method for sexual assault on college campuses may be difficult. This is due to not having accurate statistics on sexual assaults and also the assaults occurring behind closed doors with offenders being known to the victims. Establishing policy, awareness, and prevention programs may look good on paper and ease a parent’s mind about their kids going to college. However, these programs may be ignored or do not reach men who statistically are the violators. In the book the Unsafe in the Ivory Tower, the author states:
Nicole Johnson*, a 22-year-old senior at an area university looks back at her college experience as graduation approaches, generally happy with how everything turned out, however, a dark cloud still looms over her freshman year when she was raped.
When it comes to sexual assault on college campuses there is also the question of what can colleges do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults. Bradford Richardson and Jon A Shields wondered the same thing, so they conducted an ...
“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” (Henneberger, 2012). These are words written by a college freshman after she had been raped, but they are true for many others as well. According to the Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties, “every two minutes someone in the US is sexually assaulted” (Get the Facts). “Girls ages 16-19 are four times more likely than the than the general population to be victims of sexual assault” (Get the Facts). These women may be described as slut, cheap, or ready for action, rather than victim, sufferer, or survivor. Rape myths encourage these demeaning terms for women and conceal the reality of rape culture. I will describe the pervasiveness of sexual assault on college campuses as well as the systems and procedures in place to address it. Power plays a role in this issue, including the powerful men on campus such as athletes and fraternity members as well as the administrators in power who regulate the punishments and actions that are taken against the perpetrators. The influence of those in power often goes overlooked in our society because it has become so intertwined with our culture.
According to U.S News the problem with “sexual assaults on campus is not something that is consigned to a region or type of school, but is a ubiquitous reality on campuses of all shapes and sizes across America. All schools are required to designate an employee as their Title IX coordinator to help oversee the schools compliance with the law” (Jarrett). Colleges are responsible for keeping the students on their campus safe. The college has a legal obligation to keep the students safe. The student is going to school there, and the college needs to be responsible for the sexual assaults that happen on college campuses. According to The White House Task Force to protect Students from Sexual Assault “urges schools to show how serious they are about sexual assaults, the task force recommends that schools examine the prevalence and incidence of sexual assaults on campus, and to assess student’s perceptions of a university’s response to sexual assault” (Share, Rachel, and Scott Coffina). Colleges have an obligation to prevent the sexual assaults that happen on their campuses. It is on the college to examine the sexual assaults that happen on their campus, but it is the college’s responsibility to do something about the sexual assaults. Colleges are responsible for protecting students on college campuses from sexual
In the fall of 1995, Kristin Cooper was a sophomore at Baker University in Kansas. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, an expert skier from the mountains of Colorado, a swimmer, and was active in band, choir and drama.
According to Kathleen Hirsch, the author of “Fraternities of Fear: Gang Rape, Male Bonding, and the Silencing of Women” 1 in every 4 women attending college will be the victim of sexual assault at some point during her academic career. Or in another study reported in the “The sexual Victimization of College Women” there are 35.3 incidents of sexual assault in a group of 1,000 women in a time span of 6.91 months (Statistics). Obviously sexual assault is a huge problem that should be taken very seriously. Some colleges have wonderful programs put in place that provides great services to help those students who have been have been sexually assaulted and programs that help education and prevent sexual assault.
There is a difference in campus sexual assaults from sexual assaults that are committed outside of the college campus. One of the main differences for victims who are involved in an on campus sexual assault is that they have access to two adjudicatory systems: the academic institution and criminal justice system. However, victims of outside sexual assaults can only seek compensation through the legal system such as a criminal complaint and/or civil action. (DeMatteo, August 2015) One may argue that when having access to both adjudicatory systems deliberates a great benefit to the victims who were involved in an on campus sexual assault. In a criminal trial for sexual assault, the prosecution must prove every element beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the highest burden of proof in the U.S. justice system. (DeMatteo, August 2015) By contrast, when dealing with administrative contexts showing proof is very lower in sexual assaults. Victims of sexual assaults have multiple benefits when their cases are controlled administratively rather than it being controlled by the criminal justice system. A major benefit is that a lower burden of proof in an administrative context makes it very easy for a victim to establish that a sexual assault took place. An additional benefit is that an administrative resolution may authorize the victim to obtain suitable accommodations and services from the academic institution, as well as counseling and academic support. Although victims of campus sexual assaults collect some benefits when such incidents are conducted by the academic institution, the suspected perpetrators of campus sexual assaults frequently receive less routine due process protection when sexual assault allegations are processed in administrative contexts. (DeMatteo, August 2015) While 304 of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 provides
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
They insist that these rapes are isolated incidents, and most certainly have nothing to do with an attitude prevalent on campuses everywhere. Rapes, to them, are simply the result of drunken college students making poor judgements. “It was an unfortunate mistake,” they say. However, a quick study of the evidence shows that defence to be completely false. There is overwhelming evidence that most rapes are premeditated. Lisak says that most, contrary to popular belief, don’t stem from “mixed signals” or “dates gone bad”. Nine out of ten campus rapes are perpetrated by serial rapists. He himself admits to having previously harboured what he calls a “naive schema” that these numbers “may be true about crime in the community or crime in the military but surely university students are different. Turns out they’re not. But it’s a mental step to understand that there are a small number of repeat sex offenders who enroll in universities just as there are sex offenders in the military” (“Myths”). The simple fact that the majority of rapists are repeat offenders indicates a flawed mentality. One rape could possibly be a lapse in judgement, but two? For multiple rapes, the perpetrator has to believe his actions are okay. Nine out of ten rapists believeing their actions are okay indicates a prevalent, flawed mentality; one that universities fail to recognize. Progress cannot be made because universities are too afraid of damaging their reputation to even acknowledge rape
Rape and sexual violence is a very serious problem that affects millions of people each year. Rape is someone taking advantage of another person sexually. Sexual assault can be verbal, physical, visual, or anything that forces a person to join in unwanted sexual contact or attention. ("Sexual Assault.") Rape is one of the most underreported crimes. In 2002, only thirty-nine percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law officials. ("Sexual Violence: Fact Sheet.") Victims sometimes do not report that they have raped because of shame or feeling that it was their fault. It is never the victim's fault. "Victim blaming" is holding the victim of a crime to be in a whole or in partly responsible for what had happened to them. Most victims believe this. ("Myths and Facts about Sexual Violence.")