More handpicked essays just for you.
Sexual assault on university campuses essay
Sexual assault on university campuses essay
Sexual assault on university campuses essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
‘Sexual Violence is more than just a crime against individuals. It threatens our families; it threatens our communities. Ultimately, it threatens the entire country’ (qtd. in Burleigh pg. 2). In the article, “Confronting Campus Rape” written by Nina Burleigh; a writer, journalist, and professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, describes what students are doing to force universities to take a stronger stand against campus sexual assault. Burleigh also describes what the government is doing to make a difference on the issue. This includes laws that have created consequences for the assaulter and laws that protect the victim. According to Burleigh, a young woman called Laura Dunn was sexually assaulted on campus. Dunn was a student of …show more content…
Some of the physical effects include bruising, bleeding (vaginal or anal), soreness, broken or dislocated bones, sexually transmitted infections and diseases, pregnancy, among other things. Mental and emotional effects are longer and harder to overcome than physical. Mental effects include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, loss of energy or interest in activities previously enjoyed, and uncontrollable thoughts. Other consequences include, depression, feelings of hopelessness and dislocation, suicidal thoughts or attempts, and unsafety. (“Campus”, “Sexual”) These are considerably the biggest effects a victim of sexual assault can experience. Generally, unsafety is what leads women to keep quiet about the crime. Overcoming the feeling of unsafety may result in an increasing number of victims reporting the crime; therefore, lowering the number of victims sexually assaulted. Although it is easy to say, it is not easy to overcome the feeling of unsafety. Victims lose trust in everyone who surrounds them. In Herzog’s survey of UW students, women who are victims of sexual assault usually are assaulted by friends or acquaintance. It can be very difficult for the victim to restore confidence with those near them. Unsafety is not only experienced by students or victims. Parents also …show more content…
In the Universities of Michigan students are implementing the self-policing. This strategy consists of students volunteering to patrol parties attended by fraternity and sorority members, who have been noticeable for being destructive and out of control. Michigan’s president, Mark Schlissel, has addressed the connection between drinking and campus sexual assault. The 2015 fact sheet from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimated that alcohol was a factor in 97,000 cases of sexual assault and rape each year among college students. As a result, Kegs were banned in any fraternity parties, as well as handles of drinks being passed around. These facts triggered students to start their own prevention method creating the student self-policing. These patrols monitor and supervise parties to prevent any student from committing sexual assault. Students can be able to volunteer for their own interest in safety. The Universities of Michigan have made this strategy into a requirement for parties. In order for students to have a party, there has to be a form of supervision. Students often prefer for other students to maintain safety because they feel more comfortable. This gives greater opportunity for the self-policing method to
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 what is sure to be a very solemn matter for all American students and their families across the country , in January 2013 , President Obama, the office of the Vice President and the White House Council on Women and Girls converged and issued a renewed call to action against rape and sexual assault report which analyzes the most recent reliable data about this issue and identifies who are the most in peril victims of this malefaction, investigates the costs of this violence both for victims and communities , and describes the replication very often inadequate of the US malefactor equity system.
Fenves, President of the University of Texas at Austin (Campus Sexual Assault Survey, para 5). Sexual assault does not specify to any one “type” of person; not one gender, not one nationality, not one religious or political belief. It can happen to anyone: gay, straight, bi-sexual, man or woman, transgender, American, African-American, Islamic, Catholic, Conservative or Liberal. The only way sexual assault is truly able to be stopped, is if colleges take better preventive measures to handle sexual assault cases and if there are consequences to be held accountable for an attacker, regardless of their age. In no way is it lawful for anyone to lose themselves over something that could have been prevented and in no way is it just for a human being with rights to be treated like a sex object or a piece of meat. Sexual assault/sexual violence needs to be prosecuted due to the multiple trials and tribulations victims go through after an attack and even beyond the attack, the victim was most likely not able to give consent or was under the influence, and could possibly be accused of a “cry rape”. Sexual assault is not to be taken lightly; in order for this type of epidemic to cease spreading through vast college campuses around America, there must be consequences to be established for the safety of those who need it most, the
In a study done by The Journal of Clinical Psychology, “the primary reason for not reporting seemed to combine a type of guilt with embarrassment.” With the help of utilizing support groups, clubs, and other programs among college campuses that are designed to make the victim’s experience a little easier, the victims may not feel as embarrassed to come out and may feel safer in their decision to move forward with their case. One of the most notable effects of rape is the psychological impact that it has on the victim immediately as well as long-term. Many victims feel depression, anxiety, and other sudden onset mental illnesses as a result of their attack and can last for years post-attack. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence reported that in their study of 95 victims over a 12 week long period, “by 3 months post-crime 47% still met the full criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” This prolonged experience of emotional trauma can weaken the person’s overall mental wellbeing and cause the trauma to stick with them for the rest of their lives, especially if there are no support resources around them. As cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology study previously, the number one reason for not reporting is the feeling of embarrassment which causes the victims to not talk about their experience and to shut out those around
According to Campus Sexual Assault: Suggested Policies and Procedures “the consequences of sexual assault can be very serious.” This means that it can lead to many outcomes which one could be hospitalization. The effects on sexual assault on a person can be very traumatic and it can be difficult for some people to overcome it. Another concern that they have stated is pregnancy, STD’s and HIV. The reason they are concerned about this which could certainties be a consequence of sexual assault is because not many girls want to go through with this because they were violated and they might not be able to take care of this child well. They might have to worry if they got an STD’s from them because they might as well have a sexual transmitted disease and who knows where this person went. HIV is the biggest consequences because as yet they couldn’t have found a cure and it is not curable at all so they are stuck with HIV for rest of their
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.
On November 19, 2014, rolling stone published an article called “A rape on campus” written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely. The Article was based on an alleged gang rape that happened at a college fraternity party at the University of Virginia. However, the article was retracted from rolling stone’s website on April 5, 2015, but they replaced the article with full text of the Columbia School of Journalism's findings the same day they removed the original article.
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.
Have you ever been encountered in a circumstance of being raped or knew an individual that was a victim of rape? Every one-hundred and seven seconds an American is sexually assaulted (RAINN). Rape has become a continuous problem causing controversy due to the way colleges cover up or simply hide incidents of rape throughout campus. More college students are also being raped by their own acquaintances rather than random strangers. Students, parents, and politicians question the way schools protect students and how their campuses can become more effective and efficient in preventing further occurrences of rape. Over the past years there has been a series of incidents where rape has been an extreme problem on college campuses in America that have been kept quiet until something traumatic happens. The prevalence of rapes on college campuses is continuing to rise due to lack of security, surveillance and awareness.
There are many different aspects of the community that is impacted. Places in the community that may be affected include "schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, campuses, and cultural or religious communities may feel fear, anger, or disbelief if a sexual assault happened in their community" ("Effects of Sexual Violence"). The entire community can be torn apart because of the assault. Sexual assault does not only impact the victim, it impacts many different places and people in the community and the assault can tear at the fabric of the communities well-being. There are also other impacts on the community other than the emotional impact. Additionally, the community could be impacted financially. There are many financial costs that are associated with sexual assault, which “include medical and mental health services, legal expenses, lost work time and productivity, theft and damage to property, and the incalculable lost contributions of individuals affected by sexual violence" ("Effects of Sexual Violence"). Along with the financial costs there are also intangible costs such as a decrease in quality of life. All of the costs that are associated with rape could add up to as much as $240,000 for just one sexual assault. The community would be negatively impacted due all of the different costs that are associated with sexual assault. The community is impacted in many different ways by sexual assault drastically along with the
We all have the means and capability to make a change in this world for the better of sexual assault. Whether it be reporting the incident, the victim retelling his or her story to those who’ll listen, or forming groups against any mean of sexual assault. This would greatly help indeed, but take this into consideration; what will happen if such a thing were never to be done? That being the case, we would more than likely suffer in the long run for having much more campus attenders being violated and sexually assaulted. Especially for our known individuals who’re attending schools for semesters; we’re basically saying that we could care less about the wellbeing of our friends, family, and associates who are by themselves on campuses; that if they get sexually assaulted, it’ll be their own faults. In actuality, the fault will have been ours. We don’t want that, do
Sexual assault and rape on college campuses is a serious public issue. Before applying to these accredited institutions most students do not look up the school 's past records of sexual assault and rape on their campus.College campuses have failed to keep students safe the system they use has failed to protect and obtain justice for those that have been victims of sexual assault. Society plays a huge part in how young adults view sexual assault. From young age girls are told “if he’s bothering you it 's because he likes you”, and boys aren 't held accountable for their actions because “boys will be boys”. At what time does it stop being a game. At what age is it not acceptable for boys to mistreat girls, when is the line drawn and, what is the punishment for when this line is crossed.
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.
Sexual assault is a traumatic event that can cause extreme psychological effects on the victim. These effects can be short-term, and they can manifest themselves into long-term effects, depending on the individual and how the sexual assault occurred. Victims of sexual assault can be either male or female, with both sexes having fairly similar psychological effects. In addition to these psychological effects, some individuals develop Rape Trauma Syndrome or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which can be more easily classified as short-term versus long-term responses. Every individual is different and may differ in their reactions to this event; there is no normal or common way to react (Kaminker, 1998, pg. 23).