There are vast amounts of stories about young women getting sexually assaulted on college campuses, and the women themselves are blamed for their own victimization. Listening to all these stories makes it seem like colleges would rather side with the males of the school, than try to help the females of the same school. In order to gain some ground in the conversation of sexual assault, colleges should incorporate well lit campuses, the criminal justice system should work to diminish reports of sexual assault, and colleges should offer more supportive programs.
In the article Sexual Assault and Rape Perpetration by College Men: The Role of the Big Five Personality Traits (Voller & Long, 2010, p. 457), the authors claim that “Sexual violence is a distressing problem in U.S. society, especially on college campuses.” Voller and Long (2010) continue by stating that researchers don’t have a specific understanding of what might cause a person to commit sexual assault towards a different individual. In addition to this information, Voller and Long also claim that the five-factor model might give a better understanding of what could cause someone commit sexual assault (2010, p. 459). Furthermore, Voller and Long claim that the five factors that could be possible attributes of someone who commits sexual assault are “neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness” (2010, p. 459).
In the article Forcible, Drug-Facilitated, and Incapacitated Rape and Sexual Assault Among Undergraduate Women (Lawyer, Resnick, Bakanic, Burkett, & Kilpatrick, 2010), the claim is made that “20% of women will experience some form of unwanted sexual contact within their lifetime” (Lawyer et al., 2010, p. 453). Lawyer, Resnick, Bak...
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...amilton, L., & Sweeney, B. (2006). Sexual Assault on Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape. Social Problems, 53(4), 483-499. doi:10.1525/sp.2006.53.4.483
Franklin, C. A., Bouffard, L. A., & Pratt, T. C. (2012). Sexual Assault on the College Campus: Fraternity Affiliation, Male Peer Support, and Low Self-Control. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(11), 1457-1480. doi:10.1177/0093854812456527
Lawyer, S., Resnick, H., Bakanic, V., Burkett, T., & Kilpatrick, D. (2010). Forcible, Drug-Facilitated, and Incapacitated Rape and Sexual Assault Among Undergraduate Women. Journal of American College Health, 58(5), 453-460. doi:10.1080/07448480903540515
Voller, E. K., & Long, P. J. (2010). Sexual Assault and Rape Perpetration by College MenThe Role of the Big Five Personality Traits. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 25(3), 457-480. doi:10.1177/0886260509334390
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
The trial of 19 year old Owen Laurie has brought into light the alarming rate in which Sexual assault is rising. The issue that rages on in Colleges is said to be making its way to high schools and primary school. In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Division of Violence Prevention, 19% of Undergraduate women experienced
With one in five college students experiencing sexual assault during their college career who wouldn’t be afraid? This remains especially true for young women between the ages of 18-24 (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While a woman’s freshman and sophomore year of college are when she is at a most risk for assault, it can happen at any time. According to Robin Gray in the article on sexual assault statistics, “between 20% and 25% of women will experience a completed and/or attempted rape during their college career,” (Gray). At Northwest Missouri State University for the 2016-2017 academic year there are 5,618 undergraduate students enrolled. With the ratio of male to female students being 44% to 56%, there are about 3,147 female students. In terms of the statistics estimated by Gray, 630-787 of the female student population at Northwest Missouri State will experience rape during their college career (“Northwest Missouri State University”). This is a disturbingly large figure. Women are not the only ones susceptible to these acts, but men are too. It is said about “10%” of all sexual assault cases involve male victims (“The Realities of Sexual Assault”). While this number is slightly lower for men it is often believed that male victims of sexual assault do not often report their crime due to the social stigma surrounding their assault. Men may feel
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.
Vladutiu, Catherine J., Sandra L. Martin, and Rebecca J. Macy. "College- or University- Based Sexual Assault Prevention Programs: A Review of Program Outcomes, Characteristics, and Recommendations." Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. SAGE, n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2013. .
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.
Rape is the most common violent crime on American college campuses. A numerous amount of issues dealing with sexual assaults has been caused by unsafe environments on college campuses. Over the past years there has been a
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
To date, “between 10 to 40 percent of female students [. . .] have been raped while [. . .] up to 60 percent of males students [have] commit[ed] actions that meet the legal definition of sexual assault” (Bretz 19). This percentage demonstrates the ineffectiveness of university policies and signifies a drastic change to procedures is in order if educational institutions want to see improvement. In order to see an effective change, policies must “explicitly define key terms such as “‘consent’, ‘force’ [,]‘incapacity’ and cover [a] range of sexually violent behavior” (Gunraj 9). Furthermore, since the age of fourteen 58.7% of females “ha[ve] experienced one or more forms of victimization[. . .] 35.0% ha[ve] experienced at least one completed or attempted rape and 23.5% ha[ve] been raped” (Senn et. al. Results). First-year female students are not prepared for the perpetrators they will face on campus, and as a result, are more vulnerable to sexual violence. Universities need to develop effective policies and procedures to not only prepare women for the challenges they may face but to reduce the overall number of sexual assaults and make school a safer environment for
In "Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture" Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade analyze the social perspective of the gendered relations in male fraternities that add to the high rate of violence against women on many college campuses. They list a host of factors that distinguish higher-risk from lower-risk atmospheres discussing the rates of rape in colleges and state how "1 out of 4 college women say they were raped or experienced an attempted rape" (217). Additionally, "1 out of 12 college men say they forced a woman to have sexual intercourse against her will" (Boswell, Spade 217). In other words Boswell and Spade indicated that the rates were high when it came down to women getting raped in colleges by men who also attended those colleges. In addition, Boswell and Spade specify in how most people are aware of rape but know very little about rape culture (Boswell, Spade 217).
Sexual assault is a problem that affects many students in colleges. Sexual assault is defined as “any unwanted contact” (6) performed on “an unwilling victim, without consent” (2). This means anything from touching to completed rape. Without consent means that “vigorous efforts were made to avoid sexual contact” (2). Physical symptoms of sexual assault can tamper with the victim’s quality of life. It can be pelvic pain, migraines, and even disability that can prevent a victim from working. There are over 32,000 pregnancies a year that are a result of completed rape, but problems with pregnancy can also be a result of sexual assault. In addition to these effects, women who experience this assault are more likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases (2).
Lawyer, S., Resnick, H., Bakanic, V., Burkett, T., & Kilpatrick, D. (2010). Forcible, drug-facilitated, and incapacitated rape and sexual assault among undergraduate women. Journal of American College Health, 58(5). 453.
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
Bonnie, S. F., Francis, T. C., & Michael, G. T. (2000) The sexual victimization of college women. U.S. Department of Justice.