Campus Sexual Assault Essay

Sexual assaults on college campuses has become a major phenomenon and increases on a daily throughout the United States. 1 out of 4 women on college campuses have been reported as victims in sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults in a study by Koss, Gidyez, and Wisniewski. (Lee, Spring 2003) In majority reports of sexual assaults the victims knew their perpetrator personally and the sexual assault took place while on a date with the perpetrator. (Lee, Spring 2003) Their study also exposed that 1 in 12 college men were involved in sexual assaults but felt that their actions were not illegal. Alcohol and drug use are major components in which sexual assaults are created by. Alcohol and drug us amplified rapidly at the beginning of college

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