Sexual Harassment and Dating Violence It’s easy for sexual harassment and relationship violence to be dismissed as only “adult” issues. On the contrary, these problems have proven to be pervasive in both junior and senior high schools. Although statistics show that “nearly half of students are sexually harassed in school” (Koebler, 2011), sexual harassment and dating violence are not being appropriately addressed in schools and are in essence, being shoved under the table. These are not fleeting issues, because sexual harassment and domestic violence can be particularly harmful to victims and have long-lasting, detrimental effects. One senior girl at Hoover High School said she has experienced sexual harassment and dating violence first hand, …show more content…
This harassment can be verbal, mental, or physical. Indirect sexual harassment includes lingering stares and hushed conversations about a witness or about an on looker while direct sexual harassment includes physical interactions and direct verbal requests. According to the survey, “Nearly Half of Students Sexually Harassed in School,” by Jason Koebler, “…according to the report, 87 percent reported detrimental effects from the harassment. A third of harassed students said they did not want to attend school.” (Koebler, 2011). Dating violence is sexual, physical, and emotional abuse that occurs between two individuals in a romantic relationship. Indirect dating violence is often subconscious conditioning to where the victim believes that they are deserving of this violence or believe that it is their fault whereas direct dating violence can often be aggressive physical or sexual abuse. “A 2005 study by the centers for disease control and prevention found that of 6,888 high school students nationally, I in 11 had been hit, slapped or punched by an intimate partner.” (Burleigh). Dating violence, especially in teens, stems from a lack of consent which can lead to a cycle of violence. Effects of these problems can include the victims having actual, physical injuries that can be seen by the naked-eye or, although equally as severe, wounds that can’t be seen by just looking at a victim. These injuries are possibly even more damaging because they are more difficult to heal, and are characterized by the mental and emotional pains experienced by victims on a wide-ranging scale. The most concerning part about sexual harassment and dating violence is that the abuser can be anyone: a close-friend or significant other, a boss or coworker, or even a total stranger. There is no real definition of who can be a harasser or abuser, because at any time in a victim’s
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.
Imagine you have just arrived at your dream college and suddenly your life is ruined from a crime sexual assault, and the suffering mental and physical pain that follows from it. In the documentary, The Hunting Ground, director Kirby Dick portrays how rape is more frequently common in college campuses than what people really think, and how it effects the victim’s emotionally. Students that just get to college don’t realize the negative events that could happen the them. College is supposed to be the best time of people’s lives, but bad things can happen, and students, especially women, should come more prepared. Both men and women are being sexual assaulted daily, and it’s something that need to be fixed.
Many people are uneducated when it comes to domestic violence, sexual violence, and teen dating violence. “Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence” (Domestic Violence: Statistics & Facts). The statistics of domestic violence are alarming. “1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence during her lifetime”
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.
Even today, we acknowledge the many advances women have made in academics, employment and athletics, we still need to recognize some dismaying facts in our efforts to achieve equity. While sex discrimination is no longer routinely accepted in education and has been prohibited since Title IX became law, the incidences of sexual harassment and assault that are continually reported show that freedom from threats to learning still has not been achieved. In response, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education has released its final policy guidance on sexual harassment to help educators recognize sexual harassment and formulate age-appropriate responses to prevent or resolve incidences of this form of sex discrimination.
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.
A. Background Information: The next four years of the students’ lives after high school mark the moment they become independent. Because of the freedom, college students are more susceptible to careless actions like drinking, doing drugs, and even committing sexualt assualt. Sexual assault has been around for years and the actions to prevent this heinous crime has been minimal, especially in colleges and universities. In 2015, Brock Turner, a student from Stanford, sexually assaulted a young woman on campus. Turner claimed that because he was drinking, was with friends, and saw a “promiscuous” female student, that pressured him into committing such a heinous crime. This was because Stanford University didn’t teach its students sexual assault prevention which caused the victim to be harm and violated. By teaching college students about sexual assault prevention, it decreases the number of sexual assault cases on campus, prevents psychological damage to the victim’s mental state, and educates other students to know the signs
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
The headline, “Recession Causes Increase in Teen Dating Violence”, clearly affirms a causal relationship between the economic recession, and the increase in teen relationship violence. Specifically, causation can be described as one event causing an effect within a specific scenario. As you see in the headline title, a recession assumes the responsibility for an increase in teen date violence. Hence, with this headline we observe a cause and effect relationship.
...Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), currently enrolls more than 640,000 students through out the county (Dauter, Fuller, 2016). Promoting a culture of prevention aim at educating youth, should incorporate policy advocacy interventions that can be embedded and take root within one of the largest school district in the country. It would be within a social worker’s scope of practice to adopt an integrated, ecological framework for understanding the origins of gender-based violence (Heise, Lori1998) .It would be fitting and corresponding for social workers at all levels to allocate a strategy for social change aim at violence prevention (Futures Without Violence, 2016). By working hand in hand with LAUSD, social workers can provide a universal prevention approached that addresses domestic violence while urging community participation, primarily high school seniors.
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.
For some, sexual harassment and assault seem almost like myths or bad dreams. For others, it's a living reality. The United States Department of Justice defines sexual assault as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” Sexual harassment and assault are demeaning, terrifying, and forceful behaviors. And yet, it’s happening every day. People hollering out car windows at pedestrians. Groups of teenagers terrifying
When people hear the word abuse, they tend to think of physical abuse. Many people do not know there are different types of abuse which can happen any place and at any time. No one should have to put up with being abused and they can do something about it (Types). When people hear abuse, they tend to think it is women who get abused. This is a stereotype. Even though it is less common for a male to be abused, they still are. An example of this stereotype is found on a website which says,
Many school officials do not realize the long term effects of sexual harassment on female students. As the University of Calgary reports, many female students report physical symptoms after experiencing sexual harassment. These symptoms range from nausea, irritability, depression, and lower levels of success in school. They also report the psychological effects on these students. They comment, “These interactions have the overall effect of teaching girls to view themselves as ‘objects’ in a world defined by male experience”. (Cairns and Luft). Not only are female students physically suffering from the harassment they have endured, they are also developing mind sets in which they believe they are only around for male pleasure. This type of mindset is prohibiting young girls from trying to learn. They feel they cannot succeed as they are automatically inferior to their male