The Importance Of Sexual Assault On College Campus

“One in five college women experience sexual assault prior to their graduation

from college” (Bent-Goodley 10). According to Bent-Goodley, sexual assault on campus

has always been a significant problem on college campuses. However, the majority of

assaults that are happening to young women and males go unreported. These young

students are too afraid or too emotionally drained to report their encounters with sexual

assault. Students think that college campuses cannot do anything about it, or that the

college staff and faculty will not believe them. There are times when the victim reports

the crime, but the staff neglects the assault by protecting the rapist or having untrained

faculty asks useless questions. This is a rising

“…9 out of 10 rapes are committed by people who have raped

before” (Myers 7).

Colleges should be responsible for the safety of students. Safety is a key factor

for preventing sexual assault on campus. Unfortunately, safety is often a low priority for colleges in comparison to their sports teams. “Perhaps safety should have as much of

a premium in college as, say, football or basketball” (Weingarten 3). College campuses

cannot fail their students. This problem can change if colleges start making safety for

students their first priority.

College campuses in the past have neglected sexual assault cases by protecting

the defendant. A woman at Florida State University reported that the “…star

quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner James Winston raped her; he was cleared at a

campus hearing” (Myers 4). When a student was gang-raped three times at The

University of Oregon by three basketball players, the district attorney decided not to

bring action against the criminals. These schools are hot topics when it comes to sexual assault, because they have failed to keep the victim safe and instead favored in

keeping their sports teams intact. Despite the fact that the universities do not have

College campuses have unclear and confusing

systems for filling out a sexual assault report. Victims will choose to not report a sexual

assault on campus, because they are overwhelmed by the hazardous process.

Oftentimes when a report is filed, the faculty and staff are untrained and do not know

what questions are off limits or inappropriate to ask (Myers 5). When obtaining

information, questions about sexual history, and if the victim has had sexual relations

with the predator in the past are off-limits. Furthermore, the untrained eye might not

comprehend what the body goes through during and after an assault, making it crucial

for faculty and staff to be prepared. “No one office can be responsible for dealing with

sexual assault on campus; that role belongs to the entire campus community”

(Bent-Goodley 12). There is a need for the college campuses to understand and be

trained in how to deal with the victims. Brain science is a helpful tool for those in authority to grasp a better

understanding of what goes on in the brain after an assault. It is normal for a victim to

suffer from memory loss or confusion on why they could not stop the assault.