Sexual assault is amongst the fastest- growing violent crimes in the United States; however, surprisingly it is also the most underreported crime. This issue is extremely prevalent on college campuses around the country, it has been estimated that 20 percent of college women and 6 percent of college men experience sexual assault or attempted sexual assault during their stay in college. These numbers may appear low, but this is only the percentage of victims that have reported their assaults. About 68% of all sexual assaults go unreported, but why is this? According to a TIMES magazine article there are about four common reasons why these issues go unreported. The reasons were that the victims did not want anyone to know, they don’t understand what rape is, they’re afraid that the police won’t believe them, or they fear the lack of control they’ll have after they report the incident. Upon reading the article, I couldn’t help but feel like it was missing something.
Following sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault victims have feelings of guilt, shame, anger, or even fear. These feelings are valid, and feed into the above myths as to why the crime goes unreported. However, I feel that the biggest issue is that people feel that reporting their rapes or attempted rape is a waste of time. Out of
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In order for that number to increase, the law would need to be more supportive of the victim and not try to blame the victim. When a sexual assault occurs it is NEVER the victims fault, no matter how much alcohol they drank or how revealing their clothes were. It is still the rapists fault even if the victim was walking alone late at night, or had been doing drugs. Once law enforcement and society as a whole realizes that the number of reported cases will increase and the number of sexual assaults that take place will
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 an article written by John Alan Fox, Fox makes the broad claim that sexual assault is in an era of, “...Hype and hysteria--far out of proportion with the actual risk…” and “The often - repeated yet exaggerated claim that one in five college females are sexually assaulted during their undergraduate years…” (Fox, para 1&2 ). The claims of sexual assault have become more constant in the past years, yes the claims are repeated, but in no way are most claims of sexual assault “exaggerated”. It truthfully takes the victim a while to even talk to a friend about their assault let alone report it, “When students nationwide were asked why they did not report incidents of sexual misconduct...because they were ‘embarrassed, ashamed or that it would be too emotionally difficult’...” (Campus Sexual Assault Survey Details Prevalence at UT Austin and 26 Other US Universities, para 16). The claim of the “one in five college females” is an often repeated claim that many see in sexual assault campaigns and is most common among college women, but, “Sexual violence happens to people of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, abilities, professions, incomes and ethnicities” (Info and Stats on Sexual Assault, pg 9). In fact, “The rates of sexual assault and misconduct are highest among undergraduate women and transgender, gender queer
90 percent of the victims of sexual assault are women and 10 percent are men, and nearly 99 percent of offenders in single-victim assaults are men (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2010). According to https://www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault, Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. () Sexual Assault can happen to anyone, not just women it can happen to men and kids as well. Sexual Assault these days are a big trouble and it is not being addressed in good order, and it is
Sexual assault is an under-reported crime. It is difficult for women to report sexual abuse but it is far more difficult for men. For males, it is exponentially more difficult to report such crimes, thus making it more difficult for victim advocates to present an environment where victims feel comfortable coming forward to report sex crimes. To this end, according to RAINN (2009) male victims of sex related crimes may find it easier to make a first report anonymously, giving them the opportunity to speak to an objective list, specifically trained to address specific and complex emotional issues related to this crime.
The first and most striking similarity shared in recent sexual assault cases is alcohol was present. Not only was it present, but it was a very significant factor in these cases. This is no minor detail. Alcohol has a way of making people more willing to disregard normal decision-making processes and engage in behavior they wouldn’t remotely consider in normal instances. Unfortunately, some of these
Sexual assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and In the United States 80% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 30. Of that 80%, 44% are under the age of 18 (RAINN, 2016). That leaves 36% of victims between the ages of 18 and 30. These percentages become even more alarming when that 80% is of about 293,000 victims of secual assualt each year (RAINN, 2016). It is estimated that 1 in every 6 women in the US has been or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. The risks of sexual assault increase on college campuses. Women ages 18-24 who are enrolled in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to suffer from sexual violence (RAINN, 2016). One would think that with all these women being sexually assaulted, one would hear more about it, or perhaps the police stations would constantly be busy. This is not the case. Sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes, with 68% still being left unreported (RAINN, 2016). This could be because of every 100 rapists, only 2 will spend a day in jail. Of the 32 out of 100 that would be reported, only 7 are referred to an arrest (RAINN, 2016). Why would men or women want to report sexual assault when the system that is supposed to protect them fails so often, and why does this system continue to fail?
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 is defined as a type of behaviour that occurs without explicit consent from the recipient and under sexual assault come various categories such as sexual activities as forces sexual intercourse, incest, fondling, attempted rape and more (Justice.gov. 2017). People often become victims of sexual assault by someone they know and trust (Mason & Lodrick, 2013) which is conflicting to the public’s perception and beliefs that offenders are strangers. Women are the main victims for sexual assault and are 5 times more likely to have been a victim of sexual assault from a male (Wright, 2017, p. 93). Men are victims of sexual assault however only 0.7% of men, compared to 3.2% of women, experience some form of sexual assault which highlights how vulnerable women are compared to men. Sexual assault is publicised and exposed in the media, however is often
The statistics clearly show a group of people who’re affected by the heinous acts of sexual assault. Everyone knows that sexual assault isn’t a topic that’s on the top of the list to talk about; people usually even try to go as far as to hide it or to cover it up. Though, it’s clear for certain; covering something up doesn’t make it alright – It won’t make it go away and the problem is still there. For that exact fact, it is the very reason that sexual assault is something that needs to be brought to the
According to the Rape Crisis Council of Pickens County, one out of every four females will be sexually assaulted in their college years. However, rape counts for only seven percent of the college...
About one in four women are victims of sexual assault in college, but there are ways to prevent this problem. The consequences of sexual assault are harmful and long-lasting and affect not only the victims but also their families and communities. Solutions to this problem _______. But, as Richard Edwards, chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick college said, “Regardless of the number, it’s a major problem, affecting our students and people all across the country and it has to be taken seriously” (5). If people work together, the steps can be taken to stop sexual assault in colleges.
60 percent of victims will not report it and most likely will never. Sexual assault is one of the
Inertwined with rape myths, are subsequent rape scripts. As Ryan (2011) and Clay-Warner and McMahon-Howard (2009) showed, depending what script is prevalent or dominant, reporting rates and overall acknowledgement can be greatly affected. Our understanding of what constitutes a rape or sexual assault needs to significantly change otherwise countless victims will remained silenced. If the understanding of these crimes was broadened, and the acquaintance scenarios taken more seriously, more victims would come forward, report, and get the help they may desperately need, in addition to aiding the legal system in punishing the offender and improve society’s population.
Sexual assault is an offense that plagues many U.S. citizens. Although some studies show that rape is on the decline, other studies report that the phenomena actually occuring is that less rape victims are reporting the crime. In fact, approximately 68% of sexual assaults go unreported to the police according to the U.S. Department of Justice in a National Crime Victimization Survey from 2008-2012. It is common knowledge that rape victims are usually severely traumatized after the event, which leaves them susceptible to various emotions such as shame, anxiety, numbness, fear, denial, and guilt. Because of this, many rape victims decide to repress their experience and let it go unheard. However, not only does this prevent them from healing emotionally,
My sources show that there is a serious problem in out college institutions today.. Rape culture is as bad now if not more than in the 70’s. However, now with the media we hear more and more about all the sexual assaults that happen in college campuses. We must do something and do it fast to save the kid of the future who will be off to college soon. Once a real punishment is distributed not only the assault but the abuse of alcohol on colleges campuses can we begin to pave a brighter future for the next college student