Addressing Sexual Assault Prevalence on College Campuses

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?

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 ...

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...e Dean than to report to the police. A police report and a trail take time and one 's rapist could still be walking around campus. But if one reports the the Dean, there s a small and private judiciary process to get the rapist at least removed from one 's classes if any are shared. Perhaps this will make victims more aware that although it might take longer and be harder, reporting to the police may be a better route. Then the rapist will hopefully and up in jail, making the victim feel safe. Maybe this trail will also make people more aware of sexual assault and how it can be stopped. In my research paper I want to continue to look into sexual assault stories, its potential causes, more statistics, and what we can do to decrease the amount of sexual assaults on college campuses. Hopefully, if anything substantial is found, it can be integrated into SIU’s policies.