Sexual Assault On College Campuses

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Universities need the necessary guidance to provide safe campuses for their students and assistance to help reduce the number of cases of sexual violence. If a case of sexual violence is brought to the attention of the university, guidelines need to be provided and followed as to insure a due and fair process to protect the student accused of the assault, as well as the student reporting the assault. In the articles written by Rosenfeld and Douthat, sexual assault on university campuses are discussed and concerns raised centered around Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary’s announcement to protect students. Sexual assault can cause long term effects on the individuals assaulted. It is important that Universities continue to protect and encourage …show more content…

Ross Douthat begins by mentioning the series that ran in The Atlantic discussing the policies in place on sexual assault. Campus administrations’ response to sexual assault is getting out of hand and accused assaulters are presumed guilty, instead of innocent until proven guilty, due to political pressure and the fury of the public. Times have changed on university campuses. To increase paying attendance campuses have gone liberal. Dorms have gone from single sex to mingled, allowing young sex crazed adults to mingle at night without the adult supervision. The atmosphere that is presented is one of fun and continuous partying. Campus is a location where a sexual predator can go to find their next prey. However, it is hard to tell in these atmospheres if the individual is a sexual predator, or a hook up that is later regretted. Upset with how university administrations’ lack of wanting to get involved in sexual assaults has resulted in now the opposite problem. University administration are now quick to discipline, and most times expel the innocent. It was not long ago that anti-rape activists felt that there were few falsely accused rapists. Believing the accuser and not giving the accused a chance to defend ones’ actions can …show more content…

While I feel students need someone to go to at their university to discuss possible sexual assault, I also feel the accused needs a contact person as well to make sure their rights are protected. The university should not be the judge and jury of sexual violence cases, but the cases should go through the proper judicial system to protect everyone’s rights. An accused student of sexual assault should not be excused from the university until found guilty in a court of law. I feel the atmosphere and culture that many campuses imply to new students needs to be reviewed and improved. As Douthat points out in his article, campuses are providing social environments where it becomes hard at times to distinguish “a real assault from a bad or gross or swiftly regretted consensual encounter”. I have not had any personal experience with sexual assault, nor have I known anyone that has experienced sexual assault, however I have witnessed on campus when there is a group of guys and a single girl walks by, the guys make obscene comments. In a show that I used to watch called Switch at Birth, there was a scene where one of the girls got drunk and a guy friend who was also drunk but knew what he was doing took advantage of her. This would be a good example to show and talk to college students about the effects of alcohol and to be

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