College students are incredibly vulnerable to sexual assault when in college. It is the first time most students are fully independent and exposed to environments that affect their well-being. Young adults feel liberated because they do not have to answer to their parents and can partake in activities that they could not when they were in high school. However, many college students do not understand just how dangerous college campuses can be. Young adults unknowingly put themselves in a position to be taken advantage of by attending parties, drinking, or simply just walking alone at night. Students should not be constantly afraid of their surroundings while trying to further their education and learn who they are without parental supervision. …show more content…
According to “Investigating Sexual Assaults on College Campuses,” from Forensic Magazine in 2016, written by Sean Allocca, editor-in-chief of eft.com, “One in five female students are sexually assaulted on college campuses around the country.” On a campus containing 20,000 female students, 4,000 of these statistics are based on the same statistics. will experience some form of sexual assault. There should be no reason for sexual assault to be that common on college campuses. It must be acknowledged that for sexual assault to be this common, it is due to significant failure of college administration. In the article “Victim Protection or Revictimization: Should College Disciplinary Boards Handle Sexual Assault Claims?” written by Erica Coray, an associate at Pacifica Law Group, for the Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice in March of 2016, the point was made that “colleges and universities across the United States are continually failing to fulfill their duties” in response to sexual assault allegations. 62). The adage is a adage. Colleges and universities are supposed to be a safe place for young adults to pursue their education and learn how to be decent members of society. How can these students be expected to understand how to act in the professional world when a strong example is not being set by their administrators? By not …show more content…
The article “In their Hands: Restoring Institutional Liability for Sexual Harassment in Education” written by Catherine Mackinnon, James Barr Ames Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, for The Yale Law Journal in 2015 discusses the current lack of response from college administrators by stating how “It is remarkable how many accounts of sexual harassment in education focus on the school turning against the reporting student rather than on the sexual abuse itself” (2059). With the current response from university administrations, victims of sexual assault are being put under more scrutiny than the ones who assaulted them. The only party to benefit from this benefit is perpetrators of assault due to the lack of response reflecting badly on these once respected intuitions. If administrations begin adequately punishing preparatory assault, not only will campuses be safer, but it will reflect better on the reputation of the college or university. The article “Campuses That Handle Sexual Assaults Must Balance Victims’ Rights, Due Process” written by Lorelei Laird, former legal affairs writer for ABA Journal in October of 2016, supports the point that “being kicked out of a university can have a profound effect on a person's future.” If college and university
“Every 21 hours there is a rape on an American College Campus” (Sexual Violence on College Campuses). Sexual assault is something many have heard of and maybe know someone who was sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Sexual assault and sexual violence has been around for as long as our history books can tell us. With multiple cultural changes and new “fads”, as some may say, of college life; sexual assault has become a sort of recurring phenomenon of college lifestyles. This is not a positive thing and in no way should this be labeled as something good for college campuses. Sexual assault on college campuses should be prosecuted as rape can be falsely accused, non-consensual or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and is permanently
Nicole Johnson*, a 22-year-old senior at an area university looks back at her college experience as graduation approaches, generally happy with how everything turned out, however, a dark cloud still looms over her freshman year when she was raped.
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.
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?
“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.
According to an interview by Beckett Brennan with Katie Couric “95 percent of victims that were sexual assault on college campuses do not report the sexual assault” (The Case). Majority of sexual assaults that happen on a college campus, will never be reported. Colleges should have more of a responsibility when it comes to the sexual assaults on campuses. Colleges need to own up to the sexual assaults, and take responsibility for the sexual assaults. Colleges need to stop pushing sexual assaults away, and need to stand up and do something about the sexual assaults on college campuses. Although sexual assaults are an individuals responsible, colleges should also be responsible in the sexual assaults that happen on college campuses.
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
Rape is currently on the rise on American college campuses and it is the most common committed crime among college students today. In their time in college 1 out of every 5 women and 1 out of every 71 men will experience some form of sexual harassment as reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. These numbers are growing each year and have raised a lot of concern in the administrative level of higher education institutions. In an effort to try and prevent these occurrences universities have begun to implement mandatory curriculum to educate students on the subject and have even begun to hold campus wide events and create clubs to spread awareness and show support because of the repetitive nature of this crime. While it is good
When thinking of college campuses, most adults would assume that these campuses are one hundred percent safe for their children to attend. The film The Hunting Ground and the book Crash Into Me, by Liz Seccuro, were both introduced in class, and demonstrate how college campuses are not as safe as they’re advertised to be. Both the film, and the movie together depicted how college campuses deal with the outcome of a sexual assault on campus, which is not adequate or acceptable for today’s standards in helping aid sexual assault victims. As expressed in the film, The Hunting Ground (2015), one in every five women while attending college, have been sexually assaulted during their time period at college. This film informs viewers of the existent
Rape culture on college campuses is a prominent issue that various universities cannot effectively tame. Unfortunately, many put quotations on the issue as if its presence on college campuses is not as dramatic or detrimental as statistics illustrate. Although there are programs that receive grants to educate youth and young adults on rape prevention, the percentages of reported incidents and unreported incidents are not reducing as planned. This is in direct relation to some colleges and programs believing that “rape prevention is still a woman’s job”. (Allen) As reported by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted during their college career suggesting that this is more than a woman’s
A survey from the Association of American Universities of 150,000 students found that more than one in four women experience sexual assault during their four years in college. Over the four year college period, 27.2% of female students are victims of unwanted sexual contact that ranges from touching to rape (6). Sexual assault is far too common and it is an epidemic that faces many students in college. Many students suffer from the consequences of sexual assault, which is a result of many social and cultural deficiencies, but it can be fixed through a multifaceted approach. The problem of sexual assault can be fixed through the education of the community, a positive and helpful school environment, and classes focused on prevention.
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.
Overview My topic of a major social concern is the prominent problem of sexual assault on college campuses in the United States. In the recent decade, sexual assault has become more and more prevalent in our society. Sexual assault is considered one of the most heinous and serious crimes that can be committed and we see the severity with databases like the sex offender registry and national organizations that promote awareness. Sexual assault covers many more crimes than most people assume and can include: rape, incest, sodomy, molestation, fondling, and/or attempted rape.
According to the Huffington Post, an average of twenty-one percent of female undergraduates said that they have been sexually assaulted since starting school in a Bureau of Justice Statistics funded study of nine unnamed U.S. colleges and universities published earlier this year. At some of these schools, the rate of sexual assault was as high as 1 in 2 (O’Connor and Kingkade). Sexual assaults on college campuses have become a huge problem in the U.S. Most of these incidents happen on the most prestigious college campuses. Every female should be able to attend any college that they choose without feeling threatened by someone or without feeling safe in their own environment, so something has to be done to fix this. Before you are able
SOCIOLOGY 161W: SEXUAL ASSUALT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES Sexual assault is a form of sexual violence and is defined as any involuntary sexual act in which a person is threatened, coerced, or forced to engage in against their will, or any non-consensual sexual touching of a person. Although sexual assault and rape happens all throughout the country and in many different settings, one major population which experiences it all too frequently are the college students. The history and how long college campuses have been a hotbed for sexual assault crimes is one that has been long be understated and is just now starting to come to light. Sexual assault on college campuses is unfortunately nothing new.