Rape and Sexual Assault on College Campuses College-age adults are known to be high risk for sexual violence and most studies show that one in three women have experiences some type of sexual assault whether it was through physical force or harassment. These statics are known by most women on college campuses to ensure that women know and understand that this could happen to them. The issue is more than ensuring that women are aware of how protect themselves and know how to avoid these situations because it shouldn’t even be happening. When women are taught that they should know how to defend themselves we are saying that this type of behavior is normal and inevitable. We should shift from this dynamic and start teaching both men and women that this behavior is completely unacceptable and that sexually assaulting or harassing someone is NOT normal. This paper will mostly focus on incidents of rape and sexual assault on college campuses and what the outcome and reactions of these incidents were. In the United States rape completely toxic and it’s a dangerous myth. On college campuses where drinking is prevalent, most victims don’t report their assault to the police because of the fear of being blamed for the incident. “A recent National Crime Victimization report showed that only 55% of sexual assaults reported in their survey were reported to the police” (Hayes, Abbott, Cook 2016). Hayes goes on to explain that rape myths are defined as “attitudes and false belief held
The alarming increase in sexual assault among male and female students is a source of concern. Despite improvements in the general statistics on rape cases, the college setting remains to be the hot bed of sexual assault, especially among the female counterparts (Allen, 2007). A victim, regardless being a male or a female, never feel safe in their life as something precious was taken from them once. Statistics show that 17.6% of women are likely to be victims of rape in their entire lifetime while only 0.3% of males are estimated to be the victims of sexual assault. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS), the most critical ages men and females are likely to be engaged in sexual abuse is when they are children or adolescents (Gonzales, Schofield & Schmitt, 2006).
Sexual assault is defined as any vaginal, oral, or anal penetration that is forced upon another, regardless of sex and sexual orientation, using any object or body part. The issue of sexual assault in America is primarily encouraged by rape culture. Women Against Violence Against Women is an organization that defines rape culture as a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. The acceptance of rape culture, rape myths, and the disregard for sexual consent also allow for the perpetuation of sexual assault against women on college campuses. Recent examples of sexual assault on college campuses show how prominent this issue has become and how hostile campuses have become for female students. Some examples include the University of Southern California’s “Gullet Report,” Miami University of Ohio’s “Top Ten Ways to Get Away with Rape,” and a sexual assault on the campus of Kansas University. Sexual assault is perpetuated by the acceptance of rape myths and rape culture, lack of effective sexual education, and the disregard for consent. The solution to this issue lies with defeating rape culture, increasing awareness and funding for campus sexual assault crisis centers, and enacting more prevention programs on campus.
Sexual assault and rape are serious social and public health issues in the United States and throughout the rest of the world. In particular sexual assault on college campus are prevalent at an alarming rate and leaves serious effects on the victims. This essay will focus on statistics and the prevalence and effects amongst college students, through examining a number of reasons why women fail to report sexual assault and rape. This essay will also cover sexual assault prevention and things that can be done to mitigate the risk of becoming a victim to such matter.
Sexual abuse and assault on college campuses has been a rising issue dating back to the late 1950s. According to The United States Department of Justice, 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 attempted rape.” Sexual assault has long lasting effects that go way beyond the immediate trauma that victims experience in the beginning, including pregnancy, transmitted diseases, anxiety, PTSD, depression, etc. Multiple studies and statistics have shown that not only will “approximately 20% female students
Sexual assault on college campuses is a subject that comes up commonly in media today, usually due to the fact that these assaults happen on a regular basis. About one in four women and one in seven men are victims of some form of sexual violence during their college experience (Abooali). In most occurances when speaking about sexual assault on campus, people are talking about what the main cause of these cases of sexual assault could be, and if there is any way to prevent it from happening. There are many factors that play into these sexual assaults such as alcohol consumption, peer pressure, society's normalization of these assaults, and party culture.
The authors of this article state that the rates of sexual assaults amongst students in post secondary education are higher than national rates in the United States. The goal of this article is to examine the perceptions students have about sexual violence and their thoughts on current resources and services available to them. The conducted interviews of a diverse group of seventy-eight post secondary students across different American university campuses. Their results indicate that the majority of students stated to be concerned with safety while on campus and they are interested in the idea of having more information regarding sexual violence. Some of the interviewer’s ideas to prevent sexual violence included things like pamphlets or brochures,
The biggest challenge facing college students today has nothing to do with education. It has nothing to do with the heavy workload, the stress, or even the unreasonably high costs of tuition (even though that is a close second). The biggest challenge that college students have to face today is rape and sexual assault. Rape is the most common act of crime on college campuses, and is a huge, yet overlooked problem. One in every four college woman will be a victim of sexual assault during her years of study.
In American society 1 out of 3 women deal the issue of rape and are facing double-standards surrounding victim blaming. In contrast to men, women are often blamed for being in the wrong locations, being in the wrong type of clothing and around alcohol or drugs. Experts might say that the trend of blaming victimized women for crimes committed against them represents the overall issues of hatred towards the female gender in the United States. The crime of rape has been denied in our society throughout the many crimes that have happened over time. When a rapist is denied this instills negatively into the victim causing her to feel unimportant to society. In fact, adding the additional physical and mental trauma of not validating a victim experience lends to making her feel useless and unsafe. The blaming of rape victim before, during and after the act of sex marginalizes their status in society.
Sexual assault can happen to anyone. It is not restricted by age, gender identity, or even sexual orientation. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report finally redefined rape in 2012 as; “The penetration no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the person”(Sarah LeTrent, CNN). The key word here is consent. That being said, there still seems to be an underrepresentation of male victims. Yes, a man can be raped. The reason it may not be talked about is because it is still considered a taboo subject, especially in our society which still dictates that stereotypes concerning masculinity define men. An individual can be raped through physical force, and emotional or psychological manipulation. Although we are becoming more aware of this type of crime, there is still a lot of confusion on how a man can be the victim of such a heinous atrocity.
“Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration perpetrated against a person without that person's consent.” In this topic, i’m going to talk about six things: Do harsher punishments mean fewer convictions, Date rape: consent VS. exploitation, Drugs- Rohypnol, GHB, KETAMINE, Legalization of Date Rape Drugs, Recently, a 17-year-old boy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl. Are statutory rape laws patronizing to girls and discriminatory to boys, and Acquaintance Rape.
All age groups are affected by rape, but teens seem to be targeted the most. People may think this is not a big problem to cover, but it is. We don't realize the countless number of people that need help and can’t recover to their normal lives after these tragic instances. “Every 98 seconds, a person gets raped in the U.S”. (“Scope of the Problem…” n. pag.). The number haven’t gone down in a while and that needs to change. The facts are disturbing and unbelievable. Here are some of the statistics found; “54% are in the age group 18-34 years old,” and they are “10 times more likely to use other major drugs,”. (“Scope of the Problem…” n. pag.). These facts show that rape is clearly a huge problem. Young adults that can’t always defend themselves and the side effects of it are
Rape is the most common violent crime on American college campuses today. (Sampson, 2003.) Statistics from the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network show that “every two minutes in the United States, someone is raped, and the chances of being that victim are four times greater for a female college student than for any other age group” (Burnett, 2009).
The topic that I have chosen to discuss in this paper is the “rape culture” that occurs on college campuses throughout the United States; and the rationale society uses to normalize this egregious act. Rape culture refers to society’s existing idea that rape or sexual assault is inconsequential and only happens to individuals who behave a certain way.
Webster's New World Dictionary defines rape as "the crime of having sexual intercourse with a person forcibly and without consent". Rape is a problem in modern society because it remains a commonly practiced crime. Despite the severe consequences and the fact that it is morally and ethically wrong, the number of cases are growing.
With data gathered from the Uniform Crime Report (UCR), many criminologist believe that a large number of rapes go unreported. In fact, some criminologist speculate that around 20 million women in the United States has been raped. The reason many of these go unreported is usually one or more of these reasons: women feel embarrassed, women blame themselves, and or women believe nothing can be done. It is unfortunate that many women do not come forward because of the stigma they believe they will receive from it. Also, this ties in with blaming themselves because a woman who has been raped may feel as if she could have prevented the rape from occurring if she had not been drinking or dressing provocatively