Recent headlines have highlighted the fact that rape culture is prevalent in our society, most noticeably on college campuses. To understand why this is a social issue we first have to understand what rape culture entails. Rape culture is a set of assumptions that reinforces male sexual aggression and disregards violence against females (Hildebrand & Najdowski, 2015, p. 1062). Simplified, it is an environment where sexual violence is normalized and most of the time excused.
Sexual Abuse and Rape Culture Every year, rape costs the United States more than any other crime resulting in a total of $127 billion and $93 billion for sexual assault. Over the course of the past few months, we have heard numerous cases of sexual violence and abuse; these cases are astonishing because this is not something that should be ignored or dismissed. The stories told by victims have caught the attention of all people because it has become very prevalent in our society today. Countless women have been silenced by the authority of men, and these women have become too scared to speak out and seek accountability.
In society and college campuses, sexual assault occurs quite frequently. According to an estimation one third of women experience a forced sexual experience at least once in their life and most of the time it occurs in colleges. Men have also been reported to be victim of sexual assaults mostly by other men. Most of the time the sexual assault is planned and perpetrated by a third person, who is known to the victim of incident. Drug and alcohol use play role in this issue and contribute to the problem as most of the time the victim and perpetrators are under the effect of alcohol or any other drug during the incident. It looks scary how vulnerable the survivor can be at the time of assault. However, as long as the matter of violence is associated, the students at college campuses are safer than their non-college mates. Some training and education has been administrated to the students for awareness about the violence and sexual assaults. Even, with increased training and education, most of the college campuses have much longer way to go for decreasing the intensity and number of assaults and the incidents have immense negative impact on the society and people around us.
Rape and sexual assault plague the lives of many people,
The radical feminist view on sexual assault theory’s “is fundamentally an aggressive rather than a sexual act, that its motivation and dynamics arise out of hostility rather than sexual need” (Melani & Fodaski, 1974, p.82). Early psychological hypothesising on sexual assault focused on clinical clarifications such as poor parenting, castration anxiety and repressed homosexual inclinations, lack of
In Zoë Heller’s Rape on the Campus, She advocates how sexual assault happens often on campuses, and that it needs to be significantly more addressed; as it is scarce for women to bring the college’s attention to the assault. Heller asserts that, “20 percent of women are sexually assaulted during their time at college and as few as 5 percent of these assaults are ever reported to police” (185). Noting that ninety-five percent of sexual assault cases are dealt by the college, colleges can take advantage and handle its reputation by outputting false information to cover any potential negative reputation. While colleges are forced to obey the rules of title IX, I believe this is an inadequate effort to remove bias teachers and workers from colleges.
Sexual assault is a form of forced sexual violence. The term sexual assault can be defined as an act in which a person sexually violates a victim without the victims consent. This is one of the most common problems faced by many schools in South Africa, the problem of sexual assault amongst learners in South African school. Sexual assault is an unlawful act, which the perpetrator can be sentenced to jail for practicing it. Sexual assault can be in a form of fondling of unwanted sexual touching, forcing a victim to perform sexual acts such as oral sex or penetrating the victim’s body and torturing a person in a sexual manner. Sexual assault can either be verbal, physical or visual. Joan Van Niekers cited a recent report by the Human Sciences Research Council which revealed that 34% of learners experienced sexual harassment and other 14% were sexually harassed by teachers , therefore this clearly illustrates that sexual assault take place amongst learners in schools is somehow beyond control and happens in many occasions. In this essay, three causes of sexual assault
Throughout this documentary, viewers learn that many sexual assault cases happen on college campuses. However, many of these cases are often ignored by college administrators because universities want to keep rape statistics low and they have an financial incentive to do so. In the film it states that there are less than 8% of men in college that commit more than 90% of sexual assaults. This indicates that because
Which campus will be next? It is not a question of it, but when and where? College is the first time students get to spend time without parental guidance. In fact, college is a place where many students learn about themselves, but are they safe? Campuses are filled with all kinds of students, including different ages. Unfortunately, not every student will have a positive mindset or respect of others. Nowadays, the most assaults happen on a college campus and this is a serious issue that can be prevented. Research claims that, “Eighteen percent experienced an attempted and/or completed sexual assault since entering college.” (NSVRC) On an average, that is one in five students worldwide, but we can make those numbers decrease greatly with a
The United States is facing a growing problem that shows no signs of slowing: sexual assaults on college campuses. Possible reasons for this epidemic are explained by Janet Napolitano, the current president of the University of California. She describes that “young adults live independently and in close proximity to one another for the first time” while attending college (Napolitano 387). The college setting provides students with opportunities to take advantage of one another. As a result, sexual assaults have become an issue across universities in the United States. Sexual assaults are a problem because they can have lasting effects on victims. It is the job of both the government and colleges to find solutions to the problem, by preventing
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, another person endures sexual assault every 98 seconds. This information may have been shocking ten years ago, but for many, this news is a basic fact of life. Sexual assault cases have continued to become more and more common as time goes on. What is causing this surge in unwanted physical contact? The cause of sexual assault is one hundred percent of the time, the assaulter’s fault.
The most common crime in American colleges is rape. Twenty percent of women are sexually assaulted in college and only five percent are reported. It is common for a woman to be raped by an acquaintance than a stranger. In most cases, women are assaulted after being drugged, at a party, or studying in a dorm room alone. There are several steps colleges could take to prevent and stop rape on campuses. I believe that colleges can only do so much to stop this crime. The students themselves need to adjust their level of trust towards others and make the right decisions about drugs.
The documentary called The Hunting Grounds, had multiple concepts that relate to sociology. Using a sociological perspective, it was very prevalent to see the ways college campuses use patriarchy and gender stratification to keep women who have been sexually assaulted on campus from disclosing information or even getting help about these issues. Through the discrimination against women at these gender institutions the women formed a Feminist movement to bring awareness and help to the victims on campuses all around the world and to stop the assaults from reoccurring. The Hunting Grounds is a documentary that reveals the untold stories of women on college campuses and how these women have fought to have their voice heard about sexual assault on campuses. Sexual assault and rape on campuses has always been a major problem for colleges all over the world yet very little has been done to protect the students.
In regards to college campus rape I have a personal interest in this because I am a college student whose statistic of being raped is higher. This subject is relevant to me and my life. I know this is a problem because 1 out of every 6 American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape. Women 18-24 who are in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to be raped. Rape should be addressed seriously, so students know what constitutes as rape.
Sexual Harassment on College Campuses People tend to think that sexual harassment and rape are the same thing. However, that is not always the case. According to Dictionary, the definition of sexual harassment is “uninvited and unwelcome verbal or physical behaviour of a sexual nature especially by a person in authority toward a subordinate.” Forced kissing, groping, or even looking at someone the wrong way is considered to be sexual harassment.