Kassandra Valdespino
Rough Draft
College is a setting in which incoming and regular students are exposed to sexual activities and experimentations, with this exposure comes the rise of Campus sexual assault. Campus sexual assault is one of the least reported crimes, with studies showing that up to 90% of rape victims never report it. Many choose to ignore this issue, taking away the importance of it; leaving victims feeling useless and embarrassed. Some even choosing to believe this a myth, but this issue is very real and being very undermined.
Starting from the day college starts, sex culture is practically flashing in bright neon letters. The incoming freshmen are welcomed by giant banners, some reading “Freshman Daughter Drop-off”
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College women rape college men, this is true, college women rape college men far less often than they are victims, also true. But that doesn’t undermine the fact that men are sexually assaulted as well. “One in 16 men and one in five women are sexually assaulted; male college students, 18-24 are 78 percent more likely than non students to be a victim of rape or sexual assault.” These victims are very hidden, much more than females are when it comes to the issue, it’s kind of embarrassing for them. Although we don’t see it it does happen, girls are being made out to be the only targets but they are not; and often thats what keeps the males from reporting, the fear of knowing they wont be heard and will only be made fun on. “Men often have difficulty accepting themselves as victims because the idea of their being sexually assaulted by women goes against the standard cultural assumptions about masculinity, such as aggression, strength and power.” You’ll hear often about male rape victims being told that it’s ok, that it wasn’t rape; they 're constantly being mocked being told that “they definitely enjoyed it” and that it’s pathetic that a women could take advantage of them, but it’s true that “most men who are sexually assaulted are sexually assaulted by other men”. So what do we say to that? What do and what can we do about
One in five women and one in sixteen men are sexually assaulted while in college. 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police and only about 2 to 10% of reports are found to be false. In Jon Krakauer’s book: Missoula, Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Krakauer focuses on the many rapes that occur on the college campus in Missoula. Most of the rapes that happen on college campuses are done by men, but to say all men are rapists is unjust and sexist.
What is even more shocking being the number of women to this day that gets abused. "This ‘one in five’ statistic shouldn’t just be taken with a grain of salt but the entire shaker," said James Fox, professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University (Washington Post, 2014) The ‘one in five’ statistic he is speaking about is one in five women get sexually harassed in college (Obama, 2014). This small quote speaks humongous words. As it says in the quote, “one in five,” women get sexually harassed in college and that shows that women aren’t looked at as strong and agile people because
However, even though they are usually not the ones at fault, nothing is ever said about the event. In a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, it was found that 75 to 77 percent of sexual assaults, attempted rapes, and completed rapes were never reported (“Sexual Assault and Rapes”). Furthermore, the blame of the whole event was never put on the person responsible. Instead, the victim was blamed for not denying the advances, or for not making themselves clearer in their intents(“Sexual Assault and Rapes”). This huge chip to carry often leaves the victims feeling isolated, scared, full of shame, depressed, and with a low self-esteem(“Sexual Assault and Rapes”).
Many words come up when thinking of ‘College’, some of which are: learning, independence, goals, party, and freedom; although, that’s not always the case. At residential colleges rape culture has grown tremendously throughout time. In the article, “Mishandling Rape”, written by Jed Rubenfeld completely analyzes and supports the problem of rape in colleges throughout the United States. In this article, he establishes the importance of his argument, the audience he is hoping to speak out to, various logistics, and has a strong ethos appeal which supports his argument.
Rape myths are at the center of the problem of how rape and sexual assault cases are looked at, and treated as in society. Rape myths vary, some excuse the rape, others try to minimize the severity of the situation, while others doubt the act even happened in the first place (Levit and Verchick, 196). Some examples of rape myths include: a victim was “asking for it,” a victim’s previous sexual history, regretful sex is not rape, a woman’s “no” means “yes,” and women lie about rape all the time. Rape myths are targeted towards women, not the rapist. Despite, rape myths being proved false by empirical evidence, they are still prevalent in society.
We frequently find out about sexual assaults through various news sources and survivors, but what instances are focused solely on a college or university campus? On school grounds, females are more likely to get assaulted than a male. Many will contend that a young woman, who is dressed provocatively or who has had an excessive number of alcoholic beverages, may have had it coming for her. In Desperation Passes by Phil Hutcheon, we discover that the outcome of a fraternity party affects the life of a young drunk woman, who is sexually assaulted by a football coach at a motel. Throughout the following, paragraphs we see how her story unravels.
In general, people labeled as victims often feel guilty for being a victim and do not report the offense. In cases of sexual harassment between students, both classmates and administrators often victim blame the female in the situation. Victim blaming claims that women caused the harassment by dressing and acting inappropriately. “[These] judgements create an environment in which it becomes unlikely that the target of harassment will feel justified and supported in claiming her rights” (Chamberlain). However, sexual harassment “is a part of the larger framework of oppression that subordinates females to male in a complex, deeply enculturated patriarchal system of compulsory heterosexuality” (Chamberlain).
When looking at college campuses, there are enormous percentages of women and men that are sexually assaulted every year. Who is inflicting a majority of these acts? Men involved in sports/athletics and fraternities. According to “Fraternities and Rape on Campus,” an article assigned in class, it states “[Fraternities] work hard to create a macho image and context and try to avoid any suggestion of "wimpishness," effeminacy, and homosexuality. Valued members display, or are willing to go along with, a narrow conception of masculinity that stresses competition, athleticism, dominance, winning, conflict, wealth, material possessions, willingness to drink alcohol, and sexual prowess vis-a-vis women” (Hummer, Martin 460).
The documentary begins with students receiving their acceptance letters from different Universities, and how exciting it is for first-year students and families to be a part of a new community. As the movie progresses, students begin to explain their first weeks of welcoming.
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 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.
Starting college is already a very scary time for most students, and I want to make the fear of rape
In the media you hear many stories about female victims of rape, but what about the male ones? More and more male rape victims are coming out and telling their story. This, however, does not change the major taboo surrounding males being raped. Many people still believe that rape towards males does not happen, simply because they believe women cannot be rapists, or that potentially straight males cannot commit rape towards males. This has lead to many debates both in real life as well as over the internet.
Victims may experience an array of emotional, physical, and psychological effects of sexual assault (Baker et al., 2012; Fernandez, 2011). Victims report emotional reactions ranging from shock to denial and numbness. Many victims experience acute fear and anxiety, inability to trust others, self-blame, confusion, disorganised thinking, and a disruption in regular daily activities (Baker et al., 2012). Individuals who rely on
Views on Sexual Assault Victims Caitlynn Holobaugh Social Work 3101 Reflection Paper 1 1 Rape and sexual assaults in the U.S. have been of high interest lately. It seems like social media is blowing up with feminists outraged with the topic of rape. One case that comes to mind as of late is the case of Brock Turner. He raped an unconscious girl outside of a party at Stanford University. He was charged only six months of jail time, only serving 3 of those months.