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. There are a lot of cases off college campuses, but recently campuses particularly have been an issue. Media has been shining light towards how often this situation occurs on college campuses, and according to current incidents, sexual harassment of campuses has become an even bigger issue. …show more content…
The first thing colleges can do is develop and give every student an official, written policy statement about sexual misconduct. Every student should be handed the official document, and then it should be explained in detail. Next, the college should establish a network of services like emergency rooms or policeman on campus at all times. This should be done because if the crime can’t be stopped, at least there should be someone to help the victim right away. The police should be there to prevent the crime or to punish the assailant after. Another important thing a school should do is educate both males and females about sexual harassment(sexual education classes). It should be required that for at least the quintile all student attend a sexual education class. That will give a chance for the students to understand how important our bodies are, and what it would feel like to be harassed and crossing that line between trying to be friendly and crossing it. But the best action all colleges should take is implement state-of-the-art security measures. Though this would be pretty expensive, this will ensure that sexual harassment doesn't occur as frequently as it does
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.
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.
One of the biggest problems the colleges were facing, were they did not want to prosecute, or handle a case if it deals with a student athlete. Although rape is rape, most campuses would investigate the athlete after the season was over in order to protect the school’s sport image. One example of a school not bringing justice for the victim, was a young lady named Erica Kinsman who went to Florida State University and was raped by the star football player. The police had the tested Erica, but when it came time to test her rapist they waited until they football team had won the game. Even after the game was over they still believe there was not enough evidence to say he did it.
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).
The US Department of Justice explains that “Title IX protects students from sexual harassment in educational programs or activities operated by recipients of federal funding” (“Title IX”). In order to evaluate the full impact of Title IX on students today, it’s necessary
A book that I recently read that showed a reflection of my self-understanding was Missoula by Jon Krakauer because it extended my perspective on women’s safety on college campuses. The book Missoula shares stories of five women who were sexually assaulted at the University of Montana, Missoula and follows their cases all the way to trial. As a girl who has always been told that a college education is necessary to succeed in life, the idea that colleges arent safe for me felt like a secret that I wasnt allowed to know until I experienced it for myself. Reading the statistics and seeing how all of the rapists walked away unpunished strengthened my understanding of the fact that sexual assault is a normal occurance on college campuses.
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.
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 school staff does little or nothing to help intervene with these situations. Security guards would pay no attention to the sexual harassments, and teachers who heard and saw them would not do anything until the girl actually reported it. Even when a girl reports sexual harassment, there is no big punishment for the harasser; he usually gets a three day suspension from school and then returns to doing the exact same thing. These suspensions were actually blessings for the guys as they would rather stay home and watch television. On the other hand, if a girl was caught physically defending herself from a guy, the principal would punish her and let the guy off the hook.
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.
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.
A few reasons a person may not report a rape includes: denial, fear of the legal system, fear of retaliation, guilt and blame, personal matters and victim-offender relationship. Due to denial, victims do not report rape because they may not be sure if it was rape. In order for a victim to come to the decision of reporting rape he or she needs to realize it was rape. Some victims do not realize it was rape due to the issue of less violence (Burgess et al., pg.376). The victims who report their rapes are the ones who acknowledge it was rape and the rape that occurred was more violent (Burgess et al., pg.376).
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.
Harassment can include sexual harassment or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature” (Lockwood, 2017). Employers are required and responsible to take action when complaints are being filed and take reasonable care to prevent sexual harassment. Failure to do so can carry significant financial implications if the court rules that sexual harassment occurred. Any financial settlement to the plaintiff, the employer may be required to pay the court fees that typically cost more than the settlement it self.
Sexual assault and sexual abuse are two common types of sexual violence. Sexual assault is a sexual act that could be committed by anyone no matter what kind of relationship they have with the victim. Sexual abuse is an undesired sexual behaviour that was forced upon a person; sexual abuse can be possible to happen for any gender and at any age. So, in case you don’t know sexual assault can be a touch on somewhere you don’t want anyone to touch For example, your thigh, neck...