Sexual Assault On College Campuses Essay

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

For my generation when many of female friends go off to college their parents teach them not to walk home alone late at night in fear of rape, it is such a common occurrence that a friend of mine has taken to carrying around pepper spray. There is a company called women on guard that provide personal safety equipment for its customers. The problem with this is that young women are taught to be on guard for a shadowy figure attacking them at night and not that “60 to 80 percent of rapes are date or acquaintance rape.” (Koss, Dinero, Siebel, and Cox 1988: 217) The essay “Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why are Some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?” by A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade differs by acknowledging who the

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.

When the young girl was assaulted on May 30, 2014, she did not come forward right away. She waited a while. This young woman then called her mother sobbing, so the mother went to the school immediately and figured the situation out. Not only were the police investigating the possible assault, but they were also looking at the ritual that these boys had planned for so many years (Shworm, 2015). The senior boys at St. Paul High School would try to have sex with younger girls, particularly freshmen, before they graduated. Another thing officers found were that some boys and girls at the school had secret keys to secret rooms in the school and they would pass them around amongst each other (Shworm, 2015). The

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.

Most teenagers complain about not having enough freedom. To be able to sit and eat ice cream out of the box at ten in the morning for breakfast or blast their favorite music as loud as possible. For most, college provides that, opening its campus to their students with gates of gold granting young adults the freedom that they dream about. Unfortunately, a new danger that once was cloaked from young minds is being revealed, making this freedom less obtainable. That danger is rape.

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

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.

The authors of the various excerpts from their academic essays talk about different aspects of college rape culture. Namely instances of universities suppressing the seriousness as well as the prevalence on all campuses, small and large. Further, touching on the groups most often responsible as well as the feelings of victims following the trauma.

As sweat pooled down her face and a low guttural grunt escaped her mouth, DePaul University student Natalie Marcrum gave one final thrust of her knee to the imaginary predator. Learning to defend herself, as well as others Marcrum works to prevent sexual assault before it happens.

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.

Domestic violence and sexual assault in the Latino community is a major issue however, depictions of these issues are sometimes incomplete. The news article “Decimos No Más Encourages Healthy Communication About Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence” by Nicole Akoukou Thompson, depicts some of the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault within Latino community, specifically in the U.S. Still, these depictions are incomplete since they do not go in depth as to the main reasons behind why sexual violence and assault occurs and often accepted in the Latino community. It also does not include the different perspective in the article to understand different point of views on this issue. For a more complex picture of domestic violence/interpersonal

Dorothy Siegel’s argument in the essay “What Is Behind the Growth of Violence on College Campuses?” is persuasive. Siegel persuades the reader by presenting her points and validating them with facts and statistics. One of the strongest aspects of the argument is that contrary to popular belief, students are committing a majority of the crimes that take place on college campuses; the students “themselves may become the assailants”, not persons from outside of the campus. She further supported this by pointing out that students tend to know their attackers. Another strong aspect of her argument is that campus violence is due to substance abuse. Most of the students who committed the crimes “were drunk, high, or in need of drugs” at the time of

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. Sexual assault is never caused by a “rape culture” or the clothing that one chooses to wear. Sexual assault is caused by the attacker, never the victim. Sexual assault is an issue very prevalent in our society today and is starting to get recognized because of the bravery of these victims. Cases like the Larry Nassar case, the Harvey Weinstein case, and the Brock Turner case are just some examples of sexual assault that our society is fighting today.

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