Date Rape In Universities

When someone makes an oath in court, it says that one must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. However, we know that there is never a whole truth, in anything. Colleges and Universities face this problem more than others with situations like date rape. To understand how serious date rape is, one would have to see the history behind it, how to prevent it, and how it happens.

For example, the history of sex crimes really gives a “reality check” to the situation. One in every five female students that attend a college or university have been sexually assaulted at some point. (___) So, if someone attended a small college with about 10,000 students or so that would mean that 2,000 of those students were raped. With something

Alcohol plays an enormous role when it comes to date rape, because for some reason, everything seems like a good idea when alcohol is involved. More times than not a victim of a sexual offense was at a party drinking and then it escalated from there. RAINN finds a high correlation between sexual incursion and alcohol use. Although drinking doesn’t make sexually abusing someone okay, it does influence others and occasionally make them unaware of their actions. Or in that case, how extreme the actions being taken actually are. So, when going out, drinking or not, there are ways to help prevent being the next victim of a sex crime. For instance, a report by the National Institute of Justice reveals that self-protection actions such as weaponless attacking, running, hiding, getting help, or struggling seem to decrease the risk of rape completion by 80%. Also, things like watching drinks and staying with friends that are trusted helps. Studies have shown that about 38% of rape incidents are committed by a friend or acquaintance of the victim and only 16.7% are complete strangers.(___) So not only does one have to watch who they don’t know, but they have to consider how well they know their friends too. Women between ages 16 and 24 are four times more likely to be raped as compared with the rate for all women, which is the age of most college students.(__) This issue is so low on the totem pole that victims of date rape don’t even report their cases anymore. If they do, however, decide to get help many cases of sexual violence are ignored or buried when brought to the attention of college officials. (__) With colleges ignoring it, it only makes it that much easier for the perpetrator to get away and adds another victim to the