Sexual Assault On College Campuses

Sexual assault has students on campuses living with shame, embarrassment, and pain, which affect the victims and those around them. This horrendous crime has destroyed many lives and continues to do so, especially when the crimes go unheard. Education is an important part of our society in the world we live in today and is vital for progression. When someone is given a proper education, they receive many additional opportunities that one wouldn’t have other wise and when an individual goes to school they should be able to learn without being harmed in any way. Unfortunately the safety of being on campus is under question as an alarming number of people on campus have reported being sexually assaulted on campus. This discovery is something that

The largest problem presented is the sheer volume of sexual assault that actually takes place on college campuses. The number of assaults reported each year equate to an assault occurring every 98 seconds in the United States with 1 out of 5 women experiencing sexual assault at some point in their life. It is estimated that 70% of victims of sexual assault will not inform the police or campus directors. There are many theories as to what would keep a victim from speaking out against their attacker and the most pressing theory that comes into play is the fear of the victims being blamed for what happened to them. The blame an individual feels after a sexual assault is arguably the most immense difficulty that is at play with sexual assaults. For one such victim, Megan Wright, it was enough guilt and blame that she took her own life in 2006, less than a year after being sexually assaulted on her college campus in New York. The anomaly surrounding Megan is that she spoke up against her attacker and her claim was not taken seriously and as a result there were no consequences for the alleged offender. This circumstances such as this sheds light on another quandary relating to sexual assault on college campuses, the lack of consequences for the individuals that commit these crimes. In 2006, Margaux J. was the victim of a sexual assault on the Indiana

22, No. 1.” Sociologist Eugene Kanin and Clifford Kirkpatrick, the authors of this article, displayed a theory where men used secrecy and stigma to pressure and exploit women into committing sexual acts. In their study, from the 291 female college students questioned, twenty percent of them affirmed they have been a victim of “forceful attempts at intercourse” (Kanin, Kirkpatrick, 1957, p. 52-58). Although this was only a six-page article, it highlights the epidemic and is a setting stone for further research into the topic. Following this, many years after the first published study, “Title IX” of the Educational Amendments were laws passed by Congress that prohibits discrimination against women. The amendment states “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” (Title IX, Education Amendments, 1972, Sections 1681-1688). One of the reasons this is so important in fighting sexual assaults in colleges and school is because sexual harassment and sexual violence are forms of gender discrimination, thus, forcing schools to do something about the problem and offer victims proper tools to prosecute and cope. Shortly after this was passed, the term “date