Sexual Assault Crimes On College Campuses

One in four; that 's the number of women being sexually assaulted on college campuses all around the United States and probably the world (Campus 1). Now, this information might not mean much to you. Maybe to you it´s just a number; not a reality. But in actuality this is a reality for everyone. Girls, that could be you next year in college or the workforce. Boys, it might not feel like this has anything to do with you but, your friend, sister, girlfriend or even you could end up the next victim of sexual assault. With such shocking statistics, of why you must be proactive when combating sexual assault crimes. Every year, college campuses remain areas where rape becomes a prominent occurrence. A majority of these crimes go unreported, and

Many times people ask, how does this happen at campuses and universities where supposedly the brightest young people attend? The answer to this question is that college inevitably creates party life too. And with parties comes alcohol, drugs, freedom and bad decisions. In many instances, perpetrators will oftentimes prey on a specific person at a party or social gathering, by encouraging them to become extremely intoxicated. The perpetrator later takes advantage of the inebriated victim, furthering their own selfish purposes and desires. Often times, “slut shaming” and “victim blaming” go hand in hand; victims are blamed and told that they were “asking for it” by dressing and behaving provocatively. This is oftentimes described as rape culture, which is the normalization of sexual assault in a society. Admittedly, being intoxicated lowers one 's inhibitions and one is more apt to perform things they wouldn’t normally do, but drinking, acting a certain way, or dressing “provocatively”, does not give permission for anyone to abuse or assault

To combat rape and sexual assaults, we need to acknowledge and emphasize that they do, in fact, occur quite often; they are not rare occurrences with a random guy wearing a mask. We need to learn to reach out and help victims instead of pushing them away and blaming them. In recent news, a Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a young, college woman. They were both drinking at a college party when he assaulted her behind a dumpster while she was unconscious.The prosecutor recommended a six year sentence but the assailant was, instead, given a six month sentence with probation. This case gained negative notoriety because of the light sentence Turner was given. New ideas have to be constructed so that violations like that of Brock Turner will not occur repeatedly in collegiate settings. Colleges need to implement “zero tolerance” policies when disciplining sexual predators. If someone is tried and convicted of a sexual crime on campus, they should be permanently expelled instead of being allowed to return when their sentence is up, like Brock Turner’s case