Why is there so much sexual assault happening on college/university campuses? Does the college itself have anything to do with it?
There are a couple of reasons as to why sexual assault occurs on college/university campuses. The first is in terms of what type of personalities the perpetrators are. They are typically one of two types of people: either young, naive, and too drunk on freedom from their parents and home environments to carefully consider the consequences of their actions, or they are people with malicious intent, who intend to target and hurt others, and who view sexual assault as a conquest, and a measure of their masculinity. The second reason has to do with the environment and culture surrounding rape on these campuses, and it is through this reason that the college itself is part of the issue. Colleges help foster such a rape culture in two ways. First, they support the organizations that make it easier for sexual assault and rape to occur. Sports, particularly the college football industry, are a multi-million dollar business. Because of the massive amount of money between college sports programs and organizations such as television programs, endorsements, and so forth, college officials are incredibly hesistent to confirm anything that might besmirch the reputation of the university, and thus cut those monetary ties. The stars of the teams are often treated like celebrities, and an enormous amount of trust, power, and money is invested into them. As a result, this can sometimes be perceived as a warrant to act in unacceptable ways, including sexual assaulting others - and they are often able to get off scott-free. This is incredibly clear in the case of Jameis Winston, where, because of his status in the world of college football, he was able to virtually evade investigation. The second type of organization that colleges support are fraternities. It is often much easier for colleges to essentially outsource housing to fraternities, where there is a significant reduction in housing prices (for the colleges), as opposed to housing all of the students directly on the limited space that campuses host. On the flip side, the majority of sexual assault and rape cases in colleges occur at parties hosted at fraternity houses, where it is largely men that get to decide how much and what type of alcohol and drugs can be consumed at a party, making it easier for them to get women drunk or otherwise incapacitated, and thus making the women especially easier victims. Colleges can thus contribute to rape culture on campuses because they condone the activities that occur at these fraternities by evading responsibility. This leads to the second way in which they support rape culture, which is that they often shut down the outcries of the victims by turning a blind eye to the claims, by blaming the problem on them (through questions about what they were wearing and how they were acting), and by protecting the perpetrators, particularly if they hold a high social status. By creating an environment where victims feel unsafe or uncomfortable reporting, and, if they do report, they are shut down, the reputation of the college is protected, which is viewed as the primary goal.
What legal remedies are available to address college campus sexual assault?
There are couple of legal remedies available to address college campus sexual assault. In terms of preempting sexual assault and rape, one form of legal action that colleges can take is enforcing stricter rules relating to sexual assault - and abiding by those rules, creating a safer reporting environment and taking a more active role in helping prosecute the perpetrator. Directly after an attack, a victim can report the incident to either the school (in the form of an administrator or counselor) or the police (whether they be on or off campus). Reporting, though, tends to be in vain, as the school rarely takes these “allegations” seriously, regardless of the amount of evidence provided. The most common way of dealing with sexual assault after the fact is through a civil lawsuit, typically filed by an individual victim against their assailant(s), but in other cases, by a victim against the institution for their inability to effectively address the issue. However, in many cases, it is difficult for a young college student to have access to a very high quality lawyer, and even if they do, the case often gets thrown out very quickly. However, it is my belief that the most powerful way to address the issue is through a class-action suit against the colleges and universities for their lack of action in addressing the issue. The second means of legal recourse can be in the form of a monetary settlement that helps take care of the victim’s medical (including psychological) expenses and treatment following the rape.
What happens to students when they try to enforce their rights?
Given that very few people on college campuses (administrators and students both) support students that exercise their rights in these situations, there are a few types of backlash that occur when a student tries to enforce their rights. The first is questioning the validity of the victim’s story, a campaign led largely by administrators but fueled by students (and others outside the campus) as well. This can be based on the status of the alleged perpetrator as well, but even regardless of that, it is often assumed that incidents of sexual assault are false, or “allegations” or ‘claims”, even though less than 5%, if that, of incidents of sexual assault or rape are false reports. Even if the report is believable, if the student decides to report the incident - or even dares to pursue further action against either the perpetrator or the school - then they are met with a whole host of hatred, accusation, ignorance, and threats. They are discouraged by administrators from reporting or pursuing legal action, due to the fear that it will tarnish the reputation of the university, or they are treated with hatred by their peers, who think they might be trying to get more attention (or for similar reasons). In many cases, the assailants are supported by both students and faculty more than the victim.
What is Title IX and how does it apply to the issue of sexual assault on campus?
Title IX states that “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”.
This applies to the issue of sexual assault in a couple of ways. First, it is important to note that Title IX is incredibly ambiguous. Historically, its major application has been relative to sports programs, and eliminating gender discrimination in that field. However, while that is a topic in which it is easy to identify how sex bars participation in certain activities, sexual assault does not have a clear distinction. This is for two reasons. First, it ignores the many male victims of sexual assault when the problem becomes solely about male-on-female violence. Here, it becomes difficult to see how this is discrimination purely based on sex as opposed to the issue of violence in general. Second, on a more technical point, it is easy for the colleges to avoid the issue by saying that it is not discrimination based on sex, but instead has to do with a lack of resources, or even claim that the problem doesn’t even exist.
That being said, it is easy to see that the majority of sexual assault and rape victims are girls and women, and from there, it is not difficult to use Title IX violations as a reason for colleges to take more action to prevent the action. It is important to look at the way in which colleges shut down girls, and more often slut-shame/victim-blame women as opposed to men. The thing about rape culture is that it discriminates more against women, and targets females by not validating their claims and blaming them for the issue while at the same time, due to the patriarchal nature of our society, takes the side of the boys. Title IX thus applies here, because the significant disparity in the amount of action and resources that the school takes and provides is based on gender discrimination, because the way the victim is treated in the aftermath does largely depend on their gender.
What would you do to change the culture?
While rape culture is so deeply engrained in the very structure of our daily lives that complete reversal is practically impossible, we can start encouraging and facilitating more discussion about sexual assault on college campuses, or even about rape in general. In order for there to be action, people need to become comfortable talking about it, and the taboo surrounding this issue needs to be removed. Part of that conversation needs to be about respecting women’s bodies, and what further individual and institutional action needs to be taken to support that, whether that be in the form of action against catcalling and other daily types of sexual harassment or action against dress codes implemented on the basis of certain clothes being a distraction to boys (because if a boy is distracted if a girl shows her shoulder, or wears a pair of shorts that exposes more than the lower half of her leg, then there are bigger problems to worry about than the amount of fabric the girl wears). Small actions, such as trying to stop jokes and lighthearted discussion about rape and sexual assault, will also go a long way in reducing the effect of rape culture, by trying to eliminate the notion that it is not a serious matter. Another part of that conversation needs to be about stopping the ridiculous amount of victim blaming that occurs, which creates an unsafe and uncomfortable environment for victims to report and seek help in. Furthermore, that discussion needs to talk about better means of legal recourse for victims, if we really want to start taking the issue seriously.
