College for many is a time to have fun before they go off into the real world. People go out after long days and hard exams and let loose with friends. However, imagine one night going out and having someone slip something into your drink then waking up and realizing you've been raped. Even worse, having one of your friends force themselves on you and sexually assaulting you (Gaga). These scenarios can easily occur in college and leave people feeling ashamed and victimized. In order for sexual assault to decrease on college campuses, universities need to implement mandatory government regulated sexual assault prevention programs to define the problem, offer a better understanding of proper consent, and create unity.  

Sexual Assault is a growing problem on college campuses.  Assault is happening in all forms, whether it's by a friend or by someone through rape culture. Jozkowski writes in "Yes means Yes? Sexual Consent Policy and College Students" about specific incidences where rape culture has been popularized. Yale's DKE chapter had their members chanting "No means yes and yes means anal" outside of a women's residence hall (Jozkowski 17). Similarly, at Miami University of Ohio a list of the top ten ways to get away with rape was posted for everyone to see in a dormitory (Jozkowski 18). Regardless of how the act is committed, sexual assault is still a huge problem. Many universities do not want to recognize it as one in order to maintain a good image. The documentary "The Hunting Ground" focuses on different stories of sexual assault on college campuses. The girls featured in the documentaries reached out to their universities for help after being victimized and instead of receiving it, the schools tried to fight against them. In a short clip from the movie, we learn about a girl and her friend who were sexually assaulted by their male friend one night. When she reached out to the dean of students at Harvard her only response was "I just want to make sure above all else that you don't talk to anyone about this. It could be bad for everyone if people started rallying around having him removed from campus" (Willingham). Similar to this incident at The University of Kansas, a young man sexually assaulted a girl with the knowledge that she said "no, stop, I can't do this" and wasn't even expelled for this vicious act (Jozkowski 18). These are just some of the many examples of colleges reacting in the wrong way. They need to start recognizing that sexual assault is a problem. If universities don't start to take action they will only be further hurting the victims and protecting the predators. This may eventually enable them to decide that they can commit the crime again because they were never properly punished.

Sexual assault could already be prevented if there wasn't so much confusion with defining consent. In the case of R v. Kamki presented in Warburton's "Intoxication and Consent in Sexual Offenses", the offender "honestly and reasonably believed that she was consenting to it" (Warburton 207). The major problem with this case was that the assault happened to the girl while she was intoxicated. This is just one of the aspects of confusion that comes with defining consent. Is it okay to initiate sexual activity if your partner is under the influence of alcohol? In the article "The Yes Means Yes World" Jake reflects on defining consent. "Yes does not mean yes if a student is intoxicated" (New 433). This means that even if the drunken student gives their partner consent but then realizes in the morning that they didn't want to engage in sexual activity they can withdraw their consent and their partner can receive punishment for sexual assault. Going along with this in "What Affirmative Consent Looks Like" Glickman defines consent as "affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity" (Glickman 437). He also explains that the easiest way to make sure you are receiving consent is by continually asking your partner before initiating sexual activities. Clearing up the confusion that comes with consent would be beneficial to students. If students started to consistently learn that the best forms of consent than many assault situations could potentially be prevented. 

The creation of government regulated sexual assault programs would help unify colleges and the way they teach consent programs. In Bennet's "Campus Sex ... With a Syllabus" she points out that colleges are all teaching consent in their own ways. Bennett talked to students from the Fashion Institute of Technology and New York University about what affirmative consent meant to them and their answers differed significantly. The overall consensus was a confusion with the different technical aspects of consent. Some students learn about affirmative consent while others at different universities are taught about enthusiastic or even effective consent. Along with this confusion many students are taught to rely solely on verbal consent when others learn that they can look for cues in their partner's body language. Students also face confusion in regards to whether or not people can give consent when they have been out drinking. At Trinity, they talk about consent and say if a person is "mentally or physically incapacitated or impaired so that such person cannot understand the fact, nature or extent of the situation, there is no consent" (Bennet). While this is a good definitive way to make sure students understand that if their partner is under the influence of alcohol they can't consent many other colleges don't even touch on this subject.

 The lack of unity between sexual assault prevention programs is what causes confusion with consent and sometimes leads to misunderstandings. Some Universities don't even teach their students about getting proper consent or have a sexual assault program but don't make it mandatory to attend. According to a study done at Bridge Water University in Massachusetts, only 15% of the colleges in the study had links and online tools where victims could easily report a sexual assault (Valenti). A government regulated program would force universities to recognize sexual assault as a real problem, teach the same thing in their programs, and would unify the higher education's understanding of proper consent. 

Universities might oppose the government regulated programs for multiple reasons. Because the program would be standardized, it would cost each university to use it. Many colleges might try to argue that their methods are effective enough because their rates of sexual assault are low. Colleges might also be in opposition because of the situations in which many sexual assaults occur. People think that victims of sexual assault were asking for it with anything from their behavior to the clothing that they wear. Colleges may also worry about students falsely reporting sexual assaults on campus. Regardless of the excuse given colleges need these programs to be implemented. Sexual assault is a growing problem and won't be resolved without some sort of unity in teaching methods. Colleges should also never blame the victim or question whether or not they provoked the attack. No matter how drunk someone was, or if they were leading someone on it is never their fault for being sexually assaulted. Colleges should also side with victims in all cases before they assume they are falsely reporting a sexual assault. 

A possible solution to face the growing problem of sexual assault would be to create the government regulated program. I would make the program mandatory for all freshman to take their first semester. The program would be formatted by showing students different scenarios like what is portrayed in "Til it Happens to You" or some short clips from "The Hunting Ground". Both videos show graphic and scary situations in which sexual assault can occur. They are also good clips to use for educational purposes because they deal with real situations in which people have been victims of sexual assault. You get to listen to their stories first hand and learn that it can really happen to anyone. The program would be designed to show students examples of sexual assault and get their opinions of what happened sort of like a pretest before they dive in.

 The next part of the program would teach about affirmative consent as well as the differences between the old "no means no" policy and the new "yes means yes" policy. People can no longer rely on their partner not explicitly denying them as a form of consent. It would also go over the best ways to receive consent. The first and best option would be to receive verbal consent, but physical consent would be allowed in situations where you know your partner very well. For example students would learn the differences between getting consent from a boyfriend or girlfriend, in which they can rely on physical permission, versus getting consent from someone they are engaging with for the first time.

 Next students would learn about consent as it relates to an intoxicated person. They will learn that if under the influence of alcohol, they cannot give or receive consent. An important part of the program will be to cover what can happen to the perpetrator of sexual assault. The program will go over different forms of punishment and the consequences predators will face if they sexually assault someone. After covering all of these topics the students will go through different scenarios where they can see what goes wrong and plan a way out. Once they have gone over these different situations they will learn a few tips on how to avoid getting into bad situations. Lastly they will rewatch the video clips from the beginning and reflect with their new knowledge on how they feel as they watch them. With a government regulated program where all of the colleges are teaching consent in the same ways the rates of sexual assault will decrease. 

