For many, college is a time to have fun before they enter into the real world. People go out after long days and hard exams and let loose with friends. However, imagine going out one night and having someone slip date rape drugs into your drink then waking up and realizing you have been raped. Or even worse, imagine 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 is by a friend or by someone through rape culture. Kristen 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 10 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 documentary 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 sexual assault cases 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 do not start to take action, then they will only be further hurting the victims and protecting the predators. This lack of action 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 was not 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 problem 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 clarification means that even if the drunken student gives their partner consent but then realizes in the morning that they did not want to engage in sexual activity, then they can withdraw their consent and their partner can receive punishment for sexual assault. Going along with this idea 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 the best forms of consent, then 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 Jessica 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 (Bennet). 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 drinking. At Trinity College, 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 definition is a good definitive way to make sure students understand that if their partner is under the influence of alcohol, they cannot consent many other colleges do not even address this subject.

 The lack of unity between sexual assault prevention programs is what causes confusion with consent and sometimes leads to misunderstandings. Some universities do not even teach their students about getting proper consent or have a sexual assault program but do not 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 lessons in their programs, and unify higher education's understanding of proper consent. 

Universities might oppose the government-regulated programs for multiple reasons though. 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 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 will not be resolved without some sort of unity in teaching methods. Colleges need to stop blaming the victim and making them feel like they provoked the attack. It is never the victims fault for being sexual assaulted regardless of how drunk they were. 

A possible solution to face the growing problem of sexual assault would be to create the government-regulated program. The program should be 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 assaults 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 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, then 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 cover 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 upon 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 should decrease. 

