Changing How We Treat Sexual Assault at the University of South Carolina Sexual assault is an issue that has recently garnered more attention and become more pronounced even in popular culture lately, especially so with the mainstream media. Lady Gaga just recently won an award for her work with the documentary The Hunting Ground, which chronicles the increase in sexual assault cases at universities across the country, and how they are handling, or in too many cases mishandling or ignoring, this horrible problem (The Review). The documentary and the attention surrounding it has amplified this conversation about how to effectively handle these assaults that seem to be growing daily. The long-needed debate has begun, and it has been made abundantly clear that this is a pressing matter that needs addressing. It is there where opinions differ, and things quickly become emotional and intensely personal.    How do we address such a terrible, ugly problem that lends sensitivity to victims but also provides adequate and fair justice to attackers that does not become purely vindictive? This is where the controversy lies. The current philosophy being applied revolves around the idea of affirmative consent, or as Roz Galtz adeptly explains the concept in her article entitled "A Feminist Says 'No' to Yes-Means-Yes: "You've got to confirm your partner's active consent throughout a sexual encounter, or the facts will support a sexual assault claim." But confirming consent can be difficult to maneuver, especially given that students have the added issue and pressure of living in a hook-up culture that promotes having sex whether explicitly through song lyrics and movies or implicitly from the inundation of fashion ads on bus stops or spreads in magazines. This encourages the idea that everyone is having sex, and so should the viewer, even if that "yes" is coerced from a partner. Therein lies one of the major issues with the "Yes-Means-Yes" mentality of thinking. Does yes really always mean yes? What about when that yes was coerced? How often do you need to ask for consent during an encounter? What is enough? Additionally, it can be hard to tackle a subject where only a very small percentage of assaults actually are reported, a sentiment echoed by Antonia Abbey in "Rape and Alcohol Consumption on College Campuses: How Much Are They Linked?" It quickly becomes apparent that affirmative consent is not the quick and easy fix that everyone initially hoped it would be. We need a much more comprehensive plan implemented on college campuses, environments used to foster not only academic learning and debates but to create more responsible citizens who make respectful and educated decisions outside of the classroom.

Personally, as a female in college, the issue of sexual assault is one that is all too familiar, and one that became even more so after the attack that happened off campus in Five Points just this past semester. The way the University of South Carolina educates its students about sexual consent is severely lacking, perhaps due to the lack of cases being reported or thrust into the campus' public atmosphere, but this low standard has to change. The conversation has to be inclusive of all students for real action and evolution to occur, which means no-nonsense policies that everyone is clear on, and programs that help educate our student body as to what consent really is, in addition to a more effective system to report sexual assaults that do not add to the trauma that victims have already experienced. According to Carr and VanDeusen in their academic article "Risk Factors for Male Sexual Aggression on College Campuses," an overwhelming majority of sexual assaults are never reported and so even the eerie statistics that official studies reflect are nowhere near as ugly as the real truth.

In September 2014 California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 967 into law. The law requires college students in California to obtain "affirmative consent" before and during sexual activity. Students must receive explicit consent to initiate any sexual activities in addition to ongoing consent. In the "preponderance of evidence" clause of the bill, otherwise known as standard of proof, says that students can be found guilty of sexual assault if the school determines it is likely that the accused committed the assault, even if it is only slightly likely (ABC Video). Put another way, in the article "What Affirmative Consent Looks Like" Charlie Glickman describes affirmative consent as "affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity." He asserts that it is the responsibility of both parties involved to make sure that they have the consent of the other person involved and that anything other than verbal consent should not be assumed to be consent.

This shift in thinking about sexual assault has been handled in various ways on campuses across the nation. Ohio's Antioch College became one of the first schools to adopt a policy similar to this in 1993. At the time the new policy was widely mocked and even became a skit on Saturday Night Live, with Phil Hartman as the host of a game show dubbed "Is It Date Rape?" The participants called out whether certain scenarios were or were not date rape in cold, detached voices, almost as if they were robots. In the twenty years since the skit aired, it is apparent that universities' and the public's view on affirmative consent has radically changed.

There are adamant proponents and opponents to this new way of thinking about consent. Those who support affirmative action argue that with this policy, taking legal action would shift the responsibility of proving that consent was absent from the victim to the party being accused. Proponents also believe that universities should expect responsible and respectful behavior from their students, especially according to schools' codes of conduct, which often include a statement on interpersonal relations. Opponents believe that any legal action taken should not involve the university at all and the responsibility of handling these cases should rely solely on the governance of local authorities. Opponents also argue that affirmative consent is not practical and that it is a principle that works on paper but is something that would rarely happen in real life.

Thus far, there have been no major complaints about how the University of South Carolina handles their sexual assault cases, but this does not mean that the case for the university adopting the policy has not been vocalized. In a blog post entitled "South Carolina: Why USC Should Adopt 'Yes Means Yes'" dating from April of 2015, user BBCOOK4, who describes herself as being a student at USC and actively involved in the Greek community, explains scenarios in which sorority sisters have talked to her about possible sexual assaults, but never pursued any action because they had been drinking and flirting and "felt it was there [sic] own fault for drinking too much or having sex with whomever." After drinking, especially heavily, many often have confused thoughts and cannot make clear judgments, and coupling this with trying to determine whether he or she was assaulted can complicate an already hazy scenario.

I think that affirmative consent has positive aspects that have been an improvement on previous legislation and ways of thinking about consent, but is not a final and comprehensive solution to the vast and complex issue of sexual assault on college campuses. It is certainly a positive change that the law requires more evidence from the person being accused of proving their innocence than on the victim trying to prove that their rights were violated. I also think it is absolutely fair for universities to be interested and involved in issues regarding their students to an extent. It is fantastic that attention is being brought to the issue and that an intelligent conversation about consent is being thrust into the spotlight. But there are major issues with the legislation that need to be addressed seriously.

It is hard to determine what affirmative consent looks like in practice and if it is really practical to expect that every yes really does mean yes. Sexual assault claims should not rely solely on whether or not the victim confirmed consent or not, because that is only partially addressing the reality of how sexual assaults occur. There are instances where victims have felt forced into saying "yes" and so affirmative answers given by the victim can often not be as evident as they would initially appear, a sentiment also expressed by Jake New in his article entitled "The 'Yes' Means 'Yes' World." There are circumstances where yes does not always mean yes and limiting legislation like SB 967 would diminish the chances of complicated cases being successfully resolved. Lack of consent can manifest itself in many ways and every sexual assault case is very unique and therefore particular and personal sensitivity to these special cases needs to be given.As it stands now, a majority of schools do not allow for a legal defense, which is a major issue given that an understandably shaken and sensitive victim usually has to argue their case for themselves. In a perfect world, the disciplinary committee hearing the case would be absolutely objective and not swayed by anything other than the facts. The reality, explained by Dana Fuscaldo in "Problems of Sexual Assaults on College Campuses Drawing More Attention Nationwide," is that students may accidentally implicate themselves by saying something the wrong way or something may be interpreted incorrectly. Speaking before an audience can often feel like a tribunal for many even under the best circumstances. Explaining an extremely traumatic and personal event in front of a crowd is unimaginable.

Universities currently do not have adequate resources to genuinely help their students. Disciplinary committees are required to attend training sessions on Title IX specifically as well as on their college's specific sexual assault policies. The same training is not given nor emphasized to the university police, who are often the first people handling cases and interacting with victims. Kelli Gulite's article entitled "Why All Colleges Should Adopt Affirmative Consent" argues a similar case by stating that, "rather than fumbling witness reports or destroying evidence, the University Police could actually become a very useful source in combating sexual assault on campus." Campus police are an integral part of the process. Each officer needs to be given adequate training so that they may handle cases in a responsible manner.

Most importantly, though, is the lacking emphasis on educating students about what consent genuinely is and how to better navigate the often complicated sexual politics of college relationships. Recently, in partnership with an academic study entitled "'Yes Means Yes': A New Approach to Sexual Assault Prevention and Positive Sexuality Promotion" published by Dawn LaFrance, Meika Loe, and Scott C. Brown, Colgate University implemented a program to help its students learn more about the college's sexual consent policies and encouraged students to participate and voice their opinions, reservations, and questions about consent. The study found that an overwhelming percentage of participants reported feeling more confident in how to handle sexual encounters in a healthy and respectful way. Suggestions on how to improve the program were based on input from students. The two main concerns were how to encourage more males to participate and how to better include the LGBT community. Suggestions to remedy this problem were to offer the program as a credit earning opportunity or to make it a requirement, just like foreign language or public speaking classes are. These classes are aimed towards making university students better citizens so would it not make sense that a class on sexual consent do the same?

Although the University of South Carolina has not had a public sexual assault case that would suggest revision of its current practices, it does not mean that there are no gaps in the institution's policies. Given the fact that actual assault statistics are hard to correctly gather, it can be assumed that over the years some cases have unintentionally slipped through the cracks. The time to act is now, before a case happens. Preventative measures need to be taken in order to keep this serious problem from arising.The school needs to reevaluate and revise current affirmative consent standards that have been implemented at other schools and examine what changes need to occur to work more effectively at USC in order to tailor these changes to the university's needs. In Caroline Gorman's article entitled "Yes Means Yes: A Great Idea That Doesn't Need to be a Law" she asserts that while affirmative consent "reverses the presumption of innocence," which has been a very lauded improvement from previous standards, concerns about how to prove or disprove consent have arisen. It is not practical to rely on hard evidence like a video or a written contract but it also is not practical to rely on testimonies that are hard to prove. University officials need to examine how they prove consent occurred. These cases are often life changing, and this legal grey area needs to be remedied.

Additionally, the affirmative consent standard needs to be more inclusive of all of the school community, especially the campus's LGBTQ community. Currently there is only one program in place at the university to counsel LGBTQ students regarding issues related to their sex and gender issues at the Counseling and Human Development Center. The university needs to provide an adequate support system available to every student. Additionally, it needs to involve staffing and leaders who are a part of these communities themselves. According to the chapter entitled "Rape on Campus: Numbers Tell Less Than Half the Story," Rygaard, Campbell, and Van Ryswyk state that 1 in 8 lesbian women, nearly half of bisexual women, and 64% of transgender individuals have experienced sexual assault. These are intolerable numbers, and it is time to put pressure on the university to stop brushing these overwhelming statistics to the side.

Regular Title IX investigations and oversight need to occur and not just when it is convenient or when outside forces deem it necessary. While it is certainly hard to confront ugly truths about difficult topics like sexual assault, it is necessary and something that needs to happen regularly to provide proper insight into the problem. According to Jason Ferris' article "Making Sense of Sexual Consent" the US Department released names of fifty-five colleges currently being investigated for mishandling sexual assault cases, and due to the increasing concern at other schools, faculty and students have made that list grow by twenty-one schools just three months after that release. The addition of these schools to this list shows that this is a problem that affects many universities and is not an isolated issue. Statistics point to the idea that the University of South Carolina has had an issue with sexual assault somewhere in its history. By emphasizing the importance of being proactive, the university can prevent issues before they manifest themselves.

It is imperative that the community and everyone involved in the university environment become more aware of these sexual assault issues that exist on other campuses, and may be occurring here with our students. At parties or heading to bars, students have to be aware of their environment, who they are surrounding themselves with, and perhaps most importantly to be concerned with the safety of their peers, even if it means going slightly out of the way to call a cab for someone who should not head home alone. Students are the momentum and reason behind universities even existing, and it is their collective voice that reaches school officials who make decisions about consent policies and education. Additionally, staff and faculty need to be sensitive to the fact that these are occurrences that appear or become evident in student's behaviors and demeanors and feel comfortable enough to have a responsible and open dialogue with students and be able to report these behaviors and attitudes to the proper authorities without fear of unintended consequence for themselves or their students. 

As has been mentioned before, the shift in the discussion of sexual assault and consent to the "Yes Means Yes" standard is a radical and positive new way of thinking and handling these cases, however it is not the final solution to this issue. It is an absolute necessity for colleges to be actively involved in making oversight and education in prevention of assault happen, and it would be negligent to think that only one course of action would be comprehensive enough to be the only change implemented. By reevaluating current consent standards, ensuring the inclusion of all students including our LGBT population, regular and thorough Title IX investigations, as well as the momentum of the academic community into making these changes actually happen, we can assure that the University of South Carolina reaches its potential in being not only an outstanding school for academics, but as well as a safe and welcoming haven for everyone.

