Throughout the course of first semester, I have been researching and developing an argument about the topic of college campus sexual assault and rape. While researching this subject, I have heard many different arguments for why people believe this is or is not an issue college students face. One argument I came across is that college students accuse their attackers of sexual assault or rape because they regret a drunken hook up. The media portrayal of what college is like unfortunately has led to many people believing this to be true. In many movies and TV shows, women are portrayed as damsels and are highly over-sexualized. Especially in movies and TV shows portraying what college is like, women are seen as easy and will do whatever men desire. Victims of sexual assault and rape have always struggled to come forward and speak out about their attack for fear of being slut shamed, ridiculed, or branded as a liar. This unfortunately is the sad reality we face today. Although there have been many laws passed and rules to help victims, there are people who do not want these laws in affect because they believe anyone will come out and accuse someone of rape. Sadly, we rarely get an inside look on what really happened. Many cases turn into a he said she said argument, which is why some people believe the victim may not always be honest. While there are many sides to this complicated narrative, I believe that campus rape and sexual assault is an issue that needs to be addressed all over the country and is something we need to try and prevent in any way possible.

Many people do not see the severity of this issue when in college. As Jessica Ladd states in her Ted Talk, “one in five women and one in thirteen men will be sexually assaulted at some point in their college career”. This is a staggeringly high number. Ladd also states that “less than 10% of those victims will report what happens to them to the school or the police”. There is an idea in people’s minds that reporting their case will only make things so much worse. There are so many horrible stories about what has happened to people who have reported their assaults. So many victims have gotten into a struggle between their assailants because they have said the assault never happened. Since there is usually no way of knowing exactly what happened and taking the statements of the two people is the only way get an idea of what happened, it is usually extremely hard for victims to win cases. Especially considering the way some legal teams handle these situations. Sometimes, they try and paint the victim as a “slut” or saying they “asked for it” by their actions or they “regretted what happened”. This is usually the case for many situations, especially with female victims. It is sad the way our justice system is set up. Many lawyers just want to win cases, even if it is at the expense of putting a college age victim on the stand and calling them a liar. In some cases, victims do lie, but in the cases that they don’t, this can be a very traumatic experience for victims and very scarring. Another issue many assault and rape cases face is the definition of rape. Lydia O’Connor and Tyler Kingkade wrote an article for the Huffington Post talking about the definition of rape, specifically in the Brock Turner case. They said that Turner was “found guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault” because of the way California defines rape. Because Brock penetrated his victim with a “foreign object-his finger” it was not defined as rape, but as sexual assault. There are many more states that have differing definitions of rape. This is unfair to victims everywhere because this allows for many people to have more of an “advantage” in different states and makes it more challenging in others. O’Connor and Kingkade do go onto state that after this case, California changed the way they defined rape to the way the FBI defines it. The FBI defines rape as “penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina and anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person”. This definition should be used universally to define rape so that victims are protected everywhere equally.

O’Connor and Kingkade further discuss reasons why victims do not speak up about their assaults. Two of the reasons victims do not pursue any action are because of social pressure and money and power . “4 out of 5 victims know their rapists” they stated, which is why many believe this to be a reason rape and sexual assault cases go unreported. Victims fear that their friends will reject them. They fear that they could lose friendships over the pursuit of justice for themselves. Another big reason people do not come forward is because of money. Money can control how successful your defense team can be, which can really help you in a case. Status also inhibits people from coming forward, or if they do come forward, winning their case. No one is going to take down a powerful name over the word of someone who isn’t as powerful as them. Many victims are also silenced and payed off for these types of scandals not to come out in the media. In the Huffington Post article, O’Connor and Kingkade used the example of Kesha’s lawsuit against her producer claiming he sexually assaulted her, and she lost. Taking on a big name in any big company or industry is always and insanely difficult battle, and is usually why many people in high places get away with so much. In Kelly Oliver’s book “Hunting Girls”, he spends a lot of time highlighting how the media portrays women. He states that women are usually seen as the weaker sex who are dependent on men. Now, there are many movies witih strong female leads. But it was not until just recently that this was true. The film industry has been dominantly male. Even today, actresses are still not paid nearly enough compared to what men are payed or would be paid for the same leading roll. The media also portrays specifically college as being a place where heavy drinking happens and things going wrong. For example, the TV show Blue Mountain State is a show about college football players. In the show, there is very heavy drug use, heavy drinking, and girls are at the player’s beck and call to do whatever they want. There are so many shows and movies that portray college girls in this way. This gives off the wrong impression to many people about how college is and how people in college act. A lot of this misrepresentation causes many people to go into college believing it is something it is not. Although there is a lot of drinking at some institutions, that does not make it acceptable to abuse people’s ability to make decisions when they are under the influence.

Even though this is an issue, there are people who believe this is not a serious topic and who actually believe laws projecting victims should be more strictly enforced. People like Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, are trying to appeal laws passed under the Obama administration which would made it much more difficult for victims to come forward and speak out about their attack. When Obama was president, he passed laws that put the disciplinary handlings in the hands of the school at which the assault took place. This reduced actual law enforcement’s involvement. This decision made it to where victims felt more comfortable coming forward. Now, DeVos is trying to appeal this decision and put the matter back in the hands of law enforcement, which would be detrimental to our society and trying to fix this problem, as Stephanie Saul and Kate Taylor pointed out in their New York Times article. Tovia Smith pointed out in her National Public Radio article some of the actions DeVos took to try and help the accused rapists and give them a fairer chance. DeVos wants to raise the standard of evidence that is provided in order to convict someone of a rape or sexual assault crime. She believes that there should be hard, firm evidence and no room for guessing. There should no longer be doubts and what ifs and questions if someone is to be convicted of a rape crime. DeVos also would like to have experts handle these cases instead of faculty from the school. As she stated in her address, “Educators should focus on what they do best: educate”. 

I have learned so much from researching the topic of sexual assault specifically on college campuses. Although that was my topic, I learned far more than just how this atmosphere is created on college campuses. A large contribution to this issue is the way that men view themselves in today’s society. Since the beginning of American history, men have always been in power and women have always been seen as less. Women were not allowed to work or vote. We have come a long way since then as a country, but women in the workplace are still not paid nearly as much as men are for the same job. Men believe that they are untouchable. The way our society has portrayed men and women in these stereotypes has gone on for too long. I care about this topic because I have had personal experience with this. I have seen first hand what men can do when they think they are untouchable. I have watched movies and television shows where men go out and do all the work and the women are at home raising the family. I have seen my grandfather not allow my grandmother to drive because that “isn’t something ladies do”. The longer we let this go on in our society, the longer we will have to live with the repercussions. Being a woman allows me to have a strong stance on this topic. Even though I personally have never been sexually assaulted or raped, I know people who have been. I have friends who have been at parties and been groped by random men and touched and even drugged. Women should be able to feel safe if they are out on a run or going out with friends, not like they have to watch their every move. I have had both my parents tell me on multiple occasions that when I go out with friends, I do not need to take drinks from strangers, I need to stay with at least one or two people at all times, and I need to watch out for anyone acting suspicious. It is sad that we live in a world where women from all over have to be told this. We need to do a better job as a society of teaching men how to stop the way they are acting, instead of teaching girls to watch out for “bad boys”. With all of that said, not all men are bad and not all attackers are male. But I believe that the only way to put a stop to these actions is by doing a better job of raising boys so that they can grow up and be the change society needs. Once we have succeeded in doing that, I believe we can put a stop to these actions. Women will no longer need to carry around pepper spray, or have their nails painted with special polish that detects drugs in drinks, or will be oversexualized for what they wear. If people like DeVos really want to help rapists, she needs to think about the big picture of why this keeps happening and how to finally put an end to it.
