Sexual assault on college campuses seems inevitable that no matter what someone tries to do the problem will keep happening. Sexual assault is a worldwide problem that will never be contained. Sexual assaults can happen to anyone anywhere. There are policies and campaigns that are for sexual assault awareness. However, college campuses fail to inform their students about these issues. The only way to solve these issues is for universities to become more involved and allow their students to become more aware of what is happening. 

 Every public university is under federal funding which makes it mandatory for them to follow Title IX regulations if they want to continue having the funds from the government (Sadker 4-5). Universities are required to report and listen to a sexual assault, or rape, that has occurred on campus. Many universities are known to under report the numbers of sexual assault reports that were filed. According to The Huffington Post, out of eleven thousand schools in the United States only nine percent of them reported any sexual assault, domestic violence, or stalking. Many are known to believe that this occurrence is happening because a university wants to protect their name. If a university has a reputation for allowing a rapist to walk around their campus free, then new college students are less likely to apply to that school which will then cause the university to lose money. Many news reports and documentaries have questioned this problem at universities, but the problem seems like it will not be stopping any time soon. 

Universities give students opportunities to defend themselves because they are aware that there is a problem, but when the time comes to file a report then the university wants to claim that the report is fake. The victim’s safety is more important to others, but university will rather say their name and business is more important. The students are actually more powerful because a university depends on their tuition and money the federal government gives them. Without the money, then the school has nothing and no purpose. Universities need to see what the priority is for students and parents because those are the people who will continue giving thousands of dollars to their school and no one wants to pay a university that will allow a student to live in fear. 

For our specific university, there has not been a lot of coverage. I have not seen the University of South Carolina speak out extensively about sexual assault. I do remember signing a Title IX before arriving at the school, so I do believe that the university want students to know that they have rights if he or she gets sexually assaulted. The university also makes one complete an online module called Safe Haven which is “the premier online program addressing the critical issues of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, and sexual harassment – among students, faculty and staff.” (Everfi). The program allows you to see what to do in different situations and how to predict when the event may happen. The modules are very interacting and provides the user with more information than any other type of advertising around the campus. I did some research about sexual assault on USC’s website and did see that they offer a variety of solutions for those who have been assaulted and those who have heard the victim’s story. The website allows you to file an online report. The University of South Carolina offers medical help, special counseling for victims who have been sexually assaulted, and tips and advice for every person on campus such as a bystander, faculty, and especially the victim. 

After looking at other universities’ websites, USC’s website seemed more helping and caring than others. Every website does offer tips and advice, but the University of South Carolina constantly kept saying “you are not alone”, “it is not your fault”, and “we are here to help.” Many schools want to offer emotional, mental, and physical help to a student before and after they have been raped. When a university says the words “we are here to help”, they are trying to provide emotional support for the students by offering help and resources that can make the event seem less scary. The University of South Carolina offers many resources such as providing the phone numbers for the USC police department, counseling, how to start an investigation, and how to get in contact with the Title IX coordinator of the campus. The University of South Carolina does not only provide helpful information for the victim, but also to those who have thoughts that someone is being abused or if someone tells you that they have been assaulted. The University of South Carolina has a clear and concise definition of consent which is “clear, conscious, willing and affirmative agreement to engage in sexual activity. A person who is incapacitated for any reason is not capable of giving consent. Prior consent does not guarantee future consent. The style of a person's clothing does not express consent. Silence or the absence of a "no" does not mean there is consent. An unconscious person cannot consent. Consent for one sexual act does not imply consent for other sexual acts. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.” (University of South Carolina). 

Providing this definition at a student’s fingertips helps keep everyone accountable and informed. 

Other universities have particularly struggled with this problem. Brown University and the University of Connecticut have the highest report of rapes with both of them having forty-three rape reports (Anderson). Brown University has a similar website to the University of South Carolina with emotional support by answering frequently asked questions such as can rape happen to anyone or what happens during a medical exam. However, University of Connecticut does the bare minimum in their sexual assault website. They provide the definition of what consent is and providing the phone numbers of the police and the student health service. Their website is a professional website that does not provide emotional or mental support. The website does offer counseling for the students, but every school does that. The message from this website does not stop or lower the numbers.  

The problem is that schools are trying to convey that they are going above and beyond to make the campus safe, but their actions toward the issues says otherwise.  Universities can have various events that can show people what to do if they witness an assault happening, where to tell the victim to go if they are sexually assaulted, and what to do in an event of being sexually assaulted. However, every event is different. Some events can show people moves to try to get the person who is trying to assault you to get off of you or have victims who are willing to tell their stories to other people. I believe any event that would allow students who have been sexually assaulted to feel safe if they know someone will believe them and there are people out there who are trying to make a difference would be most effective. 

There are different posters campaigns that can be seen on campuses or online. Every campaign features techniques that are used to make every victim feel like they are not alone. In different ads, the same words are being said such as “your clothing is not consent” or “you are not alone” but I feel these ads are not shown to everyone to help them understand the situation. Being on a college campus allows me to see what is advertised in different building and what is being ignored. In the University of South Carolina, there are signs about relationship violence awareness but I have not seen any about sexual assault in the buildings I have walked into. While the university may possibly want people to be aware of the problems that are happening on campus they do not provide enough information to convey the dangers on campus. Every university should have signs in every building showing what to do if you have been raped or if you see something happening and what steps should be taken. If college campuses had signs in the buildings, it would make everyone aware of the problems and to know how to deal with the situation. If students knew how to deal with the situation, there can be less crimes committed because there was someone there to stop the crime from happening. 

There are many different Sexual Assault Awareness Campaigns, also known as SAAC. There is a nationwide campaign called “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” which is to help men understand women’s experience and to give women the support they need from others. The campaign says “We ask men to literally walk one mile in women's high-heeled shoes. It's not easy walking in these shoes, but it's fun and it gets the community to talk about something that's really difficult to talk about: gender relations and men's sexualized violence against women.” (“Welcome”). The campaign believes that it is very important to open up about the problem, which is very hard to some victims; because if the problem is not talked about, then it will never be fixed. The Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event and sentiment is what every victim would want on campus to allow for others to understand the situation and know it is not easy to live through it. 

Another famous campaign for sexual assault is called The Clothesline Project. The Clothesline Project has people decorate t-shirts that express what they are feeling throughout the situation and then are hung on a clothesline that is displayed for everyone to see. The display is to honor those who have survived, memorial for victims, and to help those who are still dealing with the problem. The display is set where everyone can see the clothesline to make them more aware of the problem and to know that although no one sees the crime this does not mean it is not happening.  Each t-shirt is a representation of what has happened to the survivors: white is for people who have died as a result of the violence, yellow is for survivors of physical assault and/or domestic violence, red, pink or orange survivor of rape or sexual assault, blue or green is for survivors of incest or childhood abuse, purple is for survivors of attacks suffered due to perceived sexual orientation, brown or gray is for survivors of emotional, spiritual, or verbal abuse, black is for those disabled as the result of an attack, or assaulted because of a disability (Clothesline Project). Many may think there is no meaning to the shirts on the clotheslines but for thousands of people those shirts represent their lives and difficulties they have overcome.  The purpose of the project is to allow the world to see that the problem cannot be ignored and to give women or men the strength to make a difference and voice their experience to help the next victim open up about their problem. 

If victims were less scared about what would happen to them, they will talk about their experience and that is what this project trying to do. The project called Denim Day which is held on April 26th encourages every person to wear jeans. The project started when a court overturned a rape conviction because the victim’s jeans were too tight to be taken off without consent, which made people question if clothing really is consent (“About”). Sexual Assault Awareness month is held in April and the University of South Carolina shares on their website that they will be hosting various events to honor that month; some events may include Empty Place in the Table, which shows the effects of domestic violence, and Silent Witness Memorial to remember those who have been killed by domestic violence. These projects are a step in the right direction to comfort and connect with victims. However, universities need to give continual support throughout the school year and not just once a year.

Traditional programs aimed at prevention ‘are brief – one hour or less – and focused on improving knowledge about the problem,’ says Sarah DeGue, a behavioral scientist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has studied prevention efforts and whose findings informed a recent White House report. ‘Knowledge is important, but it's clear these programs don't prevent people from perpetuating sexual violence."(Howard).

With events held year-round, more students will be aware and understand the seriousness of the problem.

When a person hears that there was a sexual assault victim, many assume the victim is a female but there are in fact many males who are sexually assaulted as well. One in six men are victims of sexual assault (“1in6”). Victims who have been raped usually know who their rapist and can sometimes be a friend or relative. “For male rape survivors, 93% of the time, a man was the perpetrator (One in Four).  The Huffington Post wrote an article about a young man being raped in college by a student in a dorm bathroom. I believe that stories about men getting raped do not often get publicized as stories about women. This can cause men to be more fearful in telling their story. Men are often perceived as strong and having no emotion which then causes for men to become silent when a tragic event happens. Men believe that no one would believe them because they are supposed to be tough. In the article titled “Male Victims of Campus Sexual Assault Speak Out” in The Huffington Post, Andrew quotes “It’s time to include male survivors’ voice. We are up against a system that is not designed to help us.” (Kassie). If women believe that they have no hope when it comes to being raped, men must have a worst perception of how things may play out. 

Another group of people who have been assaulted is homosexuals and transgender people. “Within the LGBTQ community, transgender people and bisexual women face the most alarming rates of sexual violence. Among both of these populations, sexual violence begins early, often during childhood” (“Campaign, Human Rights”). These groups feel even less powerless than men and women combined because some groups do not believe that they should be a part of our society.  Every group should feel that they have meaning after being assaulted because no one should go through the problem alone.

 The statistics in sexual assaults are unbelievable. One in four women reported surviving rape or attempted rape and of those one in four, five percent of those women experienced the event on a college campus. “Approximately 1 in 5 Black (22.0%) and White non-Hispanic (19%) women, and 1 in 7 Hispanic women (15%) in the United States have experienced rape at some point in their lives” (One in Four). Rape is known to happen more likely after a college woman has been voluntarily intoxicated and even though many do not want to blame the sexual assault on the alcohol, it is still a factor in a rape occurring (One in Four). 

One of the most common places for excess alcohol drinking is fraternities. They are known to be alcoholics who love to party and often commit rape, but they are not the main reason sexual assault is a continuous problem. Justice Gaines said, “Some perpetrators are not part of Greek life or part of athletics, but because there’s a huge focus on Greek life and athletics sometimes, we sort of lose sight of other areas where there might be perpetrators of sexual assault” (North). Many universities have enforced rules for fraternities to prevent sexual assault or any incident to happen. Dartmouth has banned hard alcohol from being served at fraternities’ parties and require a campus security personnel to stop by the party to enforce the rule. The University of Virginia requires for at least three fraternity brothers to stay sober to monitor the party, only allowing sober brothers to serve alcohol in a central area, and if the party is large then only a licensed bartender can serve alcohol and there must be a security guard present at all times.  If these rules can be enforced nationwide, many will realize that the problem is not just fraternities. The problem is the people who commit the crime who happen to be in Greek life which result the problem being publicized. Getting rid of Greek Life in universities may lessen the problem, but it will not get rid of it. 

Sexual assault is a serious problem that occurs on college campuses. Colleges are trying to find ways to prevent sexual assault, but the problem is inevitable and there is not enough advertising around the school. There are events on college campus that make students aware of sexual assault but the events only happen one month out of the year. Nationally, there are programs and campaigns designed to help those who have been assaulted or know someone who has been assaulted. The campaign is to help those who have been hurt by the problem to know they are not alone. Everyone is trying to find who to blame for the numbers of sexual assaults and want to blame fraternities, but fraternities are finding solutions to lessen the problem and keeping their reputation intact. Everyone wants to find a solution to the problem, but this problem does not have a solution. This problem needs to be heard, just like the victims. 
