One in five women are raped at some point of their lives whereas one in seventy one men are raped at some point of their lives. Sixty three percent of sexual assault crimes are not reported to the police and ninety percent of sexual assault crimes on college campuses go unreported. These crimes are mostly done by an acquaintance of some sort, many done by an intimate partner, and most attacks are occurring on college campuses, to people ranging of ages between 18 and 24. These statistics are shocking and horrifying. The amount of people in the world that was, is, and will be effected by sexual assault at some extent is shockingly outstanding. The world today does not know how to properly treat these horrific cases, as I found that there is one major underlying issue: victims of sexual assault are being mistreated after their attacks, causing physical, mental, and emotional trauma. These victims are being unfairly treated, whether it be not being believed, or too afraid to speak out. Victims are often ridiculed and shamed for the assault, blaming it on their provocative clothing, excessive alcohol consumption, or promiscuous behavior, claiming that it was not the attacker’s fault, but they were asking for it. Due to society’s opinion on this issue, most victims are too afraid to speak out against their attacker and hide their attack from even their closest friends. The results of not speaking to someone, whether it be a professional or just a comforting friend that can listen, about these sexual assaults include depression, anxiety, and even suicide. Many college campuses have a few resources available for sexual assault victims including counseling and treatment plans, but many are unused. Sexual assault victims do not go to these available resources due to the fear of the attacker attacking again or the reputation one would get if she came forward.

Sexual assault has been an ongoing issue in the world for a very long time, with a dramatic increase in numbers. According to the National Sexual Violence Research Center, twenty percent of women across the world will be raped at one point in their lives, and one in five women will be sexual assaulted during their time in college. Even though those statistics are so high, ninety percent of the attacks are not reported, letting the attacker walk away without any sort of punishment. A shocking sixty three percent of men at a university self-reported to have performing unwanted sexual acts to another person, and then doing the same thing to a different person (NSVRC). A victim of sexual assault stated that she thinks “these boys think they can do it and nothing will happen to them” (Washington Post), as many boys get away with these attacks. Because victims are not reporting these crimes to the authorities, the perpetrators are continuing to attack other innocent people and not getting persecuted, and the cycle continues of perpetrators attacking innocent people, those victims hiding what had happened, causing depression and other mental health issues, and the attacker getting to do the same thing to another person. 

Kelly Wallace from CNN conducted a report involving sexual assault on college campuses almost three years ago. A survey was conducted across the United States, involving twenty seven different universities, include Yale and Cal Tech, as many as 150,00 students, asking the main question revolving around sexual assault: was the experienced wanted or forced and was the encounter done with both parties conscious, aware of what was happening? Twenty three percent of the results claimed that the encounters ranging from touching and kissing to penetration, was unwanted. Victims are being blamed for these encounters, influencing them to be afraid to report the attacks in fear of getting into trouble with the law. The survey also concluded that over fifty percent of the women partaking in the survey did not come forward and report the crime due to the belief that it was not serious enough or that it was their fault. Survivors should be applauded for being brave enough to stand up for what is right, not scorned for calling out a perpetrator. 

So, what really is the problem with sexual assault? The sad answer to that that many people say today is “It was her fault” or “She brought it on herself”. The hurtful and shaming misconceptions that arise from sexual assault include the victim’s clothing, whether it was provocative and ‘inviting’ is terrible. Whether a woman’s skirt is judged to be too short or too tight does not give any type of permission to anyone to take advantage of her. Others include the idea that since the victim had a lot of alcohol to drink, then it is acceptable to take advantage of him or her. The Washington Post wrote an article exposing victims’ stories of their sexual assault encounters, making them vulnerable and scared reliving their attacks that made them feel belittled and powerless. An anonymous female student from the school, Virginia Commonwealth University, recalled her tragic attack, putting the blame on herself stating “Nothing that happened that night would have happened if I had been sober” (Washington Post). One of her friends said that the attack was a perfect example of rape culture today, that believes it is okay to have unwanted sex with an incapacitated, helpless person, and putting the blame on the victim for consuming an excessive amount of alcohol. 

The most important problem that needs to be addressed is the physical and mental treatment and acceptance of sexual assault victims in the community. Whether it be a college campus or a group of friends, people need to come together to prevent these issues from happening. Due to the unfair mistreatment of sexual assault victims and lack of perpetrator persecution in the justice system, many victims are forced to handle their issues internally, resulting in extreme depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. “Women's victimization is cumulative, and the response from social world is cumulative, both of which affect how any one incident of sexual violence will affect women's mental health” (Campbell 226). The impact of sexual assault has a lasting impact on victims, with as much as sixty five percent developing post-traumatic stress disorder. The fear of reporting these violent crimes are taking a physical and mental toll on women’s health, and there needs to be an action put in place to allow women to not hesitate to come forward, and get the help that they need once they are assaulted. 

How can women be treated with the help that they need when they are the ones that are ridiculed for being assaulted? The fear of speaking out due to fear of judgement or not being believed needs to come to a stop, as it is never the victim’s fault for what happened. Reports show that as much as ten times the actual amount of sexual assault cases go unreported, with around 95,000 cases per year. Kim Ménard explains in her book, Reporting Sexual Assault: A Social Ecology Perspective, that more cases where the perpetrator is a stranger and a less severe case, then the likelihood of reporting the crime is greater than when the victim knows the attacker and more severe the case. The problem with reporting is that the victims are too afraid to speak out and have the repercussions placed on them. If society can be more accepting of these attacks and not blame them on clothing, alcohol, or anything but the attacker, then the victims will feel more comfortable and feel inclined to speak out for justice. When people are slut-shamed and bullied due to their outfits, claiming that they “were asking for it” just proves that society is unaccepting of one’s personal choices. Victim blaming results in the victims internalizing their attacks and blaming themselves for the attacks. 

With hopes to change the misunderstandings regarding sexual assault, especially on college campuses, there have been a few movements to help, but most eventually have failed. Bans on alcohol, shutdowns of fraternities, even having females allowed to carry guns on campuses. Jennifer S. Hirsch, a professor at Columbia University’s School of Public Health, a principal investigator of Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT), and an OpEd Project Public Voices Fellow, stated that “last year, a CDC report for the White House reviewed 140 sexual violence prevention programs and found that almost none showed any evidence of impact” (TIME). The Huffington Post stated that even though these types of sexual assaults are mainly occurring on college campuses, that society should not believe that it does not occur in everyday life. People of all ages, races, and genders have to deal with this issue. Even famous people such as pop singer Kesha, who publicly went to trial in hopes to get released from her recording manager’s label due to being raped by her manager, Dr. Luke, was not successful (O’Connor). In years past, no movement has influenced schools and in society alone, to effectively create an environment that allows victims to come forward after their attacks, and not be judged or shamed for their actions. How many infamous cases will it take for society, the government, and universities 

There have been many issues in the justice department of colleges and their actions towards sexual assault cases, even getting public attention for the mistreatments of victims, including extremely lenient sentences, and many not getting charged at all. The infamous Stanford University swimmer, Brock Turner, was a high-profile case when he was charged with raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on the college campus. Even though the maximum sentence he could have faced was fourteen years in prison, the judge declared him only six months that later decreased to only three, because the judge was afraid that prison would be too hard on Turner, a shocking sentence that continues to rock the world. This sparked outrage across the country, a country that demanded justice for the unconscious woman. Unfortunately, justice did not come for the victim and all effected. Justice has not come for a numerous amount of victims of sexual assault, and that has made them attempt to make a change by themselves. In 2014, Columbia University’s Emma Sulkowicz turned her assault into a public spectacle, carrying around the mattress where she was allegedly assaulted and raped, in hopes to have her attacker expelled from the university. Her movement “Carry that Weight” inspired her senior thesis project that led to a political protest, claiming she would carry that mattress until she received justice. However, even with many followers supporting her, and gaining coverage on the New York Times and the cover of New York Magazine, she still had to carry that mattress across the graduation stage that her attacker walked on as well, not being expelled from the school. Schools, and especially highly esteemed universities, such as Stanford, Vanderbilt, etc., attempt to downgrade the extent of sexual assaults that take place on their campuses, due to the backlash that can reciprocated back onto the college. Enforcing lenient sentences to quicken to process of the trial to not create a big media scene, or simply not even taking the case to trial, universities are doing the most to avoid the issue all together to protect their reputations. 

A numerous amount of schools have not properly handled sexual assaults that have occurred on their campuses. High profile cases often include highly esteemed athletes as the perpetrators. A victim at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was assaulted by Allen Artis, a star player on the UNC football team. She went to the university, filed a claim, conducted a rape kit, every step in protocol that a survivor should do, but the school did not support her coming forward. Six months after reporting the assault, University of North Carolina had not done anything to help in regard to her case. (TODAY) Due to the fact that the judicial system varies from school to school, she even stated that the jury was full of uneducated people that were not properly informed of the case. University justice systems need to become a priority at schools and the need to create an equal and similar system across the country is crucial to the improvement of this issue. 

In May of 2014, with high hopes to improve universities’ protocol and regulation of sexual assault cases, the United States Department of Education conducted a thorough investigation throughout more than fifty American universities and colleges regarding the mistreatment and ineffectiveness of procedures handling and trying sexual assault cases. After investigating, they released a lengthy list of universities, including Ivy Leagues such as Stanford, exposing schools that violated the Title IX act that states "No person in the United States shall, based on sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." This movement to expose universities of their wrongdoing influenced a major reformation of their policies regarding sexual assault and survivor treatment. Treatment has slowly improved across the nation with schools such as Dartmouth College that now requires immediate expulsion of students guilty of sexual assault.

In conclusion, sexual assault is an ongoing, increasing issue that is occurring across the country and the world. People are being taken advantage of by their friends and strangers, at their most vulnerable state. Without a conscious and uncoerced approval, women especially are being sexually attacked, either through inappropriate touching, kissing, or penetration. Society is very unaccepting of these attacks, blaming the assaults on the victims, whether it be because of excessive alcohol consumption making them vulnerable, or their choice in clothing, whether it be deemed “inappropriate and inviting”. Victim blaming, the results of these stereotypes, is creating an unsafe and unhelpful environment for treatment. People are shaming the victims into thinking the assaults were karma for their actions, and that they do not deserve any help following the attacks. Victims are forced to handle the aftermath internally, causing depression and post-traumatic stress disorders, with the worst cases resulting in suicide. Colleges and universities are not handling this epidemic correctly, as there is not enough societal acceptance and treatment available on campus. Universities and their justice departments are not handling these cases correctly, as they do not want media and public backlash on their reputation. Victims should not be hesitant to report these crimes to their schools in fear of not getting the justice they deserve, and letting their perpetrators remain unaffected and remain on campus. There have been a few small acts to gradually improve the physical and mental treatment of assaulted victims, and hopefully there will continue to be effective actions to improve the justice system and the persecutions of sexual assault attackers, as no one, no matter his or her gender, sexual orientation, race, clothing, or alcohol consumption should make sexual assault acceptable on any terms. 
