One in five women and one in seventy-one men will be raped during their lifetime (National Sexual Violence Resource Center). We live in a culture where rape and sexual assault are common threats for people of any gender. While in college, one in four girls will experience some form of sexual assault (Pérez-Peña 1). The lack of attention paid to the prevalence of rape on college campuses conveys the desensitized atmosphere the population is immersed in. As can be seen, the people most at risk to be victims of sexual assault are college females. By looking closely at the problems surrounding slut shaming, women's oppression, and collegiate rape culture across America, we can see that this not a problem that will be solved easily, or solved by females alone. Instead, we must unite to work towards a common goal of reducing slut shaming and eliminating the gender equality gap in order to eradicate sexual assault and rape of any kind toward any people. 

Rape culture is a society or environment in which sexual assault and domestic abuse are normalized or trivialized. We turn on our televisions or open our news apps on our phone and constantly hear about rape whether the victims be adults or young men and women on our nation’s college campuses. When we hear this news we are saddened but not surprised as rape is not uncommon. The environment around which rape culture is created in one in which cat calling and street harassment are everyday occurrences. The words slut and whore are constantly used as insults towards women. In this culture, rape has become something joked about. BuzzFeed explained how this affects a woman’s day to day life accurately, 

Rape culture is telling girls and women to be careful about what you wear, how you wear it, how you carry yourself, where you walk, when you walk there, with whom you walk, whom you trust, what you do, where you do it, with whom you do it... never let your guard down for a moment lest you be sexually assaulted and if you are and didn’t follow all the rules it’s your fault (Broderick).

This is a small excerpt of Broderick’s full quote which aims to inform the public of the kind of fear one will experience while living in a culture that trivializes sexual assault. 

There is a clear double standard for the way men and women are treated and have to act in terms of sex and sexual assault. The correlation between this double standard and women’s oppression is strong and important to acknowledge. Much of our country’s history is based on female oppression. White women did not have the right to vote until one hundred and forty-four years into America’s existence, and this is just white women. African American women did not have the right to vote until 1965, nearly two hundred years into our country’s history. As of 2015, less than two years ago, white women were only paid eighty cents for every dollar men made (Institute for Women's Policy Research). Not only that, but African American women as of 2016 were only paid hourly sixty five cents to every dollar white men are paid (Patten 2). Today only 5.3% of fortune five hundred company CEOS are women (CNNMoney). The root of this problem can be traced back to the lack of female representation in United States government. Men are both capable and deserving of high paying and powerful jobs and there is no doubt that they have worked hard for their positions, however, there are deeply ingrained systemic issues with a lack of women’s representation in positions of power. There are countless women who are just as well qualified for jobs in government and business who are denied the job to a man with the same qualifications. As can be seen by the previously stated statistics, women in our country are perceived as lesser and less deserving than men. With women still not on the same playing field as men it is hardly fair to claim equality between the sexes. This alone creates a huge gap in the way women and men are treated and protected under the law which is supposed to provide equality for everyone.

In correlation, many times women are seen as objects rather than people and taken advantage of. Where does women’s objectification stem from? The objectification of women can stem from advertisements, movies, or television shows where women are seen as sexual objects rather than people, and with harmful words such as slut and whore. When boys are sexually active it is considered legendary but when girls are more sexual than society expects of them they are considered sluts and whores. This double standard is problematic for many reasons. First, it marginalizes women making them lesser because while legally they have the same rights that men do they are judged and ridiculed in a way that men are usually not. Additionally, when we comment on what women are wearing or how they act sexually in a negative way this is harmful because it opens the door for victim blaming. In other words, claiming that the victim of rape or sexual assault actually did want to have sex or be assaulted because their outfit was inviting this behavior. Rape culture not only creates an environment where slut shaming is a normalcy but victim blaming is as well.

In the past when women have been raped often time their assailants and even judges have claimed that they “were asking for it” because they were dressed provocatively or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and should not have put themselves in that position. To be clear, rape is never the victims fault, no one is every asking to be sexually assaulted. Yet somehow we as a society have gotten to a point where we think it’s okay to blame the victims of rape rather than their assailants for these horrific acts committed against them. An appropriate analogy made by Matthew C. Whitaker from CNN is as follows, “Even if someone is being "stupid" and leaving his or her car unlocked, and it is stolen, few people will respond by saying "we should not punish the car thief because who can blame him for taking advantage?"(Whitaker). We do not blame the owner we blame the thief; in this same way we must not blame the victim. 

In terms of solutions, we must start with our own voices first. One of the most important things we can do as college students is discouraging our peers from slut shaming and stand up for what is right. Around campus we hear the words slut and whore thrown around constantly. We hear jokes about rape being thrown around, “That test just raped me” or “I’m going to rape you” when walking around campus as jokes between friends. At parties we see boys competing to see which girl they can get drunk the quickest and the fastest. We see drinks in bowls labeled “for girls only”. This is not only not funny but also harmful to women everywhere. In order to reduce the objectification and degradation and increase respect for women and their bodies we must eliminate these hateful words from our vocabulary by explaining to our peers that they are not funny and should not be thrown around as a joke. Additionally, we must educate both young boys and girls in the same way about these topics and about the importance of consent. 

Another way we can work to solve this problem is by empowering women and continuing to fight for women’s rights. More women must be put in powerful positions whether they be in business or in government, where we’ve already established women are highly underrepresented. This is important because it gives young girls powerful women to look up to and also allows a larger percentage of people making decisions on women’s behalves to be women. There have been several efforts recently to work towards educating and empowering girls, for example Michelle Obama’s wildly successful Let Girls Learn movement. Let Girls Learn is a United States government initiative to ensure adolescent girls get the education they deserve started under the Obama administration the movement strives to empower girls by providing them with education and tools to be successful. Another great example is Emma Watson’s “He for She” campaign which advocates for gender equality while trying to get rid of gender bias instilled in children at a young age at school. We need more of these movements! With celebrities and powerful female role models stepping forward to advocate for gender equality progress is inevitable. 

In order to quickly add to the number of women working in government and business the United States should consider implementing a quota system in which a certain number of women must be elected or hired into positions of power by all major corporations as well as the United States government. This system would not be in place for ever therefore, it would not limit our democracy it would only be put in place to even out the playing field for men and women, and of course the women in these positions would have to be just as qualified as the men. This is a highly controversial idea as many think if the United States were to implement this policy it would abolish our democracy. If implemented for a short but meaningful amount of time this policy would be effective and further our democracy because it would be working towards a truly level playing field for men and women.     

Similarly, it is important to have open discussions between both sexes. Talking about sexual assault can be difficult, especially when speaking to a divided audience. Andrew Bretz, a professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, in "Making An Impact?: Feminist Pedagogy And Rape Culture On University Campuses" explains that teaching about rape to a divided audience is difficult but it can be done. Bretz shares that he discusses privilege, trauma, and the mechanics of gender based violence in a way that is often painful and emotional for students but is also incredibly effective. It is imperative that we have open discussions amongst both sexes and that we educate people on what rape actually is. What is consent? What are the laws? Why can someone who is under the influence not give consent? Why is this all so important? Professors and educators like Bretz must continue to advocate to have discussions like these inside US classrooms. 

 “Our Story of Rape and Reconciliation” stands as a powerful and effective example of this type of conversation. In 1996, Thordis Elva shared a teenage relationship with Tom Stranger, an exchange student from Australia. After a school dance, Tom raped Thordis, they did not communicate for several years, however, they eventually reconnected and have been talking ever since. The TED talk is an honest discussion which emphasizes the shame and silence Elva felt as well as the global issue of sexual assault. Stranger explains that on the evening he raped Elva he acted on the feeling that men have some unspoken and symbolic claim to women’s bodies. He talks about his influences and how they instilled these beliefs in him, yet it was only him making the decisions on that night and only he can take responsibility for that. He explains that his actions were indulgent and selfish. The two also talk about the importance of transferring the blame from the victim to the rapist as they did by meeting up and discussing what had happened. This video was inspiring to watch and it provides hope for all that men and women really can have open and honest discussions about rape. The two speakers neither attacked each other nor were defense which provided a forgiving and open dialogue. There is a great deal of controversy about this video in the feminist community because Stranger is receiving money and attention for this TED talk and his work to share his story. Many would argue that he should not be receiving money or attention. This may be true, however, their very public discussion is a good start and stands as an example for others. 

The article “The Rape ‘Epidemic’ Doesn’t Actually Exsist” written Caroline Kitchens is an argument against the concept of rape culture. The author argues that “the rape epidemic does not actually exist. Kitchens explains that there aren’t enough accurate facts to defend the idea that rape culture is a problem in the United States. Kitchens goes on to share that the statistics around sexual assault are so ambiguous because the definition of sexual assault is not clear and people explain sexual assault in varying ways. Kitchens goes on to explain, “During the years surveyed, 1995-2002, the DOJ found that there were six rapes or sexual assaults per thousand per year”. The main point of the article is to explain that while there is a large amount of sexual assault on college campuses the author does not believe that this should be considered an epidemic because the statistics are exaggerated and made to seem worse than they actually are. This point of view is both baffling and incorrect. Rape is clearly a problem on and off college campuses all across America. The article was published in 2013 yet the statistics are incredibly outdated. The main point of Kitchen’s article is to explain that while rape is a problem it should not be considered an epidemic because this is too alarming and incorrect. Considering rape an epidemic and attracting attention and urgency to the issue is one of the only ways we will raise awareness and will be able to properly advocated for the problem. 

Another counterargument is that we live in a society where rape is normalized so we must teach girls and women how to avoid being raped for their own safety rather than teaching men not to rape because this is an unrealistic expectation of them. This too is incorrect. The first step in solving the problem is teaching both sexes what rape is, and the importance of consent. It is important to teach women to defend themselves because of the culture we are a part of and it is necessary because of the kind of world we live in both it is even more important that we teach people not to rape. We must start educating children from a younger, while still appropriate age. 

We cannot change the first few hundred years of our countries history or anything about the past. We can work towards a much more positive future. We must work toward a future where there is equality between people of all genders. We can work toward a future were teenage girls do not have to worry about what will happen to them if they get separated from their group on a night out and were both men and women have a legitimately equal shot at getting the same job. This intern will reduce the number of sexual assaults committed each year. In order to do this, we must start by having open conversations with both men and women. We must not walk on egg shells and we mustn’t worry about ruining a man’s career. Rather, we as a nation need to treat sexual assault with the level or severity it deserves. We must empower women and young girls so that they feel equally as capable and deserving as the men around them, we must remove rigid gender roles and we must significantly reduce the use of negative words such as slut and whore while working to eliminate slut shaming towards women.
