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Sexual Abuses on College Campuses

Every day or every other day more than one American girl is going to wake up as a
sexual abuse victim. Some assailants will use alcohol as a justification, some others will just say
that the victim did not say No in a convincing way. But, is there really any justification or
excuse for sexual abuses? Does anyone have the right to rape a male or female because they are
drunk? Or is it all part of the sexual culture on American sexual campuses and even more, does
the way women are seen by American society has anything to do with this sexual culture on
campuses? These are all questions that cause a lot of controversy and division among American
society, so, the purpose of this paper is essentially to position myself about this topic by stating
and exposing different facts and opinions that might clarify my opinion about it as well as to
unmask the sad reality about sexual assaults on college campuses.
As the statistics show, women ages at 18-24 are at an elevated risk of sexual violence. In
other words, one in 5 women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. As the
numbers show sexual assaults represent a big problem in the United States, which would
probably be easier to solve if the victims reported the abuses, though, the reality shows that

around 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault (Statistics
about Sexual Violence by National Sexual Violence Resource Center).
These statistics may be impacting but what in my opinion, they are not surprising for
several reasons. The first one is that how is this problem supposed to be solved if among
American students still survives a sexual culture on college campuses or also known as the
party culture. The best way of explaining this concept is by looking at the recent case of rape

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at a university that took place in California, which involved Brock Allen Turner, an ex-Stanford
swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a fraternity dumpster.
This case is not only impactful for being another example of sexual abuse but also because of the
controversy caused by the defendants opinions and the light sentence by the Santa Clara County
Superior Court. Turners defense basically stated that it was a mistake of a drunk boy. This
wasn't rape, wrote Leslie Rasmussen, a childhood friend, in a letter to Persky. This was "idiot
boys and girls having too much to drink." A kid's life shouldn't be ruined, Turner's dad argued,
because of "20 minutes of action." Turner weighed in too, saying he'd been "shattered"-not by
remorse over the assault but by "party culture." The problem is that American society didnt
identify as rape any case involving two people that knew each other until the late 80s. So, as
the author Eliana Dockterman stated in her article Party Culture' No Longer Excuses Rape on
College Campuses, which in my opinion could have not been expressed in a better way, this
creates a culture in which women are responsible for preventing their own rapes. If only she
hadn't gotten so drunk or she hadn't worn that outfit, the thinking goes, things might have turned
out differently. As opposed to: why didn't he respect boundaries? . In other words, there are two
points of view in this case, and in general, in all the sexual assault cases: the point of view
adopted by the defense, which is basically summarized by saying that it was just a mistake from
a young boy and he is going to learn from it and the point of view of the majority of people
(including the university involved in the case) and mine, which mainly claims that there are no
excuses for any of the occurrences. Alcohol should not be an excuse; Turners social position
should not be an excuse; and, Turner not having a criminal record should not be an excuse for
not convicting this man for more than 6 months.

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This last example links not only to the party culture but to the controversial topic
involving alcohol as an excuse used not only by the rapists but even sometimes by the victims
that find themselves in a self-blaming position. As E. Brown, S. Hendrix and S.Svrluga note in
the The Washington Post article Drinking is central to college culture and to sexual assault
claims it is widely believed that being drunk or alcohol, in general, make girls more susceptible
to be sexually assaulted. What that means is basically that assailants usually see alcohol as a
signal of defenselessness, thats to say, a way of approaching a girl and having sexual
relationships with her without being scared of a No. Even if it seems unbelievable, at least
from my perspective, there are people who really think that alcohol might be used as an excuse,
thats to say, for them alcohol opens the door to consent.
Those who justify it think that alcohol have an effect on peoples behavior, it makes
people (especially guys) to act in a more aggressive way and it encourages sexual behavior.
Thus, these two behaviors can lead to an impairment ability to rectify misconceptions; a
diminishing ability to resist; a justified aggressive behavior. However, in my opinion, these
modified behavior still does not justify the acts. It is true that under the alcohol effects people, in
general, tend to act differently, but, if most of the people can control their actions even when
they are drunk, why are the assailants incapable to do the same? Is it because they go to parties
with the preconception that party involves alcohol and alcohol involves sex? In my opinion, yes.
This point can be proven by just thinking and reading about how American society sees men and
women roles while dating and about mens expectations about alcohols effect and mens
misperceptions of womens sexual intent. In regard to the traditionality of gender role beliefs,
American society is still established in a way where men appear to be the dominant gender in a

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relationship. This fake dominance make some men think that when women say No it actually
means convince me, which is related to the consent and non-consent misunderstandings in
most of the sexual cases. Not only that, but as it is said in an article called Alcohol-Related
Sexual Assault: A Common Problem among College Students by Antonia Abbey men are
expected to always be interested in sex, whereas women learn that they should not appear too
interested in engaging in sexual activities or that they will be labeled fast or promiscuous .
Regarding to the mens expectations about alcohols effect, the problem is generated by the fake
sense that when a man feels more aggressive and more sexually ready while drinking, so does a
woman in the same situation. And this is linked by mens misperceptions of womens sexual
intent.
Related to these last paragraphs I think it is also important to mention the role that
fraternities play in most of the sexual abuse cases on college campuses. In the last years there has
been controversy about putting an end to the Greek life because of the amount of sexual assault
cases related to it. One of the last events that caused controversy took place at Yale University,
accused of not doing enough when a fraternity claimed No means yes! Yes means anal!. In my
opinion, and basically repeating what I have been saying in the last paragraphs, it is not a matter
of Greek Life, it is a matter of how people, in this case men, think about women, alcohol and
party. A guy who wants to assault a woman in a sexual way is going to do whether he is part of a
fraternity or not. So, I dont think Greek life on college campuses need to come to an end.
However, I agree with the ones saying that fraternity offer coverage to these actions. In other
words, I think rapists feel protected by the fraternities because it might seem that their acts are
justified because it is part of what being in a fraternity means.

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So, it seems clear that sexual abuses on college campuses represent a big problem in the
United States. As I previously mentioned, I agree to impose more severe prison sentences to the
rapists and I also agree to maintain a strict control over fraternities. But, at the same time, I think
it should be a national matter and it should be confronted, in first place, from the White House by
making some regulations and passing laws aiming to defend the victims, prevent the assaults and
punish the assailants. It is true that some colleges across the country as well as non-profit
organizations are starting to take action by modifying the legislations with new rules and by
protecting and proving help to the victims. For instance, PACT 5 a humanitarian collaboration
started by students and faculty in 5 universities who work in a documentary format, thats to
say, the students create documentaries about issues related to sexual abuses on campuses which
have a biggest impact on people.
As I said, though, I feel that the government should be showing more concern about it,
therefore, while looking for information I had interest to find information about how the two
candidates for the U.S presidency approach this problem. In first place, Hillary Clinton wants to
keep up with the campaign It's on us initiated by Obama, which promises to keep everyone
safe and to offer help to all the victims. Apart from that, she has three main goals noted by
Ashley Young and Alexander Tin in What Will Clinton and Trump Do About Sexual Assault On
College Campuses (2) that are to provide comprehensive support to survivors; to ensure a fair
process for all because; and to increase prevention efforts with education programs. On the
other hand, Donald Trump has not talked about this topic during his campaign but he has given
support to the Republican Partys platform that goes on to call for reports of sexual assault to be
investigated by authorities. However, what turns out to be stunning is the way Trump has talked

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about women in public. How is this man supposed to help all the women who have been raped or
all the women who are going to experience a sexual abuse, if he talks in such a derogatory way
about them. For instance, how he addressed to Hillary about her husbands past affairs or his
latest conversation on a phone. In my opinion, this kind of persons are the ones who encourage
the rapists to keep acting like they do, they are the ones who possibly agree that alcohol is an
excuse for the assailants and the ones who do not make any progress.
To sum up, it is widely-known among American citizens that sexual assault is one of the
biggest concerns for students and their families once they start college. The positive part of it, as
I said, is that it is becoming a national concern which means that new legislations and new
measures are starting to be taken. The negative part, the number of cases is still high and even
worse, the number of reports is still low. And, even if most of the people are aware of this
problem and are in favor of taking action to stop it, there are some other people who still find
justifications like alcohol or party culture to these acts. But, as I have been stating in most of this
essay, for me and for the vast majority of people, the only thing that causes rape is the rapist, not
the alcohol, not the way a girl is dressing, not the misconception of what consent is.

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Work Cited

Abbey, Antonia. "Alcohol-Related Sexual Assault: A Common Problem among ..." N.p., n.d.
Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/media/journal/118-abbey.pdf >
Brown, Emma, Steve Hendrix, and Susan Svrluga. "Drinking Is Central to College Culture
and to Sexual Assault." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 14 June 2015. Web. 28
Oct. 2016.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/beer-pong-body-shots-keg-stands-alc
ohol-central-to-college-and-assault/2015/06/14/7430e13c-04bb-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4
e_story.html >
Dockterman, Eliana. "'Party Culture' No Longer Excuses Rape on College Campuses." N.p., 17
June 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. Middle Search Plus
<http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=e43c9b9e-a96d-4e9c-9636-75c49c64da
d8%40sessionmgr4010&vid=0&hid=4102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#A
N=116229351&db=mih >
Smith, Carol. "A Dangerous Mix: Drinking, Sex and College Students." InvestigateWest. N.p.,
2010. Web. 25 Oct. 2016. <http://invw.org/sexual-assault/>
"Statistics about Sexual Violence." National Sexual Violence Resource Center Info & Stats For
...
National Sexual Violence Resource Center, n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.nsvrc.org/sites/default/files/publications_nsvrc_factsheet_media-packet_stat
istics-about-sexual-violence_0.pdf >
Young, Ashley, and Alexander Tin. "What Will Clinton and Trump Do About Sexual Assault On
College Campuses?" NPR. NPR, 7 Aug. 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.npr.org/2016/08/07/488289283/what-will-clinton-and-trump-do-about-sexu
al-assault-on-college-campuses>
Zimmerman, Eilene. "Campuses Struggle With Approaches for Preventing Sexual Assault." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/education/campuses-struggle-with-approaches-forpreventing-sexual-assault.html >

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