Bradford Harrell

Ending Sexual Assault on College Campuses

Abstract

Sexual assault is a public safety and health problem with broad ranging implications. It is evident

that many there are recurring factors that contribute to the sexual harassment among college

students. Many students are very unaware of the situational circumstances which deals with this

particular issue at educational institutions, and how to handle them through understanding Title

IX. I have shown much interest in this topic from a concerned student standpoint, in hopes that

the knowledge of sexual assault and its prevention methods will benefit the safety of college

students across the United States. The purpose of this research is to identify the aspects of sexual

harassment on college campuses which involve the prevalence of victimization and the

contributing factors, the continuum of sexual violence and the complication of reporting these

acts, as well as prevention and how understanding Title IX can be of assistance when reporting

cases like such.

 Bradford Harrell

RCO 390-03

10 March 2018

Ending Sexual Assault on College Campuses

Sexual assault is a public safety and health problem with broad ranging implications.

Although research of sexual assault exists, there is more data to be collected to help document

the wide spectrum of the problem. An extent to where a specific subpopulation in our society is

faced with the complications of these acts. This is predominant is the subpopulation of college

students, where there is an elevated risk of sexual assault. One of the most violating experiences

anyone can endure is by being sexually assault which can cause immediate, as well as long term,

physical and mental consequences. There are effects such as depression, anxiety and even the

contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). There are even cases when the victim is

conflicted to the point that they drop out or transfer to a different educational institution. The

contributing factors of sexual assault in most regards to college campuses have statistically

shown that incapacitation through alcohol and drug use have an impact on the perpetrators ability

to proceed with non-consensual sexual activity. A Campus Sexual Assault study conducted by

the Department of Justice in 2007 distinguished between forced sexual assault and incapacitated

sexual assault, showing that incapacitated sexual assault is more than twice as common. In most

cases, victims who were under the influence when they were sexually harassed chose to not
report the assault because they are scared that they will get in trouble for under-age drinking

and/or drug use. This study was conducted from two universities that both offered Greek

organizations, college sports, and residence halls. When you think about the aspect of residential

life, it will be more common for sexual misconduct to occur because of the constant social

interactions which take place day-to-day. The most important issues to address when dealing

with sexual assault at colleges and universities require focus on increasing the consequences

of acts of sexual assault through Title IX, incorporating education through mandatory

involvement of male and female students, while also enforcing stricter security policies on

college campuses.

Sexual assault is an issue we face in our society today that seems to be constantly

increasing. The sad part is, most of these sexual assaults are happening on the college/university

campuses in our nation. In fact, according to the Department of Justice Bureau, one in five

women are sexually assaulted in their undergraduate careers, and one in four women are raped

within their four years at the college or university they are attending. This is a huge problem

which raises many questions as to why places of higher education are resulting in many cases

and reports of sexual violence. Sexual harassment is a topic which is seemingly hard to define

and document legally, in contrast to rape; some observers struggle to agree about what exactly

constitutes acts of sexual assault. It is a type of sexual harassment which violates two federal

laws: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of

1972. Sexism and gender are also discussed in these laws. Turns out, 90 percent of victims who

report sexual harassment are women, while 10 percent are of men, and 99 percent of single-

victim assaults are committed by men (Bureau of Justice Statistics 2010). There has been

controversy on the perceptions on what is considered as sexual harassment among men and
women. It is most important to tackle the issue of sexual assault right on these campuses- but

how?

One of the most effective solutions to reducing the occurrences of sexual assault cases at

the collegiate level is implementing stronger standards when sanctioning violators in accordance

with Title IX. In the article “Enhancing Title IX Due Process Standards in Campus Sexual

Assault Adjudication: Considering the Roles of Distributive, Procedural, and Restorative

Justice”, Shannon Harper discusses that "Institutions of higher education must not only work to

align Title IX adjudication policies and procedures with unclear OCR (Office of Civil Rights)

due process recommendations and directives, but with constitutional, state, and federal laws

emphasizing the necessity of limiting due process rights rather than expanding them". In other

words, further efforts in policy revisions should be made so that more universities will not only

implement sexual assault policies, but also implement more comprehensive policies that promote

awareness. The goal for this solution is to encourage the development of more effective

prevention policies, increasing sexual assault reporting, and decreasing sexual assaults.

Many students enter college without even the thought of being potentially sexually

violated. This shouldn’t be something that college students should have to worry about, but it is

imperative that college students are aware of sexual assault and policies on their campus in hopes

that they are properly informed on the consequences sexual harassment incurs. A journal study

conducted by Monica Romero-Sanchez, "How Do College Students Talk About Sexual

Assault?", concludes that "prevention programs aimed at changing attitudes should include

different strategies for males and females and not only general proposals directed towards both".

With this being said, education should be incorporated through mandatory involvement of male

and female students. Mandatory seminars should include all classifications of students freshmen
through seniors at the start of the academic school year. Since majority of sexual assaults occur

in the Fall semester, information awareness should be increased during high volume student

activity on campus (e.g. homecoming, athletic events). As an effort for self-protective services,

self-defense classes need to be provided on campus on campus from little to no cost.

Although rape and sexual assault will almost never be eliminated from college campuses,

making the security enforcement methods more advanced and creating higher quality security

camera footage could play an important role in reducing the number of sexual assaults. It is an

endless struggle to prove who was involved and the exact details of the attack. Concise video

footage of assaults can strengthen the prosecutor’s case and make it easier to provide critical

evidence. Also security escorts for students are vital. Not all students are aware of this free

serviced provided on their campuses. Emergency contact information should be provided at the

beginning and throughout each semester. Majority of sexual assaults among students happen on

campus. This is why dorm rooms tend to be the place of the attack, the only private, personal

space a college student is given. As a strong effort to appease this issue would be to install a

panic button with an alert notifying dorm staff (residential advisors) should be available for

students in each dorm room.

It's all fun and games until you or one of your friends get sexually assaulted, which is a

very serious and possible detrimental outcome. It is important to be aware of your environments

and resources, and how to utilize them to address the complications of sexual assault.
 Bibliography

Carpenter, Linda Jean, and R. Vivian Acosta. Title IX. Human Kinetics, 2005.

Harper, Shannon, et al. “Enhancing Title IX Due Process Standards in Campus Sexual Assault

Adjudication: Considering the Roles of Distributive, Procedural, and Restorative Justice.”

Journal of School Violence, vol. 16, no. 3, 2017, pp. 302–316.

Paludi, Michele Antoinette. Campus Action against Sexual Assault: Needs, Policies, Procedures,

and Training Programs. Praeger, 2016.

Romero-Sanchez, Monica, and Jesus L. Megi­as. “How Do College Students Talk about Sexual

Assault?” Journal of Gender Studies, vol. 24, no. 6, 2013, pp. 644–659.

“Title IX.” The United States Department of Justice, www.justice.gov/crt/title-ix.