Running Head: SEXUAL ASSAULT AMONG COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Sexual Assault
Amayranis S. Berry
University Of Northern Iowa

Abstract
Sexual assault affects each and every single one of us. On average, one in five women
and one in sixteen men will fall victim to sexual assault before they graduate college. The follow

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paper aims to persuade the reader as to why sexual assault education is needed at public
institutions across the nation. By understanding factors that may cause heighten the chances of
sexual assault occurring we are able to educate and reduce the likelihood of it happening. Sexual
assault is not only an illlegal crime, but it is a crime against humanity. Sexual assault is a
violation against basic human rights and therefore we as humans it is our duty to find a way to
significantly reduce and eliminate sexual assault. A proven method to do so is to educate about
and against sexual assault. We have to be able to change societys ways of dealing with sexual
assault after it happens to dealing with sexual assault in a preventive manner. By educating
people about sexual assault we will be able to see a dramatic change in the occurrence of sexual
assault.

One in four college women and one in sixteen college men will fall victim to sexual
assault before graduation. (Bohmer, 1993) 17.2 million people are currently enrolled in colleges
across the nation ranging from private two year colleges to public four year universities.
Although this statistic alone is very alarming, we have to take into account that ninety percent of
college assaults go unreported. (Bohmer, 1993) With this being said the actual accounts of sexual
assaults on college campuses could be even more than expected.

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When it comes to the topic of sexual assault, many people are left to question, If I or
someone who I know has not been a victim of sexual assault how does it affect me. This
statement in itself allows us to drive to the point that sexual assault it not talked about and
stressed enough in schools. Our generation and other generations must be more informed of
seuxal assault so the numbers can be significantly reduced.
A lack of sexual assault education was proven in a survey that I was able to conduct to
further back up the claim that there is a lack of education of sexual assault on college campuses.
In this survey many of the participants claimed they or someone that they knew was an
unfortunate a victim of sexual assault. The last time that many of the participants took a sexual
violence/ sex education course was back in high school or if not further back into junior high.
The participants cannot be blamed for the lack of education and prevention against sexual
assault. We have to dig further. The lack of education about sexual violence, domestic abuse,
date rape, etc is prominent across the United States. This is surprising due to the fact that this
year alone at the University of Northern Iowa there have been four reported sexual assaults on
campus. So, at what point do we say one sexual assault is one too many?
My personal investment in the awareness in the lack of sexual assault education came
from the number of emails I receive about sexual assaults on the University of Northern Iowa
campus. I was shocked to know that a fellow classmate or even a friend may have been a victim
to sexual assault at the same university that I attend. Yet, this lead me to question if the sexual
assault could have been prevented if the victim knew the signs of what was occurring. Could
they recognize the psychological weapons that their perpetrator was using to get them to fall
victim to the assault? Lastly, did the victim know after the assault occurred that there is acts and
legislations put into place to help her.

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Although sexual assault does not affect every single person first hand, it does impact our
society. Therefore it is societys job to find a way to reduce or eliminate sexual assault. To do so,
we must be educated in factors that do heighten the chances of sexual assault occurring.We must
understand the factors that increase the change of sexual assault occurring and understanding that
although there are acts and legislations being put into place for battling sexual assault this be
standing force in the fight to battle sexual assault. Still, we are able to do more.

Literature review
As stated previously to eradicate sexual assault we must understand what heightens it. It
is shocking to see that with new programs being creating to help those who have been victims of
sexual assault, programs to prevent sexual assault, and programs to understand why sexual
assault happens, the rates of sexual assault has not declined.
Thus we must take the initiative to understand what must be done to significantly reduce
or eradicate sexual assault on college campuses and throughout the world. We must take the
initiative to find different roots of the problem. Scientific research says to blame the perpetrator
of these acts, still on a psychological perspective we must further investigate why sexual assault
happens. Various reasons as to why sexual assault may occur can include; involvement with

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liquor, the environment (off/on campus housing or fraternities or sororities). By further

understanding these situations and what causes them to occur we might be able to find a way to
prevent sexual assault from affecting the lives of many college students.
A recent report by the U.S. Justice Department defines party rape as a distinct form of
rape. A rape that occurs at an off campus or an on campus prying women with alcohol or
targeting an intoxicated women. A common factor to sexual assaults on college campuses is
alcohol. Over 70% of sexual assaults on college campuses involve alcohol use by the victim,
perpetrator, or both. (Cowley, 2013)
Underage drinking is a common occurrence at Universities because of the need to
conform to the larger crowd. A common routine generally is found when trying to conform to
other drinking college students. College partying involves predictable behavior such as
pregaming, getting ready, getting drunk, flirtation, or sexual interaction. (Cowley,2013) These
interesting facts lead us to presume deeper about why sexual assault happens with the occurrence
of alcohol. Women experience sexual assault when drinking more than the legal amount. Most
women overestimate the amount of alcohol that their peers have drank and try to compete with
them, leading to a greater risk of being taking advantage. Thus far, sexual assault is not
heightened just because of the presence of alcohol, it is even more prone to happen when other
factors are carried out with it such as forms of coercion, persuasion and manipulation. We live in
a society where men judge women with varying levels of sexual respect, with lower status
women seen as fair game. A lower status women can be characterised as a women with low
income, failing to attain education, and just living well below her means. Which leads us to
another problematic stance on why sexual assault occurs on college campuses, the gender roles
of men and women.

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One in five college women have experienced sexual assault and most sexual
assaults are perpetrated by a man known to the victim. (Lukima, 2004) Yet, rather than blaming
most perpetrators for what they have done, many point fingers to the victim themselves. Victims
can be blamed for wearing inappropriate clothing, leading the perpetrator on and even consenting
at first. Such as what the victim was wearing, what the victim was saying, or just how the victim
is known causes it to be okay from them to be taken advantage of. Women are supposed to wear
revealing outfits while men are not in society. Women are constantly fed free drinks and given
access to almost anywhere they would want to go. Praying on the vulnerability of women in
these situations allow men to exploit women and to extract consensual sex. As women are known
as the gatekeeper and are the key to sex and why sex happens, men get aggressive to open the
gates to what they want. They tend to become aggressive and put women in situations that are
likely for sexual assault to occur. Thus, beginning the problem; a the lack of education regarding
sexual violence and assault is evident across college campuses.

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Think back to when was the last time you had a sexual education class. A class that you
would go to for more than forty-five minutes and learn about dating violence, date rape, and sex.
The last sexual education class that I took that was similar to this was my ninth grade year of
high school. At this time I can honestly say that I had not even hit puberty, let alone understand
the true meaning of having sex. Not only did I not know that this simple act causes emotion,
pleasure, and attachment. I was naive to understand the act was a way to harm someone. Still,
after this sex education class ended I was expected to know everything about sex. Unfortunately
all I learned was that dental dams were a thing that can be used to prevent babies. Worse yet, I
was not alone in this.
Across the nation, only twenty-four states and the District of Columbia require
that sex education be taught in public schools. Leaving to question exactly what the other
twenty- six states are doing to educate their students about sex. According to the Center for
disease control a survey conducted in 2011 stated that more than forty-seven percent of high
schoolers claimed to of had sex. (CDC, 2016) If sex education was not being taught in high
school, there is almost less of a likelihood that it would be taught in higher institutions such as

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universities and community college where the likelihood of being involved in sexual activities
does rise.
Almost all universities in the state of Iowa are required to have some sort of sexual
education when students first come to campus, usually during orientation according to the Iowa
code 279. 50. Somehow, a forty-five minute presentation about sexual assault is supposed to
make students educated about its prevalence on college campuses and to be careful of it really
supposed to make students educated? The chances of that are slim to none. We must take a
chance to understand that sexual assault is heavily prevalent on college campuses due to the fact
that there is a change of environment when a student first arrives.
Many things include that fact that this could be the first time that a student drinks, the
first time they are in a serious relationship, or maybe even the first time they go to a party. Being
thrown into a world that is so different than the one you were already accustomed to could lead
to confusion when it come to topics such as sexual assault and sexual violence. So why is there
not more sexual education programs to help combat this confusion?
One could argue that the lack of funding for these programs is a reason as to why they are
not found as often on college campuses. However, in 2011 President Barack Obama and
Congress signed a bill that provided over 190 million dollars to put towards two new education
initiatives to support both evidence-based programs and innovate approaches to prevent
unintended teen pregnancy and STDs. (RAINN, 2016) In addition this bill also gave more
funding to the HIV/STD Prevention Education. Still, nothing was given to educate students
about sexual assault.

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This alone does give us the idea that sexual assault is not as important to talk about with
college aged students across the nations. So we have to further understand what needs to be
taught and find a way to teach the information that reduces the likelihood of sexual assault.
Due to the lack of sexual assault education in schools all over the nation, we also have a
lack of understanding as to why sexual assault happens and the physiological weapons that may
be used in an impending sexual assault attack. These physiological weapons used can range
anywhere from the use of alcohol to manipulation by the perpetrator.
Seventy percent of sexual assault on college campuses involve alcohol use by the
victim, perpetrator or both. (Bohmer, 1993) Women are more prone to experiencing sexual
assault when drinking more than the typical amount and problematic alcohol use before the age
of 18. Alcohol is not the only factor that is used in sexual assault incidents. Alcohol is
commonly paired with forms of coercion, persuasion and manipulation. We are able to form the
following argument; alcohol heightens the chance of a sexual assault occurring. (Bohmer,
1993)
Sexual activity in college frequently occurs in social contexts such as parties, dorms and
fraternities. A common occurrence between the varying situations is the presence of alcohol.
Alcohol on a college campus serves as a gateway to an entire new world. It is a form of
connection between peers and acceptance. The stereotypical college student is known as student
who is very studious during the week yet enjoys going out to bars, clubs, parties on the weekend
to let loose. Alcohol is known to give people a sense of liquid courage when they are intoxicated.
It is an excuse to do things they would normally not do while sober. Sadly, it is also used as a
way to lure those who have had too much to drink to do things they would not do sober, or done
completely against their will.

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A report by the U.S. Justice department defines party rape as a distinct form of
rape. This rape occurs in a social context such as a party, dorm room, or Greek life housing. This
kind of rape pry on women that are intoxicated and are not in the right state of mind to make
choices. A recent study showed men in situations, as mentioned earlier, judge women at varying
levels of sexual respect with how much they have had to drink. In other words this states men are
more likely to try to catch the attention of a woman who seems to have had more to drink than
she can handle.
We also have to further understand why women feel the need to get so intoxicated to the
point of where they are not able to make decisions for themselves. Most signs point to the fact
that women are trying to conform to the social environment around them. (Bohmer, 1993)
Women who choose not to drink are usually considered to be boring, friendless, and losers to
society. So the decision between drinking and not drinking can place a person as a social outcast.
Choices like these deepen the root of sexual assault. The need to conform or to fit in,
pushes many adolescents to take up drinking sooner than they would during adulthood. Seventy
percent of sexual assaults on college campuses occur with the presence of alcohol. Choices that
women have to make to conform or to not conform correlates that the presence of alcohol does
heighten the likelihood of sexual assault. (Bohmer,1993)
What must be taken into account is the fact that many college men and women
experience the drinking of alcohol for the very time in a college scene. This alone is a problem
due to how alcohol affects the body. It slurs speech, misjudging with the thought process, and
even causes a person to blackout and not understand what they are doing. College students need
to be educated on the effect alcohol has on them and their world around them.

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Yet it seems that colleges and universities are taking up arms against sexual assault after
they happen. Due to recent media attention, seuxal assault is finally being put on the forefront
and no longer being a topic seen as that if it does not happen to you or someone that you know it
does not affect you.
Many acts and laws such as the Campus Save Act and the Clergy Act have been put into
place to help combat sexual assaults across college campuses. As we dig further into each of
them we can see a common factor that each lacks; education about sexual assault.
The very first law put into place to combat sexual assault was the Victims of Crime Act.
This act was signed into law in 1984. Also known as the VOCA, it aimed to help victims of
sexual assault deal with the tangible costs of surviving seuxal assualt such as medical bills,
consulting services and lost wages. (RAINN, 2016) Victims of sexual assault can apply for funds
to cover expenses for the crime done to them. What is still profoundly interesting is that the fund
is actually supported by guilty criminals. Not out of pocket from criminals directly, but by bail
bonds and penalties collected by from the criminals as part of their sentences.
In 1990 a second act called the Clery Act was passed and recently amended once again in
2013. This act requires greater transparency and timely warnings from college and universities
about crimes committed on campuses, including crimes of sexual violence. (RAINN, 2016)
Every publicly funded institution across the nation has to keep records of sexual violence. This
act also put into place education programs of resources. One small step for man but one large
leap to reducing sexual assault.
The newest act put into law is called the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination or the
Campus SaVE act. This act was passed in 2013 and helped the amend the Clery Act of 1990. The
Campus SaVE act created even greater transparency from the Clery Act. One of the key

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components of the act is that the students of the respective campus where a sexual assault
occurred are to be notified of the crime. No longer are we people in the dark about sexual assault
occurring. Colleges are also required to accommodate victims of sexual assault. Most
importantly out of this act, publicly funded colleges were required to educate sexual violence
prevention and have sex education programs. (RAINN, 2016)
Due to the fact that the Campus SaVE Act is so recent, the effects that the act has on the
reduction on sexual assault has yet to be seen. Only time will tell if this legislation will have
effect on reducing sexual assault across the nation. History is often the greatest predictor of the
future, this this is true much hope can be found. The Clery Act of 1900 did not have that much
affect on the amounts of sexual assaults occurring across the nation. What it did affect was the
number of victims coming forward substantially arose. If these laws do not have an affect on
reducing the amount of sexual assaults occurring, hopefully they will increase the number of
survivors who are willing to report they were victims of sexual assault.
One in four women, one in sixteen men. We, as humans, have the mentality to think that
if something does not happen to us, it will not. Moreover when something does happen to us, it is
strictly due to luck. How unlucky would it be to be that ONE in four women or ONE in sixteen
men. We do have the key to significantly reduce this statistic. Victims of sexual assault have
more resources today than ever before. There is still time for a change. We need to dig deeper
than just simply scratching the surface in what we can do to reduce sexual assault. We must start
educating our youth about sexual assault. We can no longer pretend that a crime against
humanity is going to go away. It is time to take a stance. No longer can we be manipulated when
going out with friends, no longer can we be taken advantage of simply due to the fact that we are
inexperienced when it comes to sex. The time has come now for a change. We have accepted our

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past mistakes when dealing with sexual assault. No longer is it just the fault of the perpetrator,
but it is also our duty to educate against sexual assault. We have to be able to talk openly and
honestly with college freshman that the likelihood of each and every single one of them being a
victim of sexual assault is high. We have to be able to have a conversation saying that although
we want to be able to go out and have fun with our friends, we have to be extremely conscious of
the world around us.
When we educate young people everywhere the factors that heighten the chances of
sexual abuse. To do so we have to be able to start young. We have legislation put into place to
further fund education programs for sexual violence, abuse, and assault. Now is time to
incorporate these in public schools everywhere, not just on college campuses. By educating
young people we are taking a step to end sexual assault. To be able to help victims and families
who are already suffering from the aftermaths of sexual assault to come forward and to know
that their efforts were not for nothing. To be able to allow these victims to finally know that
telling their story of injustice and crime was not for nothing. It was a way to touch generations
now and for those in the future. This in itself will further help us finally find a light at the end of
a dark tunnel that is sexual assault.

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Bibliography
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Bohmer, C., & Parrot, A. (1993). Sexual assault on campus: The problem and the solution. New
York: Lexington Books.
Lukima, J. (2004). EPublications. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from
http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/sexual-assault.html
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). (n.d.). Sexual Assault Legislation.
doi:10.4135/9781452229300.n1259
Violent Crime. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2016, from
https://www.nerdwallet.com/nerdscholar/compareschools/safety/university/university-of-northerniowa
R. (n.d.). Victims of Crime Act | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Retrieved
March 3, 2016, from https://rainn.org/get-info/legal-information/federal-laws/VOCA
Sexual Risk Behaviors: HIV, STD, & Teen Pregnancy Prevention. (2016, January 16). Retrieved
March 02, 2016, from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/sexualbehaviors/

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