Running head: Sexual Assault on Campus

Sexual Assault on Campus

Eileen Ortega
University of Texas at El Paso

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Sexual Assault

No longer can College Campuses keep closed doors to Sexual Assault, during the past decades it
has alarmingly increased its statistics. College is no longer safe, despite the lack of resources schools
provide, the justice system in a criminal court is as flawed. The first genre is a book, Sexual Assault
on Campus(1993) by Professors Bohmer and Parrot who conducted a research about sexual assault,
how schools respond to the victims, and how the justice system is at fault by failing in executing
punishment to the aggressor. The second genre is a letter, Stanford Victim Letter Impact Statement
From Brock Turners Victim, it is directed to Brock Turner the alleged rapist; it is a thirteen-page
essay of her traumatic experience. It will show the reader that sexual assault should not be taking
lightly. Sexual Assault on Campus or outside, doesnt matter where should not be subject to
degradation, these people are victims not witnesses but the justice system and society mentality fails
to see that. It will show two sides one that is of research and the other of the victim. This genre is
subjected to produce solutions to Universities to prevent and protect their students but the truth is it
shouldnt be about how women should not get rape but for men not to do it

Audience and Purpose

The intended audience for the first genre, Sexual Assault on Campus, is mainly for adults or
victims themselves who have experienced these ordeal and want to learn how sexual assault is dealt
with in general, how to proceed to report this crime and the main cause in why it isnt reported, The
letter, Stanford Victim Letter Impact Statement from Brock Turners Victim, would be for civilians
who want to be informed of what is happening in this case, how the information will be of use
depends on the reader views and opinions. The type of discourse community these both have is

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Media, to be able to share information and communicate. The audience in both genres would have
common knowledge that Sexual Assault on Campus does happen, and mostly the perpetrator
punishment is not severe. The reader will likely know about The case of Beckett Breman, a young
woman who got raped back in 2008 while attending the University of the Pacific. Three men that
were part of the University basketball team raped her. The audience would want to know why these
three men received different punishments if they all committed the same crime? In order for the
audience to understand is to completely comprehend Sexual Assault. The time the audience would
want to spend on the book, Sexual Assault on Campus depends on how interested the reader is, it is
not required for the reader to read the whole book, in the introduction there is enough to retain
information from the research without reading the whole book. However in the letter Stanford
Victim Letter Impact Statement from Brock Turners Victim, it will benefit the reader to read the
full thirteen pages. The knowledge presented in the book is a mixture of information and persuasion
by providing summaries of woman who got raped, the way College campus fail in siding with the
victim. The letter is to inform the reader of the victim thoughts, how she feels, the way the Justice
system reacted to her case, and the outcome.

Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

The Book, Sexual Assault on Campus

Author Bohmer and Parrot help establish their credibility by mentioning a

Foreword by Representative Jim Ramstad who is a legislator that managed to introduce to
Congress the Campus Sexual Assault Victims Bill of Rights Act of 1991 it was eventually
passed and signed by the President in 1992. The Stanford Victim letter establishes her own

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credibility by being a victim, she used the Media as her publisher where well known news outlets
spread her case, her letter, and YouTube published her essay as well for the viewer to hear and
read. The credibility is effective in both genres, since the audience is able to connect on both
sides by providing names, to show the audience how Sexual Assault is mishandled by not
understanding the victim. Professors Bohmer and Parrot evokes ethos by conducting a research
from victims who did not report sexual assault and to those who actually report it to the campus
authorities, the police, or both. They also examined approximately 50 campus codes of colleges
of all types, in different regions of the United States. It will be reliable to the reader since its not
about one college but multiple who have failed in providing protection to the victim. The reader
should keep in mind the policies are inadequate, throughout the book, in (pg.184) the professors
address that Colleges have sexual assault under sexual harassment which is not the same, sexual
harassment is power over a (student, teacher, faculty) and sexual assault is without consent.
Pathos is drawn from Bohmer and Parrot by providing summaries from the victims who
experienced sexual assault, it connects with the reader to make it more familiar by contributing
their names, how old these women are, how they were sexual assaulted, and the outcome of their
case. The discourse community will develop a connection through these women since they are
not victims anymore, they have a name, and emotions will be easier to be felt. Anger, disbelief
will be strained by providing an example of a case in pg. (39) the Mike Tyson Case, Mike Tyson
was convicted of rape and sexual assault but his victim Desiree Washington was still questioned
and victimized. It shows how society views Sexual Assault, if men were drunk, excuses are
provided for him but the woman are blamed for being intoxicated and should have known
better. It gives knowledge to the audience that Universities lack the fundamental to proceed in
these type of cases or even when there is strong evidence to punish the offender. Logos is

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stressed by providing evidence of how many women report their sexual assault, which is only
about 4 percent, while women are more likely to get raped (20 percent). Furthermore by
showcasing College campus policies, what their definition is of Sexual Assault, and logic to the
reader, of what is right or wrong. Professor Bohmer and Parrot provide Appendix B, Student
Right to know and Campus Security Act, pg. (220) by providing statistics from Congress, of
roughly 80 percent of campus crimes are committed by a student upon another student. Step by
step it scopes out the problem of sexual assault, why victims dont report it, how it is run in the
civil court and in the colleges judicial court, and the reader will understand why sexual assault is
not viewed as a crime, why it is not taken seriously.
The Letter
The second genre, Stanford Victim Letter Impact Statements from Brock Turners Victim
evokes incredulity, dismay for this woman against Turner, who had to fight a whole year to
prove that she was raped. It draws Pathos by providing her traumatic thoughts as seen in pg. 1(7th
paragraph), I dont want my body anymore. I was terrified of it. I didnt know what had been in
it, if it had been contaminated, who had touched it. Turner victim details her experience before
it began and when it all ended, she also points out the ordeal of the justice system left her more
victimized since Turner lawyer broke her by providing statements that the jury can only depend
on Turner words since she couldnt remember. . Despite the fact that the jury found Turner guilty
of three counts, his mere sentence was to spend three months in jail. Three months for raping her
behind a dumpster, half naked, all evidence pointed at him guilty yet his sentence is lenient.
Throughout the trial there is a loss of hope and a consistency of wariness of the upcoming day in
how she will fight through her trauma. The victim also connects with the readers that are girls by
stating in pg. (12), When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for

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you. So never stop fighting, I believe you. To nudge from these selectively readers tears that it
wasnt only about her but for all of them. It is only through written words that she keeps it
consistence, the victim uses Logos to depicts Brock Turner statements to give the reader an
impression that they do not make sense, the victim provides her own analysis as seen in pg. (78), where Turner mentioned he didnt want to victimize her at all, that was his attorney, she
stated, Did your attorney say some incredulously infuriating, degrading things? Absolutely. He
said you had an erection because you were cold, the reader will consider how humiliating it
must be for these people to latch on impossible straws that have no context or evidence that is
concrete. Another illustration will be on pg.8, Lastly you said, I want to show people that one
night of drinking can ruin a life, she then proceeded to state, Ruin a life, one life, yours, you
forgot about mine. In this analysis the reader will know the victim is saying the truth, there is
no room for propaganda since its not about her case but future cases. The reader will
understand that Brock Turner actions throughout this trial are denial, and recognizes he will not
admit of what he had done was wrong. But above all, what is sketched from this trial is no victim
should have to go through a whole year for her to get justice, the realization that our Justice
System needs to revise their policies and laws so the assailant actually gets convicted of their
crimes. The reader will also acknowledge that the book of Professors Bohmer and Parrot that
was published in 1993 and the case of Brock Turner 2016, despite the years of difference there is
not much distinction, it is still the same.

Structure
The information of the genre, Sexual Assault on Campus, outline the data by providing
summaries of the victim, College campus policies on Sexual Assault, how many assailants

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actually get punished for their crimes and Professors Bohmer and Parrot provide lists of how the
Colleges should proceed in order to prevent or help the victim. They provide a Summary of
Recommendations to Create a Campus Free of Acquaintance Rape that start from point A to
point F to list ways in how to improve Sexual Assault from happening. There is no history of the
victims, instead Bohmer and Parrot goes to the point, the only limitation are the summaries of
these victims, but it has extensive information on how Colleges should proceed, the book is
mainly focused on what the research has provided. It is also able to give the true meaning of
what is campus sexual assault as read in pg. (23), We have defined campus sexual assault as
assault cases in which at least one of the people involved is associated with the institution.
The Letter
The second genre evokes empathy from the reader since it is about the struggle between the
victim and Turner. The letter draws helplessness from the victim and for the people in general to
unite from this type of discrimination while in Professor Bohmer and Parrot book it is about
providing solutions. It is a direct message to Colleges to revise their policies, judicial court, that
they no longer can throw these cases under the rug. Despite the fact that Turner sentence was
light, governor of California, Jerry Brown signed a legislation that would mean tougher
punishment for sexual offenders, it is a sign of progress in the system, the victim of the Turner
case can be assured that it is slowly changing but people like her need to reach out to the public
so these changes can happen. The letter has more freedom than the book since it is not limited to
a formal word to spread the message however Professor Bohmer and Parrot cleverly provided
victims statements on badly mishandled cases, how they felt by giving examples such as in pg.
48, where Laura was promised to be paid for her medical bills but the school did not paid for it,
Nothing thats been promised has happened. The structure guides the reader to in seeing the

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victim side, and to despise Turner for his actions throughout the case. The language is formal on
the letter, there is no bad words mentioned which gives the impression to the reader that this
woman is not vulgar but has honor and respect. Professor Bohmer and Parrot book language is
formal especially since specialists conduct it and was contributed by lawyers, legislators, judges,
an environment of professionals it never goes off on a tangent. The specialized vocabulary on
Bohmer and Parrot is sexual assault which is rape or sexual assault on college campuses may
be committed by an acquaintance or a stranger. In the letter there is no specialized vocabulary at
all.

Conclusion

The book and the letter are two completely different genres; one is the side of professionals
conducting a research on what is sexual assault, who is assaulted and committed, how the college
campuses proceed in these cases, how it is mishandled and to provide solutions for these ongoing
crisis. While the letter is about the victim, what her body and mind went through, how the court
system and Turner treated her but also the news media degrading the crime low by mentioning
Turner swimming lapse time, how he is a star in his University, by belittling her. Both were able
to communicate to the audience, to get across their points of views that is able to take the reader
in two different directions but nonetheless able to communicate effectively. The book utilizes the
reader sense of morals, what is right or wrong, providing knowledge, while the letter of the
victim focuses on emotion for the reader to connect with her. The impact of these genres were
successful in influencing their own audience in believing Sexual Assault on Campus is wrong

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and needs to change, and to be able to draw in a new light to the audience to change their views
of sexual assault but for the victims to know they are worth the cause for change.

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REFERENCES

Bohmer and Parrot. (1993) Sexual Assault on Campus. New York, N.Y. Lexington Books

Calcasa, The case of Beckett Brennan

Retrieved from: http://www.calcasa.org/tag/beckett-brennan/

Document Cloud Staff. Stanford Victim Letter Impact From Brock Turners Victim Retrieved
fromhttps://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2852615-Stanford-Victim-LetterImpact-Statement-From.html

The Washington Post Staff. In aftermath of Brock Turner Case, Californias governor signs
sex crimes bill
Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/09/30/inaftermath-of-brock-turner-case-californias-governor-signs-sex-crime-bill/