Rape on College Campuses by Jaden Medrano

               Have you ever worried about what could happen while you’re away at college? Or should you have to? Rape on college campuses happens more often than not and females should be aware of it and try to prevent it as much as possible. Rape is considered a cause and effect type of situation; researchers show that the women do something in order to allow them to get raped when that shouldn’t be the case (“Rape at college: Why back to school is so dangerous for women”). Rape on college campuses has become a social epidemic that can be decreased through the security of the colleges, the punishment the males should receive, and the caution the females should follow.                          Rape on college campuses has been a reoccurring situation over the years but in the last few years it has become been more like a normal thing. “Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient” (“Sexual Assault on Campus: Awareness and Prevention”). Campuses are getting more than one report a day. Studies show that someone in the United States is assaulted every 98 seconds (“Sexual Assault on Campus: Awareness and Prevention”). While colleges are getting more than one report a day the rape percentage has been cut in half since 1993. This gives society hope that the percentage will keep going down but without the help of other resources other than drug and alcohol the percentage will not go down but soon could possibly go back up.

            Alcohol and different type of drugs also known as date rape drugs allows rape to happen more often than it should, most people who get raped don’t know that they have been drugged or they don’t think that if they consume too much alcohol it will happen to them.  Although people shouldn’t have to think about these kinds of things, they do. Rape goes both ways whether it be a woman being raped or a man getting raped more than likely it will be a woman considering they are weaker and more vulnerable. Women shouldn’t have to worry about leaving their drinks to go to the bathroom or if their friend gets them a drink, instead they have to hold their drink at all times, take it to the bathroom with them or get the drink themselves just to be able to protect themselves. Unfortunately men should have to do the same thing but they do not, when you tell men about the things women have to do to protect themselves they respond with something like “no one’s going to drink your drink while you are in the restroom”, we understand that but, women being away from their drink gives anyone the opportunity to slip a drug in there with anyone knowing, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Alcohol is a major cause of rape, from the parties to the tailgating, everyone knows college kids drink even if they are underage. College kids shouldn’t be able to drink the way they can, colleges do not enforce drinking laws like they should. Sexual assault on campus happens more at the universities rather than community colleges, not saying that it doesn’t happen. But universities have more parties and the students are there a lot longer to grow more relationships and met new people.

            This is where society comes in and you look at what it has done to the communities. Schools try not to make a big deal out of it, so they don’t lose their students but for two women it made their trauma even worse because they felt as if they didn’t have any type of help because the school did nothing to the suspects. Tasha explains that she was raped on campus and then her rapist showed up to places she would go to intimidate her. She also felt as if she could not talk to anyone because she had heard other students’ horrific stories about telling administration. When Tasha told the people who were the closest to her they felt as if they were responsible because they were not there for her but she made sure to let them know that it was not their faults and not to blame themselves for what had happened (Wilson, Tasha). The schools just went on like nothing happened and this is a perfect example as to why only 70% of the crimes don’t get reported to the police and only about 25% of the rapists is arrested. This makes the victims uncomfortable and does not allow them to feel like they can come out anyone about the situation.

             Now that same sex marriage is legal, more same sex rape has happened in the past recent years. When rape comes into play all barriers are crossed whether it be same sex, female to man or man to female. Hannah was also raped on her college campus, as she tells her story she explains that there was no one to tell, she went to a catholic college and that she was on a scholarship and she did not want the rape to ruin her reputation (Rad, Hannah). She also was a part of the LGBTQ community; she did not tell anyone about the attack except for her friend that was very supportive. Seven years later, she decided she was going to tell her parents about the attack because she noticed that it strained her relationship with them. After she told them about the attack, she finally told them that she was gay, so they wanted to assume that the attack was the reason and they started asking her all these questions, that hurt her feelings but she knew they didn’t understand. She also stated that there was no one to talk on campus even if she did want to talk to someone to spread awareness but she mentioned that the hotline was always available to her and she relied on it. If it wasn’t for RAINN, a national anti-sexual violence program that provides a hotline for victims and allows them to know that it is okay for them to talk about their experience, Hannah would not have had anyone to talk to about her attack.  RAINN researches statistics and other information about sexual assault on the different types of sexual assault. This program allows victims to call and speak with someone about their situation. Rather than having to come face to face with someone about their attack it’s easier to speak to someone who does not know who you might be or your attacker. This allows the situation to remain confidential.

RAINN also found that a college woman is more likely to get raped than robbed. (Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics). This chart explains that for every 5 robberies there is 4 assaults and there are 2 assault for every 1 robbery. For women to have to worry about getting robbed or sexually assaulted while going to school should not be the case.

           

            Sexual assault happens all over the nation at different universities and community colleges, it’s not just to one area. “…11.2% of all undergraduate and graduate students experience rape or sexual assault…” (“Sexual Assault on Campus: Awareness and Prevention”). That may seem like a small number but that is a huge number when you see what is being talked about. Rape shouldn’t even be a thing parents or the students should have to worry about when going to college to get an education. Students shouldn’t have to be worried about what the consequences are if they want to have fun, but they should also be cautious of others and be aware of their surroundings. Some colleges belittle the victims as if it were their fault for going to the party and drinking but if you look at it the whole situation would put both people at fault. Especially when the college knows who the victim and suspect are. Regardless of the situation before the raping occurred it is still considered rape. Whether it was the victim’s fault because they were intoxicated or the suspects fault for taking advantage of the individual it still is determined on the consent that is being agreed upon. If the consent isn’t validated, then the interaction between the two individuals will still be considered rape.

            Women shouldn’t have to worry about whether they are going to get raped at college.  There have been many solutions to help stop rape on college campuses. Although not all of them work, they are still valuable when it comes to bringing down the rate and preventing it from happening

continuously. Any resources are valuable when it happens as often as it does. The University of Houston just came out with these little robots that bring food to the student’s dorms. “The robots can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow” (Stipes, Chris). One of the many reasons the college came up with this idea was to keep the students from having to go out late at night. If the college were to provide more security the crime or assault rates would not be so high. But then the colleges would have to take into consideration having to pay people and having more people stay up all hours of the night. The colleges do not want to have to pay people to “watch” adults. Most of the people in college are adults although they tend to call them kids or children. Sexual Education should be taught from a young age so when they get to college, they are aware of the situations and consequences that could happen. If colleges would also educate the students on sex ed as they start college, they can protect themselves from being put in these types of situations. Another solution that might work is changing colleges from co-ed to just one gender, but when these come into play you must think about rape between the same sex, it happens just as well as heterosexual altercations. All these solutions may bring the rate down by some but will not completely eliminate the problem. As a society we must find a way to stop these things from happening while trying to get our children are trying to better themselves and get an education.

            When you investigate society and look at how Camus viewed absurdity, he defines it well by using suicide as an example. People commit suicide to get away from their problems in life but is that necessary?  Camus explains that people shouldn’t let things bother them so much that they get so overwhelmed that eventually will cause them to commit suicide. (Messerly, John, et al.).  “One’s conduct should follow from one’s beliefs” (Messerly, John, et al.). Messerly states that Camus believed this because people believe in doing the what they will vote for but when it happens to them, they want nothing to do with it. Or people are pro suicide but are still living, how is that fair to the people who committed suicide? (Messerly, John, et al.). When looking at the topic presented, Camus would look at the events that caused it. If you know that alcohol and drugs could have the potential to lead up to rape, then why do it. Camus also explains why put yourself in that type of situation when you know the consequences. He wouldn’t have agreed with the way the schools are handling it either he would have expected them to take the alcohol away from the kids completely or not allow the students to do that. The schools know the kids drink the way that they do because they tailgate at the football games although most of the kids are of age, they still attend the college and are on school grounds.

            When looking over the topic suicide on campuses there is a very high rate all over the United States. Trying to stop this epidemic from continuing to grow would be so much easier if people would be educated on the situation. Although there is a small class of sex ed in some schools that covers the basics like a girl’s menstrual cycle, and puberty for the boys, it doesn’t cover the fact the kids do not know the red flags they should look for. It should be a very important thing for kids to know what is going on at a very young age. If they are educated at a young age and boys know the consequences, the rates would go down. There have been many cases in which the suspect does not get time in jail but will get community service hours. These attackers are taking peoples identity from them. They no longer have the courage to speak up about thing nor do they want too. They no longer feel like themselves or have anything to feel confident about. This needs to be addressed more in schools to make the students feel more comfortable rather feeling like they cannot speak up about their attack. Many of these attacks keep happening because it is not taken seriously. When a student notifies administrators about one of these situations the suspect and the victim should be interrogated if they suspect cannot be identified, the school needs to make sure the victim know they are there for them to provide support. Although this an epidemic that will always be open, as a society it should be lowered, and more people should be educated on it.

Works Cited

Best Schools. “Sexual Assault on Campus: Awareness and Prevention.” TheBestSchools.org, Thebestschools.org, 13 Nov. 2018, thebestschools.org/magazine/sexual-assault-on-campus/.

“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence.

Messerly, John, et al. “Albert Camus: The Myth of Sisyphus.” Reason and Meaning, 11 Nov. 2019, reasonandmeaning.com/2014/11/04/albert-camus-the-myth-of-sisyphus/.

Rad, Hannah. “Hannah's Story.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/survivor-stories/hannahs-story.

Rape at college: Why back to school is so dangerous for women. (2019, August 26). Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/08/26/rape-college-back-to-school-sexual-assault-safety/1930485001/

"Sexual assault on campus." UWIRE Text, 17 Apr. 2014, p. 1. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A365211641/ITOF?u=txshracd2496&sid=ITOF&xid=9c7e7472. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

Stipes, Chris. “Starship Autonomous Food Delivery Robots Deployed at University of Houston.” University of Houston, 11 Nov. 2019, www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2019/november-2019/11102019-starship-robots.php.

Wilson, Tasha. “Tasha's Story.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/survivor-stories/tashas-story.