Running head: SEXUAL ASSAULT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES 1

Sexual Assault On College Campuses

Sonoma Gioscia

Arizona State University

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Abstract

This investigative essay will be on the reoccurrence of sexual assault on college campuses and

what is being done to stop it from happening. Sexual assaults on college campuses are

frightening because the campus is supposed to be a home away from home, it is supposed to be

your safe haven. So, what’s being done to protect this sacred place? What are the statistics

behind sexual assault on college campuses? As a college freshman, I wonder often what

measures are being taken to prevent these heinous crimes and if they are enough. Should the

university be doing more? What are they doing to help the victims? What are they doing to

punish the perpetrators? It’s important to research this because it’s a problem that hasn’t been

properly handled and probably won’t ever be until someone says “enough is enough.”

Keywords​: sexual assault, college campuses

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Sexual Assault On College Campuses

Section 1, Introduction

My topic is on sexual assault that occurs on college campuses and how it is dealt with after the

crime is reported, that is if it’s reported. Will there be repercussions for the perpetrator? Will

they just be suspended? Will they be expelled? Will it be ignored? This topic is important to me

because it’s something that I have been passionate about since I saw the documentary “The

Hunting Ground” a few years ago, especially now since I am a college student.

Section 2, Annotated Bibliography

Campus sexual violence: statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence

In Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)

provides information about sexual violence on college campuses. It includes statistics on the risk

of men and women being sexually violated between the ages of 18-24 as well as men and women

who are not enrolled into college, but rather they are 18-24 years old. This article also has

information on how law enforcement has responded to sexual assault, why the victim did not

report the crime, and what percentage of the LGBTQ community has been sexually assualted.

The RAINN organization, is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN

created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline. This organization has programs for

victims, trainees, public education, and public policy. On this website, there is an abundance of

information on sexual violence that is found from reliable research. This will be useful

information for my investigative essay because of its accuracy and abundance. It does not
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exclude anyone from the research. The statistics will provide sufficient evidence to prove that

campus sexual assaults are prevalent and important to learn about because they affect every

single student.

“Among undergraduate students, 23.1% of females and 5.4% of males experience rape or sexual

assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.”

“​Only 20% of female student victims, age 18-24, report to law enforcement.”

Franklin, C. A., Bouffard, L. A., & Pratt, T. C. (2012). Sexual assault on the college campus.

Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39(11), 1457-1480. doi:10.1177/0093854812456527

In Sexual Assault on the College Campus, this research article investigates why male

counterparts partake in sexually violent acts. It focuses mainly on the predicting factors of a male

becoming a perpetrator of sexual assault. Some of these predictors included fraternity brothers

peer pressuring and supporting their friends in having, which could lead to sexual assault;

alcohol consumption and illegal drug use; and low self-control.

All three of these authors have multiple articles that are published relating to sexual assault,

criminal justice, and social injutices. They have done extensive research for this article. Their

data is written thoroughly and their findings are sound. They provide evidence, procedures, and

conclusions, making this article credible and reliable for my essay. This will be helpful for my

research because it provides information on sexual assault and reasons as to why it could happen
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so often on college campuses. The evidence is substantial and proves to be a good resource to

use for this essay.

“​One of the most dominant ​feminist​ explanations of sexual assault has relied on the ideological

and behavioral facilitation of rape-supportive peer groups.”

“In other words, fraternity members experienced greater levels of peer pressure to have sex,

which, in turn, increased the likelihood of sexual assault.”

Good Morning America. (2018, April 6). Sexual assault survivor shares 3 things she wants

victims to know. Retrieved from

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/sexual-assault-survivor-shares-thingsv

ictims-54217063

Abby Honold was sexually assaulted when she was just 19-years-old at the University of

Minnesota. She describes her experience after the assault and how the university and justice

system handled the situation somewhat poorly. Abby explains that it took about two years to put

her assailant behind bars, which is too long. She explains how important it is to find a support

system. Throughout this article she rightfully so says that it is not the survivors fault, no matter

the situation.

Abby is a credible source because she is a survivor of sexual assault and she directly experienced

how the justice system and university treats victims. She provides a new and very important
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perspective on the issue because only she can know what it’s like to be sexually assaulted and

how that can affect the victim, their peers, friends, and family. This will be extremely helpful

with my essay because it gives my paper substance and raises awareness of this huge problem

that is often ignored and forgotten.

“Law enforcement didn’t help me at first, and I was nearly harassed off my college campus. I

had to fight for nearly two years to put a fellow student and serial rapist behind bars, but I finally

saw it happen in August of 2016.”

“​When I was being interviewed by police, I had difficulty recalling a lot of details about my

sexual assault, and the information I gave to them was very incomplete. When I was interviewed

by a forensic nurse trained in the FETI technique (Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview), I

gave near-complete information about my assault which eventually helped put my attacker in

prison.”

Hequembourg, A. L., Parks, K. A., Collins, R. L., & Hughes, T. L. (2014). Sexual assault risks

among gay and bisexual men. The Journal of Sex Research, 52(3), 282-295.

doi:10.1080/00224499.2013.856836

In Sexual Assault Risks Among Gay and Bisexual Men, it discusses issues of men being sexually

assaulted. It provides data about how many gay, bisexual, and straight men have experienced

sexual assault, whether their perpetrator was a woman or man. This article looks further into the
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factors men might indulge in that would increase the risk of them being sexually assaulted, one

being alcohol consumption.

The authors of this article are reliable because they have multiple published works that regard

social injustices. The research throughout this article was thorough and explained precisely. The

authors provided evidence that showed men of different kinds of sexualities can experience

sexual assault. This article is a credible piece of work that will be used in my investigative essay.

The statistics provided will help bring awareness to sexually assaulted men whose stories are

never truly heard. It will give the audience new information and an insight into the severity of the

situation.

“Nevertheless, studies estimate that between 14% to 20% of gay and bisexual men experience

ASA. These rates are higher than for heterosexual men and more similar to those reported for

heterosexual women.”

“About one-fourth of gay men (26.0%) and one-third (37.3%) of bisexual men, compared to

29.0% of heterosexual men, reported lifetime rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an

intimate partner.”

Mellins, C. A., Walsh, K., Sarvet, A. L., Wall, M., Gilbert, L., Santelli, J. S., . . . Hirsch, J. S.

(2017, November 8). Sexual assault incidents among college undergraduates: prevalence

and factors associated with risk. Retrieved from

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https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0186471

This paper provides evidence on the different types of sexual assault perpetrated on college

campuses among women, men, and gender nonconforming students. Among the students that

responded, the women and gender nonconforming students reported the highest rates of sexual

assalt compared to the male students. It also discusses risk factors such as being a minority, a

freshman, in Greek life, prior history of sexual assault, and binge drinking. They advocate for a

public-health approach to address the problem of sexual assault, so that it will no longer happen

as often or at all.

The research is credible and reliable because it required people who have experienced sexual

assault to answer questions about themselves and what their sexual assault consisted of, so it

brought a variety of different experiences to the conversation. No one experiences the same exact

sexual assault. By providing information on every type of sexual assault it gives a greater

understanding that sexual assault can be multiple things, it’s not necessarily just rape. Providing

evidence and perspectives from different groups of people is reliable in itself because they

explored every aspect of sexual assault.

“​Additional factors associated with experiencing sexual assault in college students include being

a racial/ethnic minority student (although there are mixed findings on race/ethnicity), low

financial status, and prior history of sexual assault. Other risk factors include variables related to

student social life, including being a freshman, participating in fraternities and sororities, binge

drinking and participating in “hook-up” culture. Whether sexual assault is happening in the
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context of more casual, typically non-committal sexual relationships (“hook-ups”) vs. steady

intimate or monogamous relationships has important implications for prevention efforts.”

“The SHIFT survey, with a population-representative sample, good response rate and

behaviorally-specific questions, found that 22.0% of students reported a sexual assault since

starting college, which confirms previous studies of 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 prevalence estimates with

national samples and a range of types of schools.”

Sexual assault on college campuses is common. (2018, September 13). Retrieved from

https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/sexual-assault-and-rape/college-

sexual-assault

This website addresses women’s health issues by informing them on different things such as

reproductive health, diseases and conditions, relationships and safety, and other health topics.

Within the relationships and safety topic, the website provides information about sexual assault

on college campuses. The information includes how to report a sexual assault, what are some

risk factors, what are the effects of sexual assault on the victim, how to be safer while studying

abroad, and other things. The website has a neutral position because this website only wants to

inform women about their health.

This source has no position on the issue of sexual assault on college campuses, they merely want

to inform the audience on the statistics of sexual assault and the effects that happens afterwards.

The source is credible because it uses outside sources to inform the audience on different issues
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of women’s health such as how to stay safe while in college, what the risk factors are for sexual

assault, why sexual assault happens, and other information.

“The risk of rape may be up to five times higher during a semester studying abroad than on a

college campus in the United States.​”

“Sexual assault is common among female students of all ages, races, and ethnicities. One in five

women in college experiences sexual assault.”

Section 3, Investigative Essay

Sexual Assault

Sexual assault does not occur only on college campuses, it happens in your house, on the

street, in a car, in a park, behind a building, in a bar, etc. It can be at any place and at anytime.

Sexual assault is the correlation between my sources. They include a survivor’s personal story of

her own experience with sexual assault, different risk factors, assessments of behaviors that

could potentially lead someone to becoming a perpetrator of sexual assault, different types of

sexual assault, and many other things.

The different stakeholders of this investigative essay are the survivors/victims of sexual

assault, their families and friends, and the university the crime took place at. When survivors

reveal their story of sexual assault, they want people to truly listen and believe them. Sometimes

survivors want justice for the vicious crime committed against them by their assailant, but most

of all they want the support of their family and friends. The families and friends of said victims

will most likely want to support the person who was sexually assaulted and be there for them
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with anything the survivor needs. The university where the assault occurred should punish the

perpetrator, but that is not always the case for the university would want to protect itself more

than anything else, even if that means putting the victims wellbeing at risk.

These sources provided complement and support one another because of their shared

common topic of sexual assault. Some include risk factors, statistics, different kinds of sexual

assault, or the different types of victims. The RAINN Organization informs their website users

on the statistics of sexual assaults that occur on college campuses. They inform their audience

that 23.1% of female and 5.4% of male undergraduate students experience sexual assault

(College sexual, n.d.). This correlates with the Office of Women’s Health findings that states

“one in five women in college experiences sexual assault” (Sexual assault, 2018).

Among these articles, many talk about the risk factors that could possibly lead to sexual

assault. Some of the risks may include “​being a racial/ethnic minority student (although there are

mixed findings on race/ethnicity), low financial status, and prior history of sexual assault”

(Mellins et al., 2017). Other factors could include “being a freshman, participating in fraternities

and sororities, binge drinking and participating in “hook-up” culture” (Mellins et al., 2017). The

risk of being sexually assaulted among males is higher when their sexuality is bisexual or

homosexual. Research has shown that ​14% to 20% of gay and bisexual men have been sexually

assaulted, these rate are similar to those of heterosexual women (Hequembourg, Parks, Collins,

& Hughes, 2014). In Sexual Assault on the College Campus, the article researched some risks

that ae encuntered by college men who are possibly going to perpetrate sexual assault on their

fellow students. The research showed that their actions could be due to being in a fraternity,
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heavy alcohol use, illegal drug use, lack of control, or being peer pressured into having sex

(​Franklin, Bouffard, & Pratt, 2012).

The final source is from the perspective of a sexual assault survivor, Abby Honold, and

she explains her through that difficult time was tantalizing because it took almost two years for

her assialant to be sentenced to prison. She said, “I am one of the few victims… whose assailant

is in prison” (Good morning, 2018). Her story extends the research done on sexual assault

because it gives the audience a very personal view of what it means to be a victim and survivor

of sexual assault.

While researching this subject, I have learned that bisexual and gay men are almost as

likely to experience sexual assault just as much as heterosexual women. I know that men are

sexually assaulted, but I did not know that it was by that much. I would say this information is

not a conversation a lot of people are willing or comfortable to have and that is really sad

because men who are sexually assaulted and abused have as much of a right to justice as women

do. This evidence would support these claims in that no one really hears about men being

sexually assaulted.

Section 4, Conclusion

This research will bring awareness to sexual assault and everyone who experienced it or is

experiencing it. Hopefully, it will allow the audience to come to the realization that anyone can

be sexually assaulted, whether they are female, male, transgender, lesbian, gay, bisexual, etc.

This research will inspire people to take action against the injustices inflicted upon the survivors

of sexual assault. It will ignite a compassionate response from the audience due to the severity of

the injustices these victims endure when they do come out with their personal story of sexual
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assault because they are usually met with disbelief, victim blaming, and the frightening

consequences of rape culture. If the issue of sexual assault and rape culture is not addressed than

no one is safe because this could happen to anyone at anytime.