Sexual Assault Cases

It’s a statistic that has circled around the nation for years, one that imprints fear into the minds of young adults and rage into those that demand justice: 1 in 5 female college students will experience sexual assault in the duration of their college career (Clark), with only 20% of those rapes being reported to the police (Hefling). As a topic that is so highlighted in American society, there is a strict demand for an organized, thorough investigation that will result in justice served. Controversy regarding whether the colleges themselves or the criminal justice system should adjudicate the punishment for these vile crimes has arisen; some believe that as an actual crime, these assaults should be taken in a legal stance in order to serve justice at its fullest extent. Others believe that determining punishment through the court system is too nerve-wracking for the victims and that by allowing colleges to do so is the only way they can avoid feeling “skepticism” by the police, juries, or courts (Know Your IX). However, when juxtaposing the capabilities of the colleges and the court system when it comes to the adjudication process, it is evident that the courts are more competent in determining punishments for campus sexual assaults.

“One in five women are sexually assaulted while in college” (Not Alone, 2014). In our class of twenty women that means that possibly five women have been sexually assaulted. Out of the five women that I stated could have been sexually assaulted they may have known the perpetrator and often will not report what has happened. According to the spring count of students completed by West Chester University, 9,211 of those students were females (“Headcount Enrollment”, 2014). If I go by the statistic mentioned earlier that one in five women is assaulted that would mean that 1,842 women have been sexually assaulted while enrolled at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Out of 1,842 possible assaults only four were reported last year. Two of which the victims knew prior to the assault. Rankin and Associates consulting conducted a Climate Assessment on West Chester University in September of 2010, a section of the results focused on sexual assault on students. According to the report seven people who reported a sexual assault to the university described their reactions to the universities response. Two students shared the way they felt the response was inappropriate or poor. One described that they felt the suspension for one semester was not an appropriate response to an admitted rape, that public safety lost the victims statement, judicial affairs painted the victim offender as innocent, and that the registrar protected the offender putting the victim in harm’s way and everyone

University of Tennessee Knoxville was recently involved in a lawsuit for enabling athletes to sexually assault women by silencing the victims and failing to provide disciplinary actions or even investigation onto the accused. While this is a recent case, this is not the first time this sort of behavior involving a school has been brought into light. One in four women will be sexually assaulted by the end of their undergraduate career (Posluszny). Sexual assault happens throughout society no matter what the gender or age, seeming to be in increasing epidemic over the last few years. While the idea of sexual assault is largely met with public hostility in theory, actions often contradict this. This contradiction lies heavily in a culture that is unwelcoming to the victims and often leads to the perpetrators being tolerated. The existence of rape culture in western society occurs due to the preservation of violent media, patriarchal standards, and the state of the criminal justice system. This culture cannot be improved until we confront each of these problems to their roots.

‘Sexual Violence is more than just a crime against individuals. It threatens our families; it threatens our communities. Ultimately, it threatens the entire country’ (qtd. in Burleigh pg. 2). In the article, “Confronting Campus Rape” written by Nina Burleigh; a writer, journalist, and professor at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, describes what students are doing to force universities to take a stronger stand against campus sexual assault. Moreover Burleigh describes what the government is doing to make a difference on the issue. This includes laws that have created consequences for the assaulter and laws that protect the victim. According to Burleigh, a young woman called Laura Dunn was sexually assaulted on campus. Dunn was a student of UW. On April 4th, 2014, Dunn lost her virginity to two UW athletes. That night, Dunn was attending a party at the university. Dunn was enjoying the party and lost count of her alcohol intake. Dunn remembers being led out by two older teammates, who she knew. Dunn was very intoxicated, enough to stumble on her way back to what she thought would be another campus party, as one of the athletes helped her walk. The athletes led Dunn to one of their apartments where she found herself on a bed with both of them on top of her. Dunn was so intoxicated that she couldn’t help but to drift in and out of conscious leaving her unable to stop the two men. Dunn began to feel sick and was led to the bathroom by one of the athletes, where he penetrated her from behind while she was throwing up. That was a date Dunn would never forget. Dunn like many other women at the UW have been sexually abused by other students. Although Dun’s incident is shocking, it is not uncommon for women to be sexually assaulted on campus. A woman at the  university of Wisconsin is more prone to being sexually assaulted than any other woman in the country because of alcohol intoxication; this is a problem that must be resolved.

Sexual abuse and assault on college campuses has been a rising issue dating back to the late 1950s. According to The United States Department of Justice, sexual assault is defined as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.” Sexual assault has long lasting effects that go way beyond the immediate trauma that victims experience in the beginning, including pregnancy, transmitted diseases, anxiety, PTSD, depression, etc. Multiple studies and statistics have shown that not only will “approximately 20% female students

During the investigation, women were re-victimized by the police once their sexual assault complaint went through the criminal justice system, which is known as ‘judicial rape,’ due to the narratives surrounding rape myths (Ehrlich, 2012). False accusations of rape are filed for three main reasons, which are to “create an alibi, to get revenge and to elicit sympathy or attention” (DuBrois, 2012, pg. 205). Women were thought to be responsible for their own safety and protecting themselves from sexual assaults (Randall, 2010). Women are impacted disproportionately by poor quality or non-existent investigations when filing sexual assault claims due to gender bias (DuBois,

Sexual assault is something that is increasingly common on college campus’, 1 in 4 women are assaulted at some point during their university career. Some might say “are you serious? That’s some feminist propaganda!” But this is the truth, and is the reality of universities across the US and beyond. When you see a promotional video about Harvard University, they don’t show you the statistics of sexual assault/misconduct. They show you an idealized view of university, they want to show you how you can achieve the American dream! Harvard, as the top dog of ivy league universities, has one of the highest numbers of sexual assault and misconduct. They are top in education, and in crime.

Moreover, most of the sexual assaults go unreported, but the ones that do get reported, less than half of them get a conviction. If only 10 % of sexual assaults are reported, from that 10%, only 1 in 4 get convicted for their crimes (Butt, 2013). A study done in Winnipeg in the mid-1970s showed that more than 70% of charges were filtered out of the criminal justice system, 20% were reduced to lesser charges, and only 10% of original charges resulted in convictions (Gunn & Minch, 1988). A sexual assault or even a sexual relationship between two consenting adults is a very hidden act; meaning most of the time there could be no other witness or little hard evidence. In this situation, the testimony of the victim is very crucial for the prosecution of a sexual assault case (Walsh, 1987: 1129). There are many external and internal barriers that could discourage the victim from proceeding to convict the accused for his crimes. External barriers such as, the formal atmosphere in the courtroom during the trial; victims could be intimidated by the rigid rules; reliving the horrific experience and facing the assailant; or the court trial may come at a time when the victim has begun to move on (Best Practices, 2013: 61). Furthermore, internal barriers such as myths and gender stereotypes could also demotivate the victim from testifying in court against the

Sexual assaults on university campuses “The Hunting Ground,” a documentary film about sexual assaults on US university campuses, opens with anxious women college applicants peering into websites to know whether they have been accepted. After tense moments, they break into OMGs, squeals of delight, and teary laughter along with their parents and other well-wishers as they learn they have clinched a seat at their preferred university. A bright and happy future awaits most of them. For many students, however, campus life is likely to include some traumatic episodes.

There has been many issues due to alcohol and sexual assault. Sexual assault happens when a person is being threatened nor can’t protect themselves, also sexual touching to the person. Mainly women, women have a higher risk of being threatened of alcohol and sexual assault. In college many students are not in control when it comes to drinking alcohol. Males are in the edge of being the host of alcohol and sexual assault towards women, males will take advantage of a female who is unconscious due to alcohol. We need to make a change, to find a way to decrease alcohol and sexual assault in college.

The prosecution of sexual assault is unlike the prosecution of any other criminal offence. There an intense focus on the character and motivation of the complainant. Traditionally, this focus has translated into a preoccupation with aspects of the complainant 's behavior which is not immediately related to the circumstances of the offence. One example is whether the complainant provided a “recent complaint” after the assault. This focus also results in an extraordinary interest in the demonstration of proof of resistance by the complainant and the corresponding application of force by the perpetrator, though neither is an element of the crime. A proper appreciation of the law in this area requires an understanding of the legal evolution of

Before I begin, allow me to preface this post: I'm not trying to be a hot take, nor am I trying to profit off of a sensitive topic. We don't make money off of page views and my identity is not rooted in viewership statistics. However, I feel pressed to faithfully steward this platform God gave Mitchell and I in writing, and want to share my thoughts with you in hopes to extend grace and compassion to those in need.

This attitude prevents many victims from coming forward and sharing their stories. When victims do decide to come forward, the way those taking the report ask questions may insinuate that the victim contributed to or caused the incident. For example, a campus official might ask, “Where is your short top that you were wearing?” instead of asking where the victim’s clothes are. Others may be very forward in expressing their opinion that the victim is not even a victim because he or she “wanted it.” Specially trained officials who have experience in dealing with victims of sexual assaults and rapes need to be the ones who take the reports because they can be sensitive and appropriate in the situation, whereas untrained officials may not be aware that they are acting inappropriately or may not care that they are. The experience a victim has when reporting the incident will determine whether he or she will report a crime if another incident occurs or will encourage his or her friends, peers, or acquaintances to report an incident. Changing the behavior, actions, and attitude of campus officials may seem like a small change but it can go a long way in helping victims come forward and feel more

The fact that one in five college students will experience some form of sexual assault is quite startling. This calls to question, are we going to let this continue to happen or step up and do something about it? Sexual assault is sadly something common in a college setting and is on the rise. Drew Fausts, president of Harvard, made the statement “Sexual assault is intolerable and we owe it to one another to confront it openly, purposely, and effectively. This is our problem.” And he’s right, this is our problem and we need to do something about it, but what? What are solutions that can wipe out sexual assaults?

At some of the country's most elite schools, that number climbed even higher: 34% for University of Michigan female seniors, 32% at Yale and 29% at Harvard” (Wallace 1). Within getting a degree most female students have experienced sexual assault. The numbers just keep rising and if we cannot stop it now then it will only get worse. Sadly, more than “50% of the women, who reported some of the most serious incidents, including forced penetration, didn't report it because they didn't think it was "serious enough," according to the survey. Others said they didn't come forward because they were embarrassed, ashamed or thought it would be too emotionally difficult or that they didn't think anything would be done about it” (Wallace). Society now, as a whole, needs to change. None of the campuses will be safe until sexual assault is taken