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The Classic Story : A Young Woman Begins Attending College

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It’s the classic story: A young woman starts attending college. She is excited to begin college and for this new chapter in her life, and she truly believes that nothing could, or will, go wrong. A few weeks into her stay at the university, she is walking home, across campus from her night class. Even though there have been some talk about attacks happening to women late at night on the campus, the girl feels little fear of walking home alone. However, as she is about half way back to her dorm, a fellow student of hers jumps out and sexually assaults her. After this, the girl decides to report her attack to the campus authorities. However, instead of being met with sympathy, she is met by the college authorities with accusations and little …show more content…

I believe that this number thoroughly demonstrates a serious issue that needs to have an effective and solid solution. While many people have attempted to find solutions, I believe that such solutions include finding a definite definition of sexual consent, and universities being more understanding and helpful in cases of sexual assault. However, before I continue with this paper, I have to define what sexual assault is in terms of this paper. I define sexual assault as any sexual act that is unwanted and unwarranted. It also includes the use of manipulation of sex, which is the coercion of gaining a sexual act, from an individual who does not want to engage in the sexual act. With this definition, I will show that while sexual assault is a serious issue, there are solutions that can help combat the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. The cause of sexual assault in college can be related back to a number of issues, such being the use of alcohol, an indefinite definition of sexual consent, and the issue of manipulation. Alcohol, which causes impairment in thinking and judgment, can often lead to unwanted sexual intercourse. As states Allen J. Ottens and Kathy Hotelling’s book, “Sexual Violence on Campus”, around 7% of college women that they had been drinking when they had “experienced nonconsensual sexual intercourse” (33) and that “26% of women had experienced unwanted sexual activity by a student who had been drinking” (34). This shows that while

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