FOR NJOSH ONLY

Sexual Assaults on College Campuses

Problem

Sexual Assaults on College Campuses is a rampant problem affecting students and their studies. Reports on campus rapes especially involving alcohol and parties are common in the media outlets and this points at a serious problem in institutions of higher learning. To illustrate, two former students of Vanderbilt University were convicted in a court of law for gang raping a colleague (Dockterman, 2015). In their defense, they cited the drunken state in which they were in at the time, as a reason for acting the way they did. However, before the court, this was a weak defense and consequently, they were sentenced to decades behind bars (Dockterman, 2015). Many of the victims result to suffering in shame and quiet and few of these cases are reported or ever followed up. Indeed, there has also been problems with the justice system with few of the alleged offenders being convicted and sentenced. Often, the sentences are deemed insufficiently punitive and the offenders are usually out to continue life in a short time span. In this paper, the problem of sexual assault on college campuses will be discussed. In addition evidence will be supplied to support the case presented and in the end possible solutions will be suggested to remedy the situation. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Lowercase since these nouns aren’t proper nouns. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Comment by Cochran, Andrew: The citation looks like MLA rather than MLA. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: comma Comment by Cochran, Andrew: This sentence does work to forecast what the essay will do. Perhaps the forecast could be improved by making it precise and specific. It could offer the argument summed up in a sentence and name the specific solutions.

According to Dockterman, about 80% of students fail to report campus rape cases because of the notion held that a lot of time will be spent in the criminal justice system and that in the end, the victims may not get justice (Dockterman, 2015). Such protracted proceedings involving sexual assault cases are indeed, a deterrent to reporting and conviction of sexual offenders in campuses. Equally disheartening, is the fear among the marginalized people such as the gay and other minorities who deem the justice system unfair to their search for justice. For instance, black victims may not trust the police to help them. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Good idea, but the phrasing could perhaps be revised. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Compelling points. Perhaps these points could be ones to research and expand on (if you choose to revise this essay for the Semester Portfolio).

Another major concern regarding college sexual assault cases, is when the schools decide to adjudicate over the matters internally or administer an internal judicial process (Dockterman, 2015). This is as opposed to letting the parties sought out the matters by going to the police or appearing before a state or other government court. In such instances, it has emerged that the institutions are lacking in capacity and thus justice becomes aborted in the end. For instance, in schools such as the Florida State University and Columbia University, cases brought before the adjudication of the appointed authorities seemed to lack sufficient investigations, poor collection of evidence was cited and hearings did not involve the presence of attorneys (Dockterman, 2015). Such internal mechanisms are therefore, in a position that cannot guarantee the safety of students in so far as sexual assault in colleges is concerned Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Good transition sentence. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Word form Comment by Cochran, Andrew: These words could be trimmed to make the idea clearer. Other sentences would also benefit from the trimming of unneeded words. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: I think much has been written recently about how universities deal with sexual assault. The Atlantic (available online) had a series of articles earlier in the fall on the topic—you could go to their website and use the search function to find them. Articles like The Atlantic’s may be good additional sources of research if you revise this essay for the semester portfolio.

According to some authors, at least 25% of female college students experience sexual assault in some form before they graduate (Bohmer and Parrot, 1993). Most of the assaulted women also end up dropping from school to worsen the matter. Mishandling of these cases additionally happens at many of the campuses and this increases the trauma for the victims involved. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Good research, but perhaps try to find studies that are more recent.

Gilmore et al, illustrate that there is fear among college women of sexual assault in the course of their study (Gilmore et al, 2015). In an analysis of a survey involving 1905 women in college, the researchers found that there were perceptions of vulnerability among the sampled women and additionally, there was anticipatory shame and gender risk (Gilmore et al, 2015). Defensibility of the women was also examined and most of the findings indicated that the women also felt defenseless in the face of sexual assault in colleges (Gilmore et al, 2015). Comment by Cochran, Andrew: A good study, and good job of giving an overview of it. Perhaps discuss its significance at greater length? What would you like your reader to understand about this study? And how does this study relate to other things you have discussed in the essay so far?

Solution(s);

A key solution to the problem of college sexual assault is legislation. Ideally, the law would impose mandatory minimum punishment to deter perpetrators and also decrease the likelihood of crimes. For example, the California Bill suggests minimum punishment for college sexual assault cases and this should be emulated. Indeed, the bill seeks to change the way cases of college sexual assault are reported in the institutions in addition to addressing policies on the same (Gray, 2017). Such bills aim to streamline also, the internal operations of colleges in so far as justice for sexual assault victims is concerned. Interdisciplinary bodies need to be illuminated before the law to cause transparent administration of justice instead of the impervious working that victims currently face. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: Interesting. How do they streamline these operations?

Schools also need to work on their policies and procedures to ensure safety against sexual assault (Mastropasqua, 2015). In the United States, institutions of higher learning are riddled by the inadequacy of current policies and standards. Basically, there is need to strengthen e To further combat the problem of college sexual assaults, there is proposed a risk reduction program that is aimed at sensitization and creation of awareness. According to Gilmore et al, many such risk reduction programs fail to target use of alcohol whereas this is a known risk factor for occurrence of sexual assault on campus (Gilmore et al, 2015). Comment by Cochran, Andrew: edit

The severity of sexual assault cases as well as the frequency of incidents increase significantly where there is history of sexual assault and also use of alcohol or episodic drinking (Gilmore et al, 2015). Risk reduction programs should therefore, involve measures to curb the episodic or rampant college drinking so as to lower the chances for sexual assault incidents. In addition, colleges and schools should screen their students during admission processes and even afterwards to ensure that no sexual offenders are roaming freely in campus. Where convicted offenders are identified, strong measures should be in place to ensure deterrence for example, through appointing probationary sessions in their study durations. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: A compelling point. Perhaps research how to curb drinking on college campuses?

In conclusion, college sexual assault is rampant and is largely unreported by the victims involved. There are weaknesses with internal judicial processes where the institutions choose to handle these cases themselves. In addition, for the criminal justice systems, few convictions result and the sentences are not as punitive as they should perhaps be. Solutions involve strengthening the laws on sexual assault in colleges, putting risk reduction programs and measures in institutions and also sensitization and awareness creation is important. Comment by Cochran, Andrew: DoubleZ, Solid work on this essay. You do a good job of addressing many relevant aspects of this topic. The writing is clear and engaging, though some editing could be done. Some developments could be made—perhaps through additional research. The in-text citations appear to be APA rather than MLA. Overall, though, solid work. 87/100

Works Cited

Bohmer, Carol & Parrot, Andrea. Sexual Assault on Campus: The Problem and the Solution. Lexington Books, 1993.

Dockterman, Eliana. The Vanderbilt Rape Case Will Change the Way Victims Feel About the Courts. January 29, 2015. Web. November 15, 2017. http://time.com/3686617/the-vanderbilt-rape-case-will-change-the-way-victims-feel-about-the-courts/

Gilmore, Amanda. Lewis, Melissa & George, William. Behavior Research and Therapy. August 2015. Web. November 15, 2017. Doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2015.08.007.