*This is a sensitive topic*
*If discussing rape and the repercussions of it causes you stress, don't read this post*
Rape is something we all know about, but don't want to think about.
It is a common occurrence on college campuses to have cases of rape. Many people just brush it off as, oh it wasn't someone I know or they probably were drinking. It's this state of mind that makes the occurrence of rapes become a more normal thing. Over the past few years the number of sexual assault reported has gone up by over 4,000 cases. "These results seem to portray a dramatic upswing in sexual violence."-(Project Know)
There are tons of sayings like "She should have worn different clothes, she shouldn't have gotten so drunk, she was probably asking for it." It's been my opinion that hearing these statements kind of makes things "ok" in the eyes of some people. These rationalizations make people feel better about hearing these things. The worst thing is "that 3% of college women are raped during a 9-month period and one fifth to one fourth of all women experience a completed or attempted rape during their 4- to 5-year college careers."-(McMahon 2010) A common number of sexual assaults occurring per gender are 1 in 5 for women and 1 in 16 in men, while in college.
Often, women are raped by people that they know. This is even more true on college campuses. This brings the discussion on party rape and "normal" rape. Party rape is when at a party or get together a person is raped by a person there. " On college campuses, most assaults are committed by someone known to the victim, often involve alcohol intoxication and occur in social settings with others present, such as residence halls or fraternities.-(McMahon 2010) Many people have the stance that if its a party rape that it's not as bad as a normal rape, as they were intoxicated and said yes and just can't remember it, while normal rape is very bad and is seen as more of a shock.
Many of the reported rapes on campuses involve student athletes. A terrible fact, is that some colleges have covered up the rapes that involve their student athletes. They do this to keep their star athletes; sometimes they tell the victim to revoke their claim or to leave the school. This aggressive behavior seems to show up when males play aggressive sports. "College men who play aggressive sports in high school are more likely to accept rape myths, are more accepting of violence, and engage in more sexual coercion toward dating partners compared to other college men."-(Burnett 2009)
When victims here stories of rape cases being covered up or how other victims are treated after it comes out they tend to not report their rapes. "The impact of rape on victims has been well documented, including negative outcomes on physical health, mental health, academic performance, and interpersonal relationships."-(McMahon 2010) This is especially true in the rape cases that are not reported. The victims don't get the support they need to deal with the damage done to them healthily.
What is your opinion on the normativity of rape on college campuses?
Sources Cited
Communicating/Muting Date Rape: A Co-Cultural Theoretical Analysis of Communication Factors Related to Rape Culture on a College Campus. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 37(4), 465-485. doi:10.1080/00909880903233150
McMahon, S. (2010). Rape Myth Beliefs and Bystander Attitudes Among Incoming College Students. Journal of American College Health, 59(1), 3-11. doi:10.1080/07448481.2010.483715
Sexual Assaults on Campus. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.projectknow.com/discover/sexual-assaults-on-campus/
*If discussing rape and the repercussions of it causes you stress, don't read this post*
Rape is something we all know about, but don't want to think about.
It is a common occurrence on college campuses to have cases of rape. Many people just brush it off as, oh it wasn't someone I know or they probably were drinking. It's this state of mind that makes the occurrence of rapes become a more normal thing. Over the past few years the number of sexual assault reported has gone up by over 4,000 cases. "These results seem to portray a dramatic upswing in sexual violence."-(Project Know)
There are tons of sayings like "She should have worn different clothes, she shouldn't have gotten so drunk, she was probably asking for it." It's been my opinion that hearing these statements kind of makes things "ok" in the eyes of some people. These rationalizations make people feel better about hearing these things. The worst thing is "that 3% of college women are raped during a 9-month period and one fifth to one fourth of all women experience a completed or attempted rape during their 4- to 5-year college careers."-(McMahon 2010) A common number of sexual assaults occurring per gender are 1 in 5 for women and 1 in 16 in men, while in college.
Often, women are raped by people that they know. This is even more true on college campuses. This brings the discussion on party rape and "normal" rape. Party rape is when at a party or get together a person is raped by a person there. " On college campuses, most assaults are committed by someone known to the victim, often involve alcohol intoxication and occur in social settings with others present, such as residence halls or fraternities.-(McMahon 2010) Many people have the stance that if its a party rape that it's not as bad as a normal rape, as they were intoxicated and said yes and just can't remember it, while normal rape is very bad and is seen as more of a shock.
Many of the reported rapes on campuses involve student athletes. A terrible fact, is that some colleges have covered up the rapes that involve their student athletes. They do this to keep their star athletes; sometimes they tell the victim to revoke their claim or to leave the school. This aggressive behavior seems to show up when males play aggressive sports. "College men who play aggressive sports in high school are more likely to accept rape myths, are more accepting of violence, and engage in more sexual coercion toward dating partners compared to other college men."-(Burnett 2009)
When victims here stories of rape cases being covered up or how other victims are treated after it comes out they tend to not report their rapes. "The impact of rape on victims has been well documented, including negative outcomes on physical health, mental health, academic performance, and interpersonal relationships."-(McMahon 2010) This is especially true in the rape cases that are not reported. The victims don't get the support they need to deal with the damage done to them healthily.
What is your opinion on the normativity of rape on college campuses?
Sources Cited
Communicating/Muting Date Rape: A Co-Cultural Theoretical Analysis of Communication Factors Related to Rape Culture on a College Campus. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 37(4), 465-485. doi:10.1080/00909880903233150
McMahon, S. (2010). Rape Myth Beliefs and Bystander Attitudes Among Incoming College Students. Journal of American College Health, 59(1), 3-11. doi:10.1080/07448481.2010.483715
Sexual Assaults on Campus. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2019, from https://www.projectknow.com/discover/sexual-assaults-on-campus/
This culture of rape on college campuses is definitely a serious problem and I agree that not enough is being done to remedy the issue. Certainly students are educated that rape is a criminal act and that there should always be explicit consent whenever two people have sex, but lessons like that only work for certain people. I find there are people, particularly men, out there who think there are above the rules, that women are inferior people (or not people at all), and that it doesn't matter if the women they have sex with consents or not. I state men in particular because I know men raping other women is the most common, though I would like to know the breakdown more (as in how many cases are heterosexual and homosexual). As a result, women are essentially forced to be extra careful about who they get food or drink from, how much alcohol they drink, where they walk at night, how conscious they are when walking home at night, and so on. There definitely needs to be more work done to the source of the rape culture on campus, but in the meantime, I can only argue that women need to be taught self-defense. If we could give women an intimidating edge by teaching all of them how to defend their personal space, maybe we could decrease the sexual abuse and rape of women.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a really good point with self-defense. I took a course here at Tech that taught me how to defend myself, and I would recommend that everyone take it. It is called “self-defense for women” and “self-defense for men”. In the class I learned how to get out of different kinds of holds, and parts of an attacker you should target that are vulnerable. I also learned how to properly kick and punch if I was ever in a situation where I needed to be more physical do get out of a situation. It was really neat because the course was taught by public safety officers who were properly trained in the RAD (Rape Aggression and Defense) program. In the class, we also watched a video on abusive relationships and discussed how people are usually raped by someone they know. For the “final exam” a public safety officer grabbed me from behind, and I had to fight my way to “safety” (the other side of the room). I really enjoyed the class because it taught me some strategies and tactics that could prevent something bad from happening to me.
DeleteI've actually been planning to take that class to finish up my PE credits and it really sounds like a worthwhile class. Though there's only room for 25 people per class, one class per semester for each gender; I wish more people could have the opportunity to take the class.
DeleteI'm personally apart of one of the martial arts clubs on campus and they teach us self-defense techniques too. They really emphasize looking confident and keeping your head up when walking at night or in dangerous places to prevent getting into dangerous situations. The also teach a variety of escapes, like choke holds, wrist escapes, lapel grabs, hair grabs, etc. I've learned quite a few over the last 3 years but I'm always interested to learn something new about self defense.
This is a really important subject to talk about. It’s horrible how many people are sexually assaulted. You also brought up the fact that often women take the blame for being raped. While I don’t know anyone that has went through something as horrible as this, I do know that feeling like it is your fault that you were raped can do some great psychological damage. There was a documentary (called The Hunting Ground) that talked about how a girl was raped by the star quarterback at Florida State University. When she went to report the rape, she was told she shouldn’t because it’s a big football town. When the claims were heard, people were skeptical about if it actually happened. It went as far as people sending her death threats, and she was bullied with people calling her a slut and a whore. It’s a powerful movie and really highlights the problem that you covered in your blog. You can watch the trailer for the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=d75z5E8znt0 Its pretty amazing that all these victims of sexual assault are coming out and sharing their stories. It allows others in the same position to feel more empowered, and to educate people about it.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see this issue be so significant in modern times.
ReplyDeleteGiven many of these involve alcohol, I do wonder if this is correlation--eg, stereotypical frat guys at stereotypically frat parties--or causation--namely. alcohol leading to lowered inhibitions and far worse self-control.
It's good to see that someone has the confidence to talk about such an intense issue. The blaming women for this issue needs to stop. It is also important to understand that men too are raped and sexually assaulted. I also feel that we as a society need to do a better job on discussing control of alcohol consumption considering that is when the majority of rapes happen, especially at universities.
ReplyDeleteYou made a good point Ben when you said society needs to do a better job on discussing the control of alcohol consumption. A lot of the times you hear about rapes happening is when there is that big added factor of alcohol. Emma, you also made a good point in your blog post about how people are more shocked by "normal" rape than "party" rape...how is there a difference? People need to realize that rape is rape and that's final. It doesn't matter if you were under the influence, that individual still went through with the action without consent so it is all the same. I applaud you for speaking out about this because it is indeed a tough topic to talk about, but bringing more awareness to it may help.
DeleteGreat post! I believe that the most people should display a better respect for one another. We should be less self involved when it comes to situations we see to be not right. There comes a point where this type of behavior takes a halt especially on college campuses.
ReplyDelete