Group 4: Lucy W., Michelle M., Kylie N., Naomi J., Kati M, and Sydney B.
According to the Association of American Universities, at least 1 in 5 female seniors experience sexual assault during college.
Rape Culture should NOT be College Culture
Almost every student has an account or story of their own pertaining to sexual assault on campus. Whether it be a personal experience or a retelling of a friend’s account, sexual assault is a continuous theme in a college student’s life. Rape culture should not be college culture and it is vital that we take action and stand against the acceptance of this behavior.
In this blog post we will talk about sexual assault in educational life, sexual assault on college campuses in the media and activism to take the right steps forward. This blog will serve as a conversation starter for sexual assault on colleges campuses and the involvement of college athletes specifically.
Sexual Assault in Educational Life
Sexual assault is defined as unconsented sex. However, this definition does not do the pain left on survivors justice. Sexual assault changes lives and can make the victim feel so many negative, dark, and unnecessary thoughts that no one should have to think or feel.
John Duffley of Fanbuzz.com states “According to reporting by InvestigateWest, 1 in 5 women are sexually assaulted during their college years. On top of that, 62 percent of college sexual assaults involve the presence of drugs and alcohol.” This is much too common for something so traumatizing as sexual assault. However, this illegal action is increasingly committed by athletes in, specifically college students.
Athletes are often excused for a lot of their behaviors because they could lose scholarships, tarnish their reputation, and the potential to “go pro.” For example, the article, “The ‘Black Hole’ of College Sports”, explains the incident in 2009, a Pennsylvania State University football player was accused of sexual assault. However, some of the incidents detailed in a court document — filed by three of the members of Baylor University’s Board of Regents described how Baylor’s former head football coach, Art Briles, allegedly covered up sexual assaults and other misconduct by his players. Later, a student filed a lawsuit against the university alleging that at least 31 football players committed 52 rapes while Briles was a coach.
The culture around protecting athletes has always been dangerous for women and causes impulsive behaviors by men. Athletic coaches like Briles influence these types of behaviors for their athletes knowing they possess a cover-up. In other words, athletes have been given special treatments and excuses for their behavior resulting in victims not reporting the crime due to lack of assistance from the courts.
Sexual Assault in the Media
What’s interesting about sexual assault is the public reaction of the media coverage. News publications often downplay the accused abusers actions or involvement and society criticizes them for doing so. You often see on social media platforms, like Twitter, broadcasting news articles highlighting the positive aspects of the abusers life rather than their hideous actions. This commonly applies to athletes when we view articles that talk about their achievements instead of focusing on the issue at hand.
In the Brock Turner Stanford rape case, the media was judged because they chose to speak about his scholarship and accomplishments rather than the assault of the survivor, Chanel Miller. For instance, The Washington Post wrote an article that continually mentions Turner’s swimming career. They do so because the accomplishments of men are more important than highlighting their involvement.
Along with the content of these types of articles are the headlines addressing the sentencing of Brock Turner or feature his swimming career. For example, Bustle wrote an article about 8 news publications that wrote headlines that completely missed the point. Most of these articles didn’t emphasize that he raped Chanel Miller and should deserve a heavier sentencing, but rather addressed the request for more leniency. Miller only recently revealed her name due to her bravery to speak for those who are ashamed of what happened to other survivors in her position.
The media is a powerful tool that controls the messages which we read or see. It’s not a surprise that society is angered by how they chose to cover sexaul assault cases.
Activism
A variety of on and off campus groups are doing their part in activism against the prevalence of campus rapes through taking action in a variety of forms. They are also working to make a difference by installing rape prevention programs on college campuses to educate their students.
Programs endorsed by colleges such as #NotAnymore which educate students in not just providing advice in rape prevention, but in holding students accountable for their actions, aim to stop victim blaming and start holding rapists accountable. This end to victim blaming is then supplemented by groups like RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, which works alongside students in rating a college’s sexual assault provention programs, raising awareness of sexual violence on college campus’s.
The Take Back the Night Foundation is another prominent example of a group taking the initiative to stand against sexual violence, giving voice to the movement and as declared in their mission statement, seeking “to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse, and all forms of sexual violence.” The organization holds hundreds of events that take place internationally, including rallies and marches. Originally, the women-only marches were held at night to represent a woman’s individual walk through darkness and as a symbolic resistance of violence. Today, the marches often even include male allies, showing their support for women.
Conclusion
In conclusion, what we should be teaching children, adults and students is not statistics of rape culture but the act itself of not being a rapist. College is known to many as the “best years of your life.” Why should this be taken away from a woman who felt confident in what she was wearing and perhaps had too much to drink because she doesn’t know better in one night by a man who needs a sense of power in his life? Yes, activism is important to stop sexual violence but the activism should start in the home.