Sexual Assault On-Campus Rape

The Duke lacrosse case implicated criminal actions of: first degree rape, first degree sex offenses’ and kidnapping charges against three Duke University lacrosse players; Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligman and Dean Evans (North Carolina State Bar v. Nifong, 2007,p.18-20). According to Mosteller (2007) the case started with “gang rape allegations” by Crystal Mangum, a black exotic dancer who was also a student at North Carolina Central University on the morning of March 14th, 2006 (p.1337). The alleged rape occurred during the Duke lacrosse teams’ party at 610 North Buchanan Blvd (North Carolina State Bar v. Nifong, 2007,p.1). Suspiciously Mangum could not make any identifications of her attackers even after viewing most Duke lacrosse team members including the names mentioned above and the lacrosse team members who actually lived at 610 North Buchanan Blvd (Mosteller, 2007, p.1407). Mosteller (2007) also mentions that Mike Nifong had to know that

In the article “Die Trying”, Katie J.M. Baker points out the difficulties of being a rape victim in Alabama and nationwide. The article “Die Trying” talks about a student named Megan Rondini who attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa who accused T.J. Bunn Jr. of rape. The events that led to sexual assault happened in July 1, 2015 at night where Megan Rondini went to Innisfree Irish Pub with a couple of her sorority sisters and drank five cups of beer. After drinking the beer Megan Rondini blacked out and found herself in T.J. Bunn’s car with his friend going back to his house.

On February 7, 1978, the 19-year-old student that attended the College of William and Mary reported that she was sexually assaulted at gunpoint. She informed police investigators that on that afternoon she went to her “fiancé’s apartment in Williamsburg, Virginia after her morning class was cancelled. When she attempted to enter the apartment with her arms full of groceries, she was then confronted

In her magazine article, “No, #MeToo Isn’t McCarthyism,” found in the January 2018 issue of The Atlantic, writer Sophie Gilbert refutes various criticisms targeting #MeToo, a recent social media campaign created to spread awareness of the frequency of sexual harassment and assault. She distinguishes serious sexual assault and harassment allegations from claims against men who are merely unpleasant by noting that the former is comprised of rape accusations, while the latter is only “a collection of misconduct allegations and rumors” (2). Critics of #MeToo have attempted to undermine the movement by arguing that it is a facade to allow people to falsely accuse others of sexual harassment and assault. As a result, the accused usually suffer from

One in five women and one in sixteen men are sexually assaulted while in college. 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police and only about 2 to 10% of reports are found to be false. In Jon Krakauer’s book: Missoula, Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Krakauer focuses on the many rapes that occur on the college campus in Missoula. Most of the rapes that happen on college campuses are done by men, but to say all men are rapists is unjust and sexist.

The documentary The Hunting Ground by Kirby Dick was created specifically to spread awareness of the vast problem of sexual assault on college campuses and to try to show that the problem needs to be solved. The creator wanted those struggling with their sexual assault and the unfair treatment they were exposed to, as well as anyone who may have to go through sexual assault in the future, to know that the problem of sexual assault that universities tried to hide in the dark is finally being given the spotlight they deserve. The spark of this idea of the documentary was the many stories of survivors across the nation from many different universities, specifically the story of Annie and Andrea who helped other survivors get the justice they deserve.

In general, people labeled as victims often feel guilty for being a victim and do not report the offense. In cases of sexual harassment between students, both classmates and administrators often victim blame the female in the situation. Victim blaming claims that women caused the harassment by dressing and acting inappropriately. “[These] judgements create an environment in which it becomes unlikely that the target of harassment will feel justified and supported in claiming her rights” (Chamberlain). However, sexual harassment “is a part of the larger framework of oppression that subordinates females to male in a complex, deeply enculturated patriarchal system of compulsory heterosexuality” (Chamberlain).

The US Department of Justice explains that “Title IX protects students from sexual harassment in educational programs or activities operated by recipients of federal funding” (“Title IX”). In order to evaluate the full impact of Title IX on students today, it’s necessary

Nicksa, and Cote (2010) “most of the sources report data ranging from 1.5% to 90% which cannot be relied upon because they are based on one of scrutinize police classifications.” (Lisak, Gardinier, Nicksa, and Cote 2010, p.1322) This study looked at 136 cases of reported rape at Northeastern University over a 10 year span the researchers. The results of this research that out of 136 cases of sexual assault 5.9% were deemed to be false accusation. Tying into this article was the rebuttal research from In JoAnn Belknap’s (2010) study Rape Too Hard

Colleges are protecting their public record and do not wish to affect their brand be publicly admitting the high rates of sexual assaults. The documentary focused on a student attending Harvard Law School and the administrators insisted that the female victim should remain silent and avoid spreading the incident around. They asked questions such as, "Did you give him the wrong message, why did you choose not to fight back". Victim blaming is presented when the administrators are more interested in what the victim did wrong rather than what the offender's actions

Throughout this documentary, viewers learn that many sexual assault cases happen on college campuses. However, many of these cases are often ignored by college administrators because universities want to keep rape statistics low and they have an financial incentive to do so. In the film it states that there are less than 8% of men in college that commit more than 90% of sexual assaults. This indicates that because

In society and college campuses, sexual assault occurs quite frequently. According to an estimation one third of women experience a forced sexual experience at least once in their life and most of the time it occurs in colleges. Men have also been reported to be victim of sexual assaults mostly by other men. Most of the time the sexual assault is planned and perpetrated by a third person, who is known to the victim of incident. Drug and alcohol use play role in this issue and contribute to the problem as most of the time the victim and perpetrators are under the effect of alcohol or any other drug during the incident.

As sweat pooled down her face and a low guttural grunt escaped her mouth, DePaul University student Natalie Marcrum gave one final thrust of her knee to the imaginary predator. Learning to defend herself, as well as others Marcrum works to prevent sexual assault before it happens. In support of April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness at DePaul University has partnered with various departments and student lead organizations to bring forth information in coping, recognizing and preventing sexual violence. “It’s important for colleges to be involved because sexual assault is most prevalent on college campuses,” said Ava Bibergal, a DePaul University student.

In Zoë Heller’s Rape on the Campus, She advocates how sexual assault happens often on campuses, and that it needs to be significantly more addressed; as it is scarce for women to bring the college’s attention to the assault. Heller asserts that, “20 percent of women are sexually assaulted during their time at college and as few as 5 percent of these assaults are ever reported to police” (185). Noting that ninety-five percent of sexual assault cases are dealt by the college, colleges can take advantage and handle its reputation by outputting false information to cover any potential negative reputation. While colleges are forced to obey the rules of title IX, I believe this is an inadequate effort to remove bias teachers and workers from colleges.

The inclusion of a scene of a sexually violent nature in any film or television show is always met with the debate whether the particular content and depiction is gratuitous or educational. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is with the question of necessity, and thus where opinions are split. Regardless of any predelictions, there are numerous researchers that will readily agree that the topic of rape and sexual assault is now a popular subject choice for film and television shows to tackle. For instance, in her seminal book Watching Rape, Projansky (2001) proposes that any inclusion of a rape or sexual assault plot as a dramatic device in film and television acknowledges the existence of such in the real world, and whether good or