Spread Awareness: Sexual Assault on College Campuses
By: Morgan Niesen (writer) and Ashlyn McQuitty (graphics and editor)
With the month of April being Sexual Assault Awareness month, it’s a very prevalent time to spread awareness on this issue, especially amongst college students. Unfortunately, sexual assault is something that many college students have experienced firsthand.
In efforts to spread awareness on the subject, it is important for everyone to know what kinds of behavior are considered sexual assault, and the impacts it will have on victims. Most importantly, it is necessary for all members of society to understand the severity of this violence and explore different resources on how to prevent it.
Although the topic of sexual assault isn’t an easy one to discuss, it is undeniable that awareness needs to be spread on this ongoing issue. According to RAINN, a website for sexual assault information and prevention, sexual assault “refers to sexual contact or behavior that occurs without explicit consent of the victim.” Some specific examples of this include attempted rape, fondling or unwanted sexual touching, and forcing a victim to perform sexual acts.
The unfortunate commonality of sexual assault is an issue all around the world. However, there’s no hiding the fact that this violence has increased amongst college campuses in the United States. As of 2019, 13% of all students experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation, which includes all graduate and undergraduate students (RAINN). Additionally, among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault (RAINN). The age range of 18–24 statistically is at the highest risk of sexual assault, especially for students living on campus. In fact, males in this age range are 78% more likely than non-students of this age range to experience sexual assault and females 20% more likely being a student on a college campus in this age range.
“I can’t change the unfortunate events that happened to me in the past, but I can use this experience to educate others”, said Kylie, a victim of college sexual assault. Kylie, a current Junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, became a victim of sexual assault her freshman year of college at an on-campus party. At first, she said she felt “embarrassed and ashamed” of what had happened to her and wanted to keep it a secret until something similar happened to a friend of hers.
Kylie shared that after her friend opened up to her about also being a victim of sexual assault, “I decided this wasn’t something to be embarrassed about.” Since opening up, both Kylie and her friend wanted to use their experience as a way to educate others on this issue. “I want other victims to know that they aren’t alone and the best thing they can do with what happened to them is utilize their experience to educate others,” said Kylie. Kylie isn’t the only one who’s either a victim themselves or has a friend who is. Maya, a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside who wants to spread awareness on this issue stated “its important to note that this issue happens to both males and females, neither being worse than the other. Victims are victims. We as a society need to take a stand and spread awareness on the issue of sexual assault”
In addition to creating more conversations in the community about sexual assault, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides a 5-step strategy, which goes by “S-T-O-P-SV”. Each one of these letters stands for a different strategy, with the five strategies being: promote social norms that protect against violence, teach skills to prevent sexual violence, provide opportunities to empower and support victims, create protective environments, and support/survivors to lessen harms. Each one of these strategies has a detailed description of how to approach each prevention method.
Look into the information and prevention that your campus provides regarding this issue so that you know what you can do. Many universities like the University of Wisconsin-Parkside provide counseling services tailored to sexual assault as well as how to know if this has happened to you, what to do next and how to properly report it. If this has happened to you, you aren’t alone, look into the resources available to you. If this hasn’t happened to you, do the research at your university to help those who are victims and to stop the numbers from increasing.
College is a time for young adults to find themselves, a career path, and make lifelong memories. This experience should not be tainted by a fully preventable act of violence. As a society, a call to action is needed to prevent more men and women from becoming victims of sexual assault on college campuses. Be like Kylie. Talk about sexual assault with your friends. Educate yourself and your classmates about the different resources available. It’s time to end the stigma around sexual assault, and now more than ever before, it’s time to create more dialogue regarding this subject.
