Campus Sexual Assault
Campus Sexual Assault
These resources span from news articles, to think pieces, to book and podcast recommendations. All deal with the nature of sexual assault on campuses across the U.S. (and sometimes they even go global). Understanding the reality of campus sexual assault arms us with the information to better implement primary prevention and stop campus sexual assault at its roots.
Students of Colorado State University who are victims of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are provided with confidential resources and are informed of the confidentiality policy of said resources. Definitions of each offense are also explained.
With new federal rules looming, colleges are trying to reach students using packaged online courses that emphasize strategies like bystander intervention.
Josh Kelly, a senior at Tufts University, shares the way his own experience with failed sexual assault policies on his campus led him to be a sexual assault activist, specifically urging for legislation protecting males from sexual assault from other males.
A new federal study aiming to improve the way universities handle sexual assault is said to be taking place at Rutgers University.
A recent study conducted by the Washington Post found that up to 45% of schools with more than 1000 students reported 0 cases of rape in a year; however, the fact that 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted in college suggests that many women simply aren’t reporting sexual assault.
Jonathan Kalin, senior at Colby College, has started a program called “Party With Consent,” where he presents workshops for males focusing not on villainizing men, but on informing them of their privilege and encouraging them to utilize it to move towards positive change. He also explains the concept of gender socialization and encourages men to rethink their idea of “masculinity.”
In a recently released report from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, the large connection between excessive drug and alcohol use and sexual assaults on college campuses was not properly addressed according to the author.
At high profile schools such as Amherst, Columbia, and Harvard, students and administration are fighting back against sexual assault through petitions, blog investigations, the filing of federal complaints, with-holding of donations, marches in solidarity with sexual assault victims, and more.
Young men in the college scene desire more education about what consent really means; in addition, the author feels that victim blaming is causing men to be afraid of all sexual encounters because they aren’t sure what will be labeled as sexual assault.
The Men’s Project integrates social norms, empathy, and bystander education programs into one program for college men.
Stewart, A. L. (2014). The Men’s Project: A sexual assault prevention program targeting college men. Psychology Of Men & Masculinity, 15(4), 481-485. doi:10.1037/a0033947
This podcast discusses the how the current political climate affects views of sexual assault and the shift from risk reduction (women protecting themselves from sexual assault) to primary prevention (changing men’s behavior and gender issues before assault happens).
In the article, the author talks about how rapists are your average college students that do not see themselves as rapists, and the influence these seemingly “normal” men and boys have on their peers in relation to sexual violence against women is discussed.
Historically black colleges and universities are attempting to overcome issues of sexual assault.
Vice President Biden and Secretary Duncan presented guidelines on legal obligations in addressing sexual violence in school and on campus.
"A new sexual revolution is sweeping the country, and college students are on the front lines. Few places in America have felt the influence of #MeToo more intensely. Indeed, college campuses were in many ways the harbingers of #MeToo. Grigoriadis captures the nature of this cultural reckoning without shying away from its complexity.
College women use fresh, smart methods to fight entrenched sexism and sexual assault even as they celebrate their own sexuality as never before. Many “woke” male students are more open to feminism than ever, while others perpetuate the cruelest misogyny. Coexisting uneasily, these students are nevertheless rewriting long-standing rules of sex and power from scratch.
Eschewing any political agenda, Grigoriadis travels to schools large and small, embedding in their social whirl and talking candidly with dozens of students, as well as to administrators, parents, and researchers. Blurred Lines is a riveting, indispensable illumination of the most crucial social change on campus in a generation.”
Danielle Dirks, PhD is a sociologist, professor, and author. Her research and teaching interests are concerned with fundamental questions about justice and inequality in society.
She is the author of Confronting Campus Rape: Legal Landscapes, New Media, and Networked Activism (forthcoming) and co-author of How Ethical Systems Change: Lynching and Capital Punishment (Routledge, 2015; 2011). She is currently working on Punishment in the Age of Google: The Mark of a Digital Criminal Record.
The way that colleges respond to sexual assault is criticized.