Rape On College Campuses

Bent on Consent “Sometimes I think, if I hadn’t gone, then this never would’ve happened. But then I realized, it would have happened, just to somebody else” (Baker). In recent years, the issue of sexual assault on college and university campuses in the United States has garnered nationwide attention; the Stanford rape case being one of many examples. This has sparked debates by the public on how to address this issue, leading to numerous conversations surrounding consent, victim-blaming, false accusations, the role of students and campus personnel, and more. The discussion surrounding rape on college campuses has invoked response(s) by the federal government. The Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990, also known as the Clery …show more content…
It is important to recognize that added to its historic bias against rape victims that continues today, “the criminal justice system has inadequately addressed the very kind of rape most common on (and off) campus: acquaintance rape without extrinsic violence.” Colleges themselves can more directly address this issue because of the way campus atmosphere contributes to it, and colleges can also “take immediate measures to protect one student from another that the criminal justice system cannot” (Anderson 1961). All reasons aside, even if one believes that the criminal justice system should be involved, it is clear that colleges and universities still must work toward abolishing campus sexual assault because of their duty to uphold Title IX and provide all students with equal access to education (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972). In Colorado, specifically for the University of Colorado Boulder, the best way to decrease the number of sexual assaults that occur on campus is to ensure abidance by federal guidelines in terms of both prevention and response policies, to encourage reporting by empowering victims of assault, and to recognize and address rape culture …show more content…
While colleges have been showing prevention efforts and advocating for affirmative consent, there are weaknesses in campus policies that should be strengthened and should comply more with federal guidelines. Compliance with federal guidelines and more standardization of policies would help colleges be more successful in addressing the issue of campus sexual assault. This standardization should begin with definitions of terms such as “rape” and “consent” (McMahon). As the state definition of sexual assault fits under the federal definition and is more specific, colleges and universities themselves must define these terms in accordance with state definitions. This facilitates cooperation between campus personnel and local law enforcement when investigating a sexual assault allegation; cooperation between the two is important because the number of resources available to parties involved should be maximized. Partnership with local rape crisis centers such as MESA in Boulder County as well can give students access to 24-hour emergency services and long-term therapists. However, what should be the priority of these higher education institutions is to minimize the number of rapes that happen on campus in the first

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