Sexual Assault on College Campuses: A Reflection of Society’s Attitudes

When college is mentioned, we often reminisce back to the time of our lives spent on wasted weekends – literally. Red solo cups filled with cheap beer while awkwardly dancing in hopes of catching the attention of the cutie across the sweaty dance floor. This is the popular portrayal of college in mainstream media. As a first-year student in university, I’ve been at the heart of this party scene and can confirm. Yet, nobody talks about the prevalent sexual assault problem associated with the campus party culture.

Sexual assault is a crime. However, there are massive rates of sexual assault cases that go underreported. In a small survey done by scholars Spencer et al. in their journal, Why Sexual Assault Survivors do Not Report to Universities: A Feminist Analysis, there were several findings for why female students chose not to report sexual assault. The reasons ranged from the fear of retaliation, and feelings of shame to not knowing how to access resources. However, the most common response was that girls simply didn’t think that sexual assault was a “big enough deal” to report.

Legal organization West Coast LEAF believes that sexual assault is a matter that needs to be urgently addressed, especially on college campuses. Their project Only Yes Means Yes uses education and policy reform to equip campuses in handling sexual assault cases.

However, the biggest challenge LEAF faces are not providing the legal and other resources for campuses in dealing with sexual assault cases. It is dispelling the deeply rooted cultural attitudes around sexual assault.

In Can Justice Be Served on Campus?: An Examination of Due Process and Victim Protection Policies in the Campus Adjudication of Sexual Assault in Maryland, scholar Konradi reasons how “sexual assault appears to persist on campus because peers reinforce patriarchal gender norms”. This means the promotion of rape culture, and victim-blaming attitudes paired with campuses’ lack of willingness to hold perpetrators accountable silence the victims.

We see it everywhere in the media.

Popular movies such as Dirty Grandpa or 22 Jump Street all endorse hardcore party scenes in college settings that reinforce strict gender norms. What this does is that it feeds the normalization of sexual violence towards girls. The argument that a girl is “asking for it” because she’s drinking at a party and wearing revealing clothes demonstrates society’s attitude and respect for women.

Even in real life, we see way too many instances where the few reported sexual assault cases show devasting results. Whether it’s Brett Kavanaugh or Brock Turner, the repercussions these two men received are arguably much less than what they deserved. Both men committed sexual assault as college students.

There are many arguments both these men have made, yet it boils down to one central defense. The argument that the consequences and sentences of committing sexual assault are not fair due to the loss of potential and legacy of these two men’s lives. The college party culture atmosphere in which these acts were committed imply how society still blames victims.

Ultimately it is the girl’s responsibility to stay safe.

This brings us to the question on how can we even resolve a crime that’s so common to the point it’s culturally normalized? LEAF’s decision to target and tackle the issue of sexual assaults on college and university campuses go deeper than just a mere setting.

Colleges and universities are smaller societies of the real world that fresh-faced high school kids make their transition as adults into the real world. Campuses and its community essentially reflect society’s current views and behaviour. This includes sexual assault.

By aiming to educate and create conversation around sexual assault on college campuses, LEAF is essentially teaching the next generation that sexual assault is not okay. Societal and cultural changes are not easy and gradual. However, college students are young and in college, students have the chance to establish an understanding of what’s required for sexual consent legally and ethically. This, in turn, brings a shifting of attitudes and views regarding sexual assault that would carry over to the next generation.

As of May 2017, LEAF’s project ensures that all post-secondary institutions are legally required to have policies dealing with sexual violence campus.

There are still long ways before sexual assault can be recognized and dealt with accordingly. However, LEAF has taken a necessary and huge first step in educating students and providing resources on campus that tackle sexual violence.