Students and Sexual Assault

From the perspective of 2019, students still find themselves in situations that mustn’t be either concealed or hidden. In that case, the cases of sexual assault on college campuses now become part of a global issue that deserves a proper solution. Sexual harassment or sexual violence might happen to anyone, yet female students, for some reason, are disproportionately affected by this social problem.

But when it comes to college assault cases, they seem to be increasing in frequency and brutality of these crimes. So, let’s review the role of sexual assault in the lives of ordinary students, which is now perceived as a fact, which is neither inevitable nor avoidable.

What about the legal perspective?

First things first, sexual assault and all related facilities should be assessed from the perspective of the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. This law prohibits any kind of discrimination based on sex in terms of educational facilities. Since the actions of the college assault of the respective nature are applicable to the official interpretation of Title IX, they should be reviewed accordingly.

In that sense, Title IX is responsible for prohibiting all imaginable senses of sex-based harassment, including verbal, nonverbal, and physical aggression. If you’re still uncertain about how college assault and sexual assault on college campuses are treated from the legal perspective, just check legal papers that can be accessed for free on the Web.

For example, you might review the relevant law cases or even essay sample pieces about how to deal with college assault from a legal outlook.

Is it really avoidable?

Well, sexual assault on college campuses is truly a controversial issue, especially in terms of whether it might be avoided or not. While some claim that students are the most vulnerable individuals when it comes to becoming the victims of sex-based crimes, others claim that a proper campus design could make it fully avoidable.

So, the complicatedness of the issue might be better seen if reviewing the examples of sexual assault in the military. The Army’s SHARP stands out as being a guidebook for addressing all the pertaining elements of sexual harassment in the military. If only all the student campuses in the US and across the globe could have a similar document, which explicitly reacts to the cases of college assault in detail.

Although it would be too idealistic to say that cases of sexual harassment could be eliminated at all, the emergence of some sort of design in college campuses is a decent option for facilitating safety.

Just review the scale

Although we don’t judge people that claim that campus assault is overestimated, the statistics would probably do that. The alarming rates of sexual harassment in educational institutions are accompanied by 20% of students who claimed that they experienced some sort of abuse while staying on campus.

Add that to even higher rates for women, who were the victims of the nonconsent touching, and you will receive pretty horrifying statistics. Keeping those stats from online sources in mind, you should be more aware of the real situation on countless campuses across the globe when it comes to cases of sexual harassment. So, maybe, the Army’s SHARP isn’t that bad, especially if it modifies its guidelines to the setting of a college campus.

Any way to cope with it?

Regarding the potential mitigation solutions, one is to acknowledge that countless proposals were already voiced. While some advocated for stringer control from the side of the campus officials, others claimed that nothing might be done from the short-term perspective.

We would like to stick somewhere in the middle by saying that stronger encouragement for reporting might be needed. Although this isn’t a universal panacea, the cases of sexual harassment could be mitigated if to execute appropriate punishment for perpetrators. Students (or anyone for that matter) shouldn’t have to put up with a hostile work environment where they feel sexually harassed, threatened, or abused. Action can and should be taken.

It would naturally create a sense that such crimes won’t be hidden anymore, eventually developing a more natural reaction to combating sexual assault on college campuses. Also, it should be reasonable to provide adequate reactions to those who happened to be victims of sexual abuse in the setting of a college campus.

A universally appropriate decision is to intensify the efforts from the side of the institutions and student welfare organizations. Only by cooperating for a shared aim, this issue might decrease in quantity, at the same time, adopting a more sophisticated framework for work.

What’s next?

Some students have agreed that sexual harassment cases are unlikely to happen because they haven’t personally encountered it. That’s another stigma that should be addressed as soon as possible.

By raising awareness that the victims of college assault of sexual character might be somewhere close to all of us, some real actions might be enforced. With a rise of student solidarity, especially in terms of student welfare organizations all around the world. In that sense, the creation of a solid atmosphere of safety, security, and care.

Although we understand that those notions might be too abstract or even unrelated to the ongoing state of affairs, the first step is the emergence of care and support for those in need. Just by concentrating the efforts of all willing individuals, a strong sense of support might be generated, which is a must for fostering the emergence of campus without the cases of sexual harassment.

In conclusion

In some sense, all victims of sexual harassment, regardless of the character of that nonconsensual crime, should receive proper treatment. In terms of the potential ways how to mitigate that problem, the application of the Army’s SHARP might be a good option. Once the campuses are ready for a real change, then the college assault cases would be less horrifying, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Keeping all that said in mind, sexual assault on college campuses is just an existing problem that requires modern solutions. Hopefully, one day, we would observe the emergence of safe spaces for all women and men when it comes to college campuses.