Sexual Assaults in Universities as Gender Issues

Sexual Assault on Universities and College Campuses

Introduction to Sexual Assault

Sexual assault refers to an involuntary sexual act where an individual is forced to engage in against his or her will (Hoffman, 1998). As the world evolves and becomes more politically correct and more culturally sensitive, certain injustices that might have been swept under the rug in the past are now no longer tolerated, but brought to the light of day for judgment and justice. Today, more stories of sexual assault are playing out at colleges and universities across the country forcing scores of students from different universities to go public by filing formal federal complaints (Schwartz, 1997). Sexual assault continues to be a thing which occurs repeatedly on college campuses, phenomena which violate the very objective of these institutions for higher learning. In order to better prevent sexual assault within the university setting, the world has quickly learned that there needs to be more of a zero tolerance policy in place (Bohmer, 2003). In the U.S.A., sexual assault is a statutory offense hence giving the Obama administration an opportunity to step up pressure on many institutions so as to stop sexual assault. Currently, 55 colleges in the nation are under investigation in connection with the allegations that they ignored sexual assault and harassment complaints.

The phenomenon of sexual assault to college aged women remains one of the major injustices and saddest evils of our day. Unfortunately, 1 in 4 college-aged women report experience that meet the legal definition of rape or attempted rape (Hotelling, 2001). One in 5 college women are raped during their college years. Most survivors of sexual assaults are full-time students. A White House Task Force found that nearly 20% of female college students have been assaulted, but only 12% of these cases are reported. More cases need to be reported and more accurate numbers need to be compiled on a regular basis: this is necessary not only so that justice can be better carried out, but so that experts and officials are able to collect a better snapshot regarding the nature of our society and the young adults within it.

Sexual Assaults in Schools

When it comes to the issue of taking decisive action against those who perpetrate or engage in sexual assault, the Obama administration has taken a strong stand, with proactive measures to start engaging in a zero tolerance policy. The Obama Administration was lauded for releasing the names of 55 U.S. colleges that are currently under investigation for sexual assault as a means of putting additional pressure on these institutions to better adequately deal with the pressure from the inside (Steinhauer & Joachim, 2014). This marked the first time that the Department of Education had ever made a complete list of all the colleges that were under investigation for potential violations of any antidiscrimination laws under Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972: this move is so significant because the law prevents colleges that allow gender discrimination to receive any federal money (Steinhauer & Joachim, 2014).

This development is so significant because it demonstrates how the Obama Administration is in fact treating sexual assault as a gender issue, which it is. Most of the victims of sexual assault are female. Research carried out in different campuses showed that most of the students' complaints were ignored by the disciplinary panel. Such developments demonstrates that even passively, university boards are fundamentally tolerating violence against women -- an allowance which is undeniably a form of unjust discrimination.

By naming the dozens of universities which were currently facing Title IX investigations, there is thus a heightened amount of transparency, one which fosters a more intensive public awareness of civil rights. This is important, because in the past, high school students weren't aware if they were applying to schools which were/are under investigation for Title IX violations. For instance, Tufts University was recently disciplined, as one institution which had failed to obey federal law, by allowing a sexually hostile environment to continue at the school, as it had not engaged in prompt and equitable response to reports of sexual harassment and assault which is thus specified by the Title IX law (Steinhauer & Joachim, 2014).

The Obama Administration really is targeting college campuses after a series of highly publicized assaults occurred in college campuses: results are already changing for the better. For instance Duke University has planned to adopt one of the most intensive policies on sexual assault in history: perpetrators will be expelled rather than suspended if found guilty (Kitchener, 2013). This will hopefully send a strong message to university students everywhere that sexual assault on college campuses will absolutely not to be tolerated in any shape or form.

However, sexual assault is indeed a complex crime and one which is often not reported on college campuses because the victim often knows her assailant: he's not some stranger in a dark alley; he's the guy in her Medieval poetry class, or the guy in the fraternity that everyone likes (Kitchener, 2013). However, policies like these soon become tricky: however, in a college setting, where the perpetrator knows the victim and there's more of connection along with threads of shared friends or acquaintances, such an extreme policy can have negative implications and repercussions on the victim's own college life: "A victim will think, 'I've been with this guy for two years. I don't want him to be expelled,' said Alexandra Brodsky, a 2012 Yale graduate and Founder of Know Your IX, an organization devoted to educating college women about their Title IX rights… 'If a mandatory expulsion policy is going to deter someone from reporting, that's a big problem'" (Kitchener, 2013). Thus, while it's great that Duke University is taking such a strong stand against sexual assault, and creating an environment where it will not be tolerated at any cost -- an environment which could mean the end of one's academic career -- these findings reflect the fact that sexual assault on college campuses is a more nuanced and delicate issue, and one which needs a solution just as complex as the problem presents in being.

Many women on college campuses demonstrate that their reluctance to report the issue is connected to the fact that they fear how the punishment will impact themselves. For example, if a young man on a college campus sexually assaults a young woman there, the woman reports it, and the man gets expelled, it's quite likely that the girl will have to suffer the wrath of the man's social circle -- the friends, fraternity members or fellow classmates who are infuriated that the girl was the person who "caused" the end of this young man's academic career.

The case with Emma Sulkowicz and Columbia University is one which made national headlines repeatedly. The case demonstrated how it can be in a university's best interest to not take the statements made by victims seriously. Emma describes the nerve-wracking experience of having to watch her rapist give testimony, along with the elaborate lies and fantasies he made up about how she hit on him -- in the most graphic and disgusting manner (Sulkowicz, 2014). As Emma stated, "It was scary to see someone's mind work like that." This demonstrates that this young man on campus is a dangerous person: sociopaths are known for reveling in lies and manipulation, something that it appears this young man is strongly invested in. "Sociopaths use deceit and manipulation on a regular basis. Why? 'Lying for the sake of lying. Lying just to see whether you can trick people. And sometimes telling larger lies to get larger effects,' Dr. Stout told Interview Magazine" (Cooper-White, 2013). In this case, Sulkowicz is absolutely correct in her assessment: that it was scary to see someone's mind work in such a fashion: it is indeed scary because the serial rapist demonstrated repeatedly that he was adept at lying and that he was capable of inventing a range of fantastical elements which were all part of this fictional story, compete with details that absolved him of guilt. And Columbia University was more than happy to oblige in this regard: the university found him not-guilty. When Sulkowicz appealed, the appeal went directly to the dean who makes the final decision on all sexual assault cases on campus: this was problematic as Sulkowicz explained. There needed to be a disinterested party or one specially trained in dealing with survivors (Sulkowicz, 2014). More of Sulkowicz's commentary reflects the fact that her rapist is an imbalanced individual who enjoys the path of continuing to torment her, and is a danger to other students on campus: when Sulkowicz explained that when she was taking a photography class her rapist got permission to use the dark room during her class time, something which caused her to experience the symptoms of PTSD (2014).

As Sulkowicz succinctly stated, as long as he is on campus, he can continue to harass her: "I think the school is pressured to find him not guilty because up until now Columbia could just push these things under the rug and no one would know. But that means the Columbia administration is harboring serial rapists on campus. They're more concerned about their public image than keeping people safe" (2014). However, to be more specific, the issue does not actually revolve around the obligation to keep people safe: it is by and large a gender issue. In this case, Columbia University is more interested in protecting their public image as an elite institution connected only with being an intellectual powerhouse, rather than protecting the women on their campus (Bogler, 2014). It is the women on their campus who are by and large the victims of sexual assault. By protecting the image of the university and thus, protecting the male rapists, the university is marginalizing, discriminating against, and violating the rights of all of their female students. In the civil rights era, this is comparable to a white man assaulting a black student and being protected -- something which today's modern world would clearly shake its finger at, as racism.

Are Schools Adequately Dealing with Sexual Assaults?

It is evident that most schools fail to deal with sexual assaults adequately. Given the story of Emma Sulkowicz and given the overly black and white policy of Duke University in creating a disciplinary policy that discourages female students from reporting rape and other forms of sexual assault, it is clear that many more changes need to occur. For example, when Emma Sulkowicz told her story to the university panel, university officials repeatedly asked how the painful act was even possible; a specially trained panelist failed to understand how it would even be possible to have anal sex without using lubrication first. Given the audacity of the university panel's naivete and sheer denial combined with a disturbing lack of understanding of sexual intercourse in general, there needs to be a massive overhaul of how universities handle sexual assault. One could even argue, that in this case, the lack of understanding was willful, as was the denial, and that both were components of a patchwork quilt of placing importance on the university image above all else, and certainly above the rights of female students.

The case against Columbia looks more and more damning when one considers that it wasn't just Emma Sulkowicz's case which was excused, but so were the two other cases alleged by two other students against the same man. One would think that any university with even the mildest conscience would see that this was a pattern of criminal behavior with this one young man and seek justice. But this was not what occurred, and it is precisely what makes this a gender-issue. Instead of taking the side of the three women, the university sought to protect the accused male and their own reputation.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX)

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) is a law which protects students from gender-based discrimination such as sexual assault and rape on campuses. Title IX protections have a variety of applications; for instance, the law which prohibits schools from gender discrimination is now the same law the victims of sexual assault are using to provide adequate protection to themselves. For example, as discussed earlier in this paper, 23 Columbia and Barnard students have filed a federal complaint that violations have occurred at these institutions regarding the Title IX, Title II and the Clery Act. These federal complaints are the results of ignored student complaints and cases at the university level. The 100-page complaint alleges that the University repeatedly allowed accused perpetrators to not only stat on campus, but had lenient punishments and overall discouraged students from reporting the incidents (Dokterman, 2014). At its most simplistic, Title IX protects students from discrimination on the basis of their gender. Women continually fail to be protected from crimes of sexual assault on college campuses as their assailants have no justice or disciplinary action taken against them. This complaint hits even harder when used in conjunction with the Clery Act as this act forces all colleges and universities to offer up information regarding crime near or around their campuses. With these two pieces of legislation used in conjunction with Title II (an act which protects students from discrimination-based on disabilities) the students have thus made their case even stronger. Hence, Columbia and Barnard have discriminated against these female students as a result of their lack of immediate, appropriate action, violated the Clery act by not acknowledging that crimes were committed on their campuses, and caused the victims to suffer from debilitating mental health conditions. As one student complained, there have been a few town hall meetings, and a few emails sent around campus, but nothing which symbolizes a massive change that will make the female students feel safe -- not even the call for increased sexual assault transparency initiated by Columbia's President, or the President's claims that multiple initiative were already on the way. The lack of decisive action by the university has caused a massive lack of faith by students. Students are currently complaining about a loss of faith in Columbia university as a whole, as it has gained a reputation of wanting to protect their own public image over the safety of students (Dokterman, 2014). Furthermore, the university is found to be in violation of Clery Act, it will have to complete a fee of $35,000 per violation; if it is found to be in violation of Title IX and II, it could have its federal funding yanked away (Dokterman, 2014). These punishments are long overdue as college campuses everywhere have long been criticized for not effectively investigating what some people call an epidemic of sexual abuse on college campuses.