Sexual assault is a crisis in the United States. This crisis is perpetuated by the belief of rape myths, gender roles and victim shaming. If this epidemic continues at its current rate then the consequences will affect not just the victims but laws, colleges and families. Fortunately there has been significant effort put forth towards educating communities on sexual assault and in assisting victims. The consequences of sexual assault effect not just the victim but the whole community. The amount of victim alone effect the community. The U.
S department of Justice found that there is about 293,066 victims of sexual assault (“Who are the Victims? ” RAINN). That means there was a sexual assault victim about every two minutes (“Who are the Victims? ” RAINN). This number does not include children under the age of 12(“Who are the Victims? ” RAINN). This greatly impacts their data because 44 % of sexual assault victims are under 18 years old (“Who are the Victims? ” RAINN). Some of the possible physical effects are: pain, migraines, sexually transmitted diseases, and cervical cancer (Sexual Violence: Consequences, 2015).
Victims are also affected psychologically (Sexual Violence: Consequences, 2015). They can suffer from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, low self-esteem. Some victims have even considered or committed suicide after an assault (Sexual Violence: Consequences, 2015). Victims are more likely to develop drug and alcohol abuse (“Who are the Victims? ” RAINN). Sexual assault even affects the victims’ relationships with friends and family. Some victims distance themselves from friends and family (Sexual Violence: Consequences, 2015).
The wide belief of rape myths has even affect society’s definition of rape. The public’s definition of rape varies from the legal definition of rape (Pazzani, 2011). The difference can create stress for victims, whose experience does not meet society’s limited definition of rape. The community definition of rape is based on myths and traditional gender roles (Pazzani, 2011). It limits victims to being only those who fought, were injured and were attacked by a stranger (Pazzani, 2011). The community definition discredits victims who were unconscious, using drugs or drinking alcohol (Pazzani, 2011).
It also discredits victims who were attacked by someone they knew. This is especially disheartening because 80 percent of victims knew their attackers (Sinozich, Langton, 2014). When a victim’s assault does not coincide with society’s definition, it can discourage victims from reporting (McGregor, M. J. , Wiebe, E. , Marion, S. A. , & Livingstone, C, 2000). People, who are victims of sexual assault, have gone through a traumatic ordeal. If the person decides to report their sexual assault, they then have to retell their story to prosecutors and again when testifying in court.
When in court the defense attorney is questioning the legitimacy of the victims experience (Pazzani, 2011). Some victims have described their experience as painful (Pazzani, 2011). Only 32 percent of sexual assaults are reported (“Who are the Victims? ” RAINN). There a many reasons why victims do not report. One study found that some women feel that their assault was not significant enough to report (Sinozich, Langton, 2014). This is especially inherent in with college student victims (Sinozich, Langton, 2014).
Some women, about 20 percent, did not report because they were scared of retaliation (Sinozich, Langton, 2014). How the media and the public treat victims, who name a celebrity as their rapists, can validate other victims’ fears of reporting. For example, when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape. The victim received death threats (Pazzani, 2011). Private information about her medical and sexual history, along with other private information, was made public by the media (Pazzani, 2011). Of all the articles written about the case 65 percent stated a rape myth as fact (Pazzani, 2011).
The most stated rape myth, was that the victim was lying (Pazzani, 2011). Another telling fact is that about 25 percent of the articles included positive facts about Kobe Bryant, while just five percent of articles had anything positive to state about the victim (Pazzani, 2011). The myth that victims lie is very common, as seen in the Kobe Bryant’s victim’s situation. Those who accept this myth believe there are multiple reasons why a women would lie. One reason, they believe a woman would lie, is that the woman wants to hurt the offender’s character (Pazzani, 2011).
Traditional gender roles attribute to the popularity of this myth. The traditional gender role that claims women should be pure or have few sexual partners contributes to the belief that a woman would lie about rape because she regrets having consensual sex with the offender (Pazzani, 2011). One excuse they believe is that an unmarried woman would falsely report because she is pregnant and ashamed that she is not married (Pazzani, 2011). A false report would be very traumatizing for the accused offender. If the accused was innocent. The belief that anyone would lie about rape is unsubstantiated.
It is rare that a false report is made only about 2 percent of rape accusations are false (“Sexual assault– just the facts; A halton group aims to dispel myths about the crime through its ‘thought check list”, 2000). Other crimes have higher percent of false reports (“Sexual assault– just the facts; A halton group aims to dispel myths about the crime through its’ thought check list”, 2000). Increase in awareness of sexual assault has encouraged changes in the laws. The rise in sexual assault awareness has led to more laws being passed that protect victims’ rights (Pazzani, 2011).
One example of a law that protects the victims’ rights is called shield laws (Pazzani, 2011). Shield laws guard the victims’ privacy by barring the use of victims sexual past (Pazzani, 2011). The only way a victims’ sexual past can be used in a court of law is if the judge decides it is important to the case (Pazzani, 2011). This is a good example of why education on sexual assault is necessary for police officers, prosecutors and judges. Another law that protects victims’ privacy is called Advocate privilege (American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence, 2007).
It states that victim advocates cannot be subpoenaed to testify about a victim (American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence, 2007). It also protects any files a victim advocate might have about the victim. Most states, including Indiana, have laws like the Advocate privilege, but not all states do (American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence, 2007). This law allows victims to feel comfortable talking to a Victim Advocate, knowing that what they say will not be questioned.
There are laws that affect how colleges investigate and educate about sexual assault. The first is the Title IX act. It was established in 1972 (Know Your IX, n. d). Title IX protects students from being discriminated because of their gender (Know Your IX, n. d). Title IX mandates that schools must have a process for handling reports of students being discriminated against because of their gender, or sexual assaults including: harassment or sexual violence (Title IX: The Basics 9 Things to know about Title IX, n. d. ).
It protects student victims, in that it mandates that the school must guarantee that a victim can continue their education without fear of sexual assault (Know Your IX, n. d). Title IX also protects victims from schools by stating schools may not act against the victim for filing a report (Know Your IX, n. d). Title IX also gives schools the authority to establish a no contact order to the accused student (Title IX: The Basics 9 Things to know about Title IX, n. d. ). This means that the accused student cannot approach the victim (personal communication).
No contact orders cannot stop the accused offender’s family and friends from contacting the victim (personal communications). Another law that affects colleges is the Clery Act, which was established in 1990 (Wies, 2015). Under the Clery Act it is a requirement for all schools, to report crime statistics (Wies, 2015). The act also necessitates that colleges warn students and notify them about emergency situations (Wies, 2015). The Clery Act also requires schools to provide resources for victims and to notify students of resources that can help them (Wies, 2015).
If schools do not comply with the Clery Act, the Education Department can require schools pay up to $35000 (Wies, 2015). The Education Department also has the authority to delay students’ federal aid, as punishment, for schools who do not comply with the act (Wies, 2015). The Violence Against Women’s act is a federal law that pertains to sexual assault and domestic violence. The Violence Against Women’s Act was established in 1994 (Wies, 2015). It allocates funds for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault (Wies, 2015). It also provides funds for training police about domestic violence.
In 2013, the section 304 was added to the Violence Against Women’s Act (Wies, 2015). This section is known as the Save Act. Section 304 mandates that schools report, their statistics about crime, and the schools programs that focus on preventing intimate partner violence, sexual assault and stalking (Wies, 2015). This section also requires schools to report what policies the school has in regards to how the school investigates reports (Wies, 2015). The Violence Against Women’s Act also protects the rights of other victims, besides college students.
One example of how Violence Against Women’s Act protects victims right is that it gives tribal courts authority to prosecute non-native offenders for sexual assault (“The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Safely and Effectively Meeting the Needs of More Victims”, n. d. ). Before it was passed the tribal courts did not have the authority and some Native American victims could not seek justice (“The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Safely and Effectively Meeting the Needs of More Victims”, n. d. ). Since VAWA was enacted domestic violence has decreased.
More people are reporting crimes of stalking, sexual assault and domestic violence (“The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Safely and Effectively Meeting the Needs of More Victims”, n. d. ). This act has also saved the tax payers $12 billion dollars (“The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Safely and Effectively Meeting the Needs of More Victims”, n. d. ). Violence Against Women Act has funded many prevention education programs. Many colleges have started sexual assault education programs for its students (Kimberly H. B, Scarce, M. 1999).
The University of Southern Indiana instituted an educational program about sexual assault prevention in the fall of 2015. There have been many studies that prove the effectiveness of sexual assault prevention education. In one study with 224 college women participants (Kimberly H. B, Scarce, M. 1999). Half were assigned to a treatment group. The treatment group underwent an hour of prevention education training. The program was effective in educating the treatment group about sexual assault (Kimberly H. B, Scarce, M. 1999). It was not effective in decreasing the risk of sexual assault (Kimberly H. B, Scarce, M. 1999).
Another study found that sexual assault prevention education is effective, after following up three months after the training (Daigneault, I. , Hebert, M. , McDuff, P. , Michaud, F. , VezinaGagnon, P. , Henry, A. , & Porter-Vignola, E, 2015). The study had 372 participants in the treatment group and 422 participants in the control group. The participants were students at public high schools. The participants were between the ages of 15 to 17(Daigneault, I, et al. , 2015). The treatment group attended an hour and 15 minute training on sexual assaults.
When organizing the data, the researchers found that there was there was a difference between how men and women retained information about sexual assault resources (Daigneault, I. et al, 2015). The researchers noted this differences could be because they presented resources for female victims only (Daigneault, I. et al, 2015). Despite the differences between males and females recognizing resources, the study found that the trainings were effective, for all participants in the treatment group, in increasing the knowledge on sexual assault facts, improving the attitudes about sexual assault (Daigneault, I. t al, 2015).
Sexual assault affects a lot of people. Anybody can become a victim of sexual assault no matter the person’s background. Fortunately there are many laws that protect victim’s right and ensure they can receive the help they need. Society’s belief in rape myths has made the importance of prevention education even more imperative. Prevention education has been found to be effective in informing participants of sexual assault facts, and resources in their local community that helps victims.
