On college campuses all over the globe, sexual assaults are going unreported. According to an article on The Huffington Post titled “Breaking the Silence, Addressing Sexual Assault on Campus,” “The federal Clery Act requires U.S. colleges to document and disclose all sexual assaults that occur on their campuses annually, universities can only tabulate reported incidents; and sexual assaults often go unreported.”
The Equinox would like to argue that domestic violence is a seriously evident issue going on not only at Keene State College, but also at colleges all over the nation. It deserves more attention. Statistics regarding sexual assault on college campuses need to be more easily accessible for students to reach.
Not only should these numbers be more convenient for students to find, but colleges should also work harder at making them more accurate, giving potential students a clear understanding of the environment they may be entering. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, “It’s estimated that between one-quarter and one-fifth of college women experience sexual assault, but fewer than half of victims ever report it to authorities.” Why is there this concerning gap of people refusing to come forth with what happened to them?
Sean Crater / Webmaster
The Equinox believes that we as a college campus need to work toward fixing a problem of this magnitude. We believe the students and administrators need to work in collaboration to create a place where students feel comfortable coming forward with their offenses.
Unfortunately, many colleges and universities have the mentality of a business and try to avoid negative publicity at all costs, even to the extent of covering up some cases of rape and sexual assault. Students should not feel that their lives are in danger just for reporting a serious crime that was committed against them.
The article on The Huffington Post included an interesting attempt at what could help alleviate the serious issue schools have with underreported rape, “Every federally funded college or university should be required to conduct exit surveys of their departing seniors to determine how many were sexually assaulted during their four-year stay and then these results should be published.”
We believe there needs to be a system in place where students have a comfortable outlet for them to get a chance to reveal the truth about what happened to them during their stay at a place they pay thousands of dollars to receive an education.
The Equinox also believes that a large component of the problem is that many people don’t have a clear understanding of what is considered sexual abuse.
According to an article on Feministing.com, research conducted by a law professor at the University of Kansas looking at reports of sexual assaults at 31 colleges showed interesting results.
The article suggested, “The reported numbers of sexual assaults increased by approximately 44 percent on average from previously reported levels.”
“After the audits ended, the reported number of sexual assaults in following years dropped to pre-audit levels, evidence that some schools provided a more accurate picture of sexual assaults on campus only when they were under federal scrutiny, the study concluded,” the article continued.
Colleges need to act upon issues of sexual assault firsthand instead of only when they are under the thumb of strict federal scrutiny. The heinous behavior from colleges is completely unacceptable.
If they can get away with ignoring these issues, that is what many colleges attempt to do. There is evidence in these articles that this type of corruption is taking place. Colleges and universities need to step up and start taking the safety of their student body more seriously. They need to recognize safety as a top priority over money.
We need to spark a worldwide conversation about what exactly sexual violence is, no matter how little, or how big the deal may seem to be. Ultimately, people all over need to band together and take responsibility for what is happening on our campuses.
We need to create a place people can go to get help and to report what is going on.
We need to educate people about the consequences for their actions and realize that in no way, shape or form is sexual violence ever acceptable.
Colleges need to stop acting as businesses, stop the nonsense and stop trying to cover up instances of rape in order to avoid having a bad reputation. They need to step up and take ownership of what is going on and instead of sweeping the issues under the rug. They need to bring them to light and seek out a solution to the madness.
