Category: Assault

According to Long and Butler (2018), sexual assault is any un-consensual sexual act, endeavour to perform an undesired sexual deed, unwanted sexual remarks and/or advances using intimidation. Sexual assault is a harm to society as it creates a sense of fear in individuals as this criminal act is unwanted by all and has a negative impact both mentally and physically on the victims. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research state that over the years 2009 and 2019, 638 offenders were convicted of sexual assault (Ringland, 2012). This number alone is enormous and yet numerous cases are left unreported due to fear, oblivion of being a victim and dissatisfaction with the police response. (Carbone-Lopez et al., 2015: 366-396) Although there are many factors that influence individuals to sexually assault another, masculine identity is a primary theory which can be used to explore why sexual assault occurs. This essay will also explore evolution and social disorganisation theories of crime and how they are placed as secondary theories to masculine identity.

Gender is the strongest and most consistent correlation of crime and delinquency (Bartusch and Matsueda, 1996: 145). The Australian Bureau of Statistics supports Bartusch and Matsueda’s claim and states that the majority of perpetrators of reported sexual assault cases are male (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004). Nevertheless, female offending does appear, although the figures are comparatively a drastic amount smaller. Australian Bureau of Statistics’ statistic clearly illustrates how the masculinity theory is a primary theory when exploring why sexual assault occurs and why males are more likely to commit this crime compared to females. The masculinity theory for crime is used to explain why males tend to commit crimes and are more likely to be the perpetrator in criminal acts. The theory touches on common male traits of seeking dominance, power and masculinity. Men tend to act tough, competitive and in some cases aggressive which can all result in criminal acts taking place. Males seeking to show dominance and masculinity has a strong association to sexual assault. Bryden D and Madore E (2016) article highlights the male motivation to dominate and control women. Perpetrators of sexual assault get a sense of dominance and power from committing this particular crime as the actions they perform are unwanted and with no consent. Furthermore, solidifying why the masculine identity theory is a foremost concept used to examine why sexual assault occurs.

Sexual assault is a common term which is often loosely thrown around, which has resulted in a struggle when trying to define exactly what it is. The lack of education as to what sexual assault actually is and to know how and when you are involved or committing this crime is a limitation to the masculine identity theory. As sexual assault is more commonly known as rape, individuals can be unaware that certain actions like sexual comments or advancements is also considered as sexual assault. The masculinity theory only touches on aggressive, competitive traits in the male gender. Although comments and advancements are often made to seek dominance and power, it is not the only explanation. Cleere and Lynn’s (2013) research highlights that many victims do not acknowledge their unwanted sexual experiences as assaults and explain that often these situations are with prior romantic relationship partners where consent may have been given previously but not at the time of the incident. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (2009) backs Cleere and Lynn’s research and states that in 9 out of 10 cases of sexual assault reported to NSW police, the victim and offender already know each other and in many cases they are partners or former partners. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (2009) further explain how a decrease in reportings of sexual assault is directly linked to the fear victims feel when the offender is known to them. Victims that are still in contact or know of the offender can feel anxious, scared and afraid to report these incidents due to a fear of further assault or harmful backlash from the offender. Furthermore, highlighting that each case is unique and there is no one theory that can perfectly explain the causation of sexual assault.

The theory of evolution creates a foundation for certain male behaviours and attitudes and illustrates an idea as to why males act in particular sexual ways towards women. Studies have established that men and women have different mating approaches and desires and men spend more energy on mating efforts than women (Lalumière et al., 2005). Evolutionary biology is the theory which describes how beings change over time as a result of adaptations of heritable physical and/or behavioural traits. Organisms adapt these traits to fit the period and society of their surroundings, although these traits remain comparable throughout time. Such behavioural traits include aggression, strength, assertion and dominance. These competitive strains in males can influence their mating efforts. Ellis L and Hoskin A (2015) explores evolutionary biology and links this theory to why males are more likely to be the perpetrator. These traits link to the masculine identity theory which furthermore clarifies why masculinity is a key concept when exploring sexual assault causation. The theory of evolution is still considered as a secondary theory to masculinity as it only touches the concept of hereditary physical and/or behavioural traits. Whereas, masculinity explores the specific characteristics that led to sexual assault offences.

Parental behaviours can affect the degree of expression of heritable traits and predispositions (Hayslett-Mccall and Bernard, 2002: 5-33). A limitation of the evolutionary biology theory is the disturbances of childhood attachment to primary caregivers. Hayslett-Mccall and Bernard’s (2002) articles reveals that studies have shown that these disruptions enable elements of the hereditary traits to be expressed in a more aggressive manner than those children who experienced little to no disruptions. The evolutionary biology theory only examines how these traits transfer, it does not explore why organisms express them in particular ways. Therefore, the evolutionary biology theory must remain as a minor theory which enhances the major theory of masculine identity. As evolutionary biology is concerned with the alteration of these heritable traits and tendencies, the theory fails to evaluate women offenders. Although the statistic is small, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (1993) states that 90.2% of sexual assault victims in 1989-1991 were female, offenders of the female gene is definitely still occurring. This limitation adds to why the evolutionary biology theory is not the prime explanatory model.

Individuals who are victims of sexual assault or criminal acts may be more likely to engage in similar criminal acts due to the emotional and physical pain they received from being the victim. Melo S, Andresen M & Matias L (2017) explore the prevalence and background of crime in one of the world’s highest ranked for criminal offences, Brazil, and examines why this influences criminals to behave particular ways and commit crimes. The social disorganisation theory indicates that individuals living in neighbours of high criminal status become accustom and desensitised to these criminal acts as they either witness or are involved in these doings more frequently, justifying them as a means for survival. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004) created a table titled ‘SEXUAL ASSAULT IDENTIFIED AS A PROBLEM IN NEIGHBOURHOOD’ which illustrates the number, proportion and population of people in the states and territories of Australia in 2002. The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of sexual assault victims. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2019) state that within 2016-2018 the number of offenders decreased in every state and territory in Australia, except for Northern Territory where there was an increase of 6%. These statistics highlight the impact of neighbourhood crime and convey how individuals are more likely to commit crimes when living in areas of high criminal status. Although it is evident that social disorganisation influences certain behaviours, sexual assault is still prevalent in areas with low criminal status which is why this is not the most appropriate theory when discussing sexual assault causation.

The social disorganisation model indicates the influence neighbourhoods have to the rate of crime. Whilst Jr and Grasmick (1993) findings largely back this direct correlation, they stress the necessity to deliberate the economic and political context of the community. Whilst the social disorganisation theory does state that neighbours in higher socioeconomic class experience higher social cohesion and exercise more social control (Steenbeek and Hipp, 2011: 833-871) disorder is considered a consequence rather than a cause. Individuals committing crimes due to social disorganisation is a consequence of where they live, whereas individuals who commit sexual assault due to their masculinity traits is a cause. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (2007) found that in 2 years, from 2004 to 2006, the number of offenders that were found guilty with at least one count of any sexual assault offence grew by 1.2%. This statistic highlights that sexual assault offences are not only a matter of social low socioeconomic areas, further adding to why the social disorganisation theory is not the optimal explanation model.

As it is evident that the masculine identity theory is the optimal explanatory model for sexual assault causation, a possible solution to reduce the prevalence of this crime is therapy and/or counselling. As these masculine genes are a part of human nature, there is no possible solution to completely diminish this crime as these genes will always be evident. Although through counselling and therapy, offenders may be able to work out exactly how these behaviours and traits affect their actions and how to release the aggression and power seeking in a more productive way. The introduction of compulsory specialised counselling and therapy for offenders will enable a safe environment for these individuals to seek assistance in order to avoid reoffending. Although these forms of services are usually used for patients with mental health issues, this form of deep and thorough communication will assist perpetrators to talk through emotions and behavioural traits and enable the service giver to suggest new modes for these male traits and tendencies to be released in a legal manner. Further education and clarification on sexual assault offending might also teach the perpetrators what is acceptable and what is not.

Overall, there are many different theories one can use to identify the causation of sexual assault. The best explanatory model is the masculine identity theory as it illustrates why males are more frequently the perpetrators and how their male traits cause them to behave sexually towards women. Evolutionary biology and social disorganisation both give a further analyse of possible causation theories but work more effectively as a secondary theory backing up the primary theory of gender. Although, criminologists and individuals should not solely rely on the masculinity theory to assess the causation of sexual assault. Further analyse of each specific case must be undertaken to deeply understanding exactly why and what caused the criminal act.

Regulations on assault rifles are necessary to keep the people of the United States safe and ensure their welfare. From the outset of the United States, guns have been a heated topic to argue. They have the power to take away life in an instant, especially with assault weapons, yet are distributed around the world to not just military personnel but citizens too. They are extremely dangerous and as such, should be regulated. This is because previous bans and regulations have shown success, that development in technology calls for new action, and because the second amendment protecting assault weapons was not made for our time.

Previous bans and regulations set to regulate assault weapons have shown significant results such as reduced violence, deaths, and shootings directly linking to them. In an opinion on the New York Times by Joe Biden, he said assault weapons are a threat to national security, and the 1994 assault weapons ban “made our nation demonstrably more secure,”(Biden, 2). This is a major statement because Joe Biden worked with Dianne Feinstein to make the ban. In Louis Klarevas’s book, Rampage Nation, he details his research showing that during the ban, mass shootings dropped to 12 incidents, then the ten years after the ban (2004-2014), this shot up to 34 incidents, (Klarevas, 7). This exemplifies the need to regulate assault weapons because it shows how the U.S. people are in more danger without regulations. To give an idea of why these guns were banned in the first place, according to The Economist semi-automatic weapons can fire from 45 to 60 bullets per minute, whereas automatic weapons can fire 400-800 bullets per minute (The Economist, 11). This shows the need and causes to have banned assault weapons in the past because weapons like this have no logical use in society today. This is because no one will ever need to fire 400 to 800 bullets per minute to defend themselves. All in all, previous bans and regulations have shown results.

New technological developments such as bump stocks and semi-automatic/automatic weapons have been created over time, which are all more dangerous than previous creations, and call to impose more regulations on these parts. In an article published by Scientific American it states, “If a shooter uses a semiautomatic rifle instead of another type of gun, it appears to roughly double the chances of victims being wounded and killed,”(Maron, 8). This shows the danger of these guns and the need to impose more regulations on these weapons by showing the statistics proving newer guns are more dangerous than older guns. In a youtube video made by ABC News Australia, Former Army Ranger Frankie McRae shows how a bump stock works by attaching it to a semi-automatic weapon and firing it at full speed. The results are astounding, as you see a semi-automatic weapon turned into an automatic weapon firing much faster and more bullets per second, leaving the potential for more lost lives (ABC News, 1). This supports the claim that, because of new technology, new regulations should be imposed because it shows how dangerous this new technology is when combined with these weapons. In an article written by Martin Kaste, an author for the National Public Radio, it states, “Bump stocks are mostly a novelty, used by people who want to experience firing a gun at machine-gun speeds. But in 2017, a gunman used bump stocks to fire into a crowd in Las Vegas, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds. The incident caused the administration to reexamine the legality of the devices, and in December it announced the ban,” (Kaste, 6). This shows how dangerous these simple devices are and how the only thing Americans would be giving up by regulating assault rifles would be an experience many don’t have anyway, and as such, we should make regulations for them.

Some may argue the amendments are set in stone and should never be changed, and guns of all types should never be regulated or banned. In an article published by National Review, it references the drop in gun-related deaths and shootings following the 1994 assault weapons ban saying, “Trying to detect a pattern in data like this, and then attributing the pattern to a single law change that covered the entire country for a ten-year period, is madness,” (VerBruggen, 12). This article tries to sell the idea that it was a coincidence this ban matched the drop in gun-related deaths and shootings. This could be true, however, the fact that before and after the ban, gun-related deaths and shootings were higher than during the ban, this statement seems unreasonable. In an article written by David French, a conservative author for the National Review, he argues that assault weapons bans go too far, saying, “… I understand that AR-15s or similar weapons have been used in a number of recent attacks, but when we slow down… and look at actual gun crime, the logic for banning the kind of weapon that millions of Americans use for entirely lawful purposes (including self-defense) starts to disappear,”(French, 5). This is a good point, however, he disregards the shootings assault weapons are involved in as a side effect of not having a ban, as well as disregards assault weapons suicides, saying “an assault-weapons ban is irrelevant to suicide deaths,”(French, 5) and then creates an argument that is circumstantial and regards from which perspective the issue is viewed by.

The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution was established in 1791 and today is a brick wall for assault weapon bans, but is outdated and doesn’t provide adequate protection to U.S. citizens with modern threats. The second amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,”(Amendment 2, 10). This was the amendment that protected, at the time of its passing, SINGLE SHOT MUSKETS. Since this time, however, guns have developed into assault weapons capable of injuring many more people a lot faster than muskets, and since guns have developed, so should the second amendment. In an article regarding the second amendment, Chad Brooks emphasized the need to change the second amendment by analyzing the time period it was passed in; a time directly after England’s tyrannical government was overthrown, (Brooks, 3). This shows the need to change the second amendment because it shows it was originally created to withstand an oppressive government, not to defend a recreational activity and the so-called ‘self-defense’ they are used for. In an article published by The Weekly Sift, a political cartoon depicts the founding fathers coming to the logical conclusion that if technology advances past muskets the second amendment should be changed, followed by an explanation, “We argue so vociferously about the meaning of the Second Amendment because it doesn’t really mean anything any more. We should replace it with a new amendment protecting freedoms that matter to us today,” (Muder, 9). This shows why the second amendment should be changed to allow assault weapons regulations and bans because it shows how the second amendment was made to fit the time, and we should follow this. These weapons are more of a danger than they are a protection.

In closing, the truth is that assault weapons are a danger to the people of the U.S.A and our future generations as technology advances. As such these dangerous weapons should be regulated because regulations have been proven to work in the past, that technology is developing fast, and that the only thing protecting the ownership of these guns is outdated. All in all, assault weapons should be regulated.

Works Cited

1. ABC News, Australia. “How Does a Bump Stock Work? .” YouTube, ABC News, 5 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCx1rgxXVKA.
2. Biden, Joe. “Joe Biden: Banning Assault Weapons Works.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Aug. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/11/opinion/joe-biden-ban-assault-weapons.html.
3. Brooks, Chad. “The Second Amendment & the Right to Bear Arms.” LiveScience, LiveScience, 28 June 2017, https://www.livescience.com/26485-second-amendment.html
4. Donohue, John, and Theodora Boulouta. “That Assault Weapon Ban? It Really Did Work.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Sept. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/04/opinion/assault-weapon-ban.html.
5. French, David. “Three Simple Reasons Why an Assault-Weapons Ban Is Bad Policy.” National Review, National Review, 28 Mar. 2018, www.nationalreview.com/corner/assault-weapons-ban-bad-policy-arguments-against/.
6. Kaste, Martin. “Bump Stocks Will Soon Be Illegal, But That’s Not Stopping Sales.” NPR, NPR, 4 Feb. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/02/04/691287471/bump-stocks-will-soon-be-illegal-but-thats-not-slowing-sales.
7. Klarevas, Louis. Rampage Nation: Securing America from Mass Shootings. Prometheus Books, 2016.
8. Maron, Dina Fine. “Data Confirm Semiautomatic Rifles Linked to More Deaths, Injuries.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 11 Sept. 2018, www.scientificamerican.com/article/data-confirm-semiautomatic-rifles-linked-to-more-deaths-injuries/.
9. Muder, Doug. “How Should We Rewrite the Second Amendment?” The Weekly Sift, 26 Aug. 2019, weeklysift.com/2019/08/19/how-should-we-rewrite-the-second-amendment/.
10. ‘The Constitution of the United States,’ Amendment 2.
11. The Economist. “The ‘Bump Stocks’ Used in the Las Vegas Shooting May Soon Be Banned.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 6 Oct. 2017, www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/10/06/the-bump-stocks-used-in-the-las-vegas-shooting-may-soon-be-banned.
12. VerBruggen, Robert. “Joe Biden Is Wrong. There Is No Compelling Evidence That Assault-Weapon Bans Work.” National Review, National Review, 12 Aug. 2019, www.nationalreview.com/corner/joe-biden-is-wrong-there-is-no-compelling-evidence-that-assault-weapon-bans-work/.

There are two sides to the Assault Weapons Ban. There are those who are in support to pass the bill and those who are against the banning of the weapons. An assault weapon is known as a ‘military-style firearms designed to fire rapidly’ (Elving, 2019). Many will argue that this statement is false and that semi automatics only fire once after the trigger is pulled. Those in support for the banning of assault weapons believe that these weapons should only be used for military purposes not for civilian use. Mass shootings also leads to why individuals are for this bill. In order to reduce crimes in America, given that crimes are committed using guns, many want to limit the access to certain types of guns. Others believe that it is their protected right to own guns and that gun laws are not only ineffective but also unconstitutional. As the debate for both sides continues, there is strong evidence and research done by those against and for the ban.

Democratic Bill Clinton was President of the United States at the time the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 was passed. This bill lasted for ten years ending in 2004. It restricted and made it illegal for civilians and manufacturers use set of automatic, semi automatic weapons, and large capacity magazines. Not only did individuals and lawmakers have to make a difficult choice to proceed with the ban of 1994, but they also had to consider the danger it would put them and their families through. With the vote came consequences. Thus, there has been difficulty passing and advancing gun safety legislation, making it harder for Congress. After four decades of control of the house, Democrats lost due to the assault weapons ban. Fred Upton, Representative and Republican of Michigan, voted for the assault weapons ban. After Upton voted, he had to have protection from the police for six months. He stated that, ‘It was really nasty’ (Hulse, 2019). The issue of mass shootings are not only a problem today, but were a problem in the late 1900s. In 1989 in Stockton, California a man was armed with a rifle wounding thirty people and killing five elementary students. (Hulse, 2019) This attack began the introduction of assault weapons ban. It however, was only circulating in Congress, but was never put to act. Although it was not enacted, in 1993 Congress adopted a bill called the Brady Bill. It was to initiate background checks on individuals who bought from dealers or manufacturers.

The Twenty-Nineteen Assault Weapons Ban was introduced in the Senate on January 9, 2019. The bill has made it a crime to import, manufacture, sell, or possess semiautomatic assault weapons or large capacity ammunition feeding devices. (Feinstein, 2019) It also stated that licensed gun dealers are to conduct background checks before selling or transferring an automatic assault weapon. The restriction of this bill does not apply to firearms that are either manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, antique, permanently not operable, rifle or shotgun identified by the model. In addition, the capacity of the ammunition device must also display a serial number for identification and the assault weapons and ammunition device must display date of manufacturer. Compensating and using the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program funds to individuals who surrender large capacity ammunition feeding devices and semiautomatic assault weapons is allowed to local or state governments by this bill. (Feinstein, 2019)

Robert Francis O’Rourke, an American politician, was born in El Paso, Texas. As a former United States Representative, O’Rourke represented Texas’s 16th congressional district from 2013 – 2019. He is known to run for the 2020 presidential elections seeking nominations from the Democratic party. The Democrats goal was to push for the assault weapons ban. The votes for the Assault Weapons Ban stopped short seven votes. The House of Democrats had 211 votes, but needed 218 votes to pass a ban on the floor. The Speaker is the one who makes the decision to bring the bill to the floor. Polls clearly show that the majority of the nation is in support of the ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. This does however conflict with those who support and push for background checks. Although many support the ban of assault weapons, Americans are more in favor of background checks rather than the ban. Polls taken by the Washington Post-ABC News found that 89 percent of Americans favored universal background checks, whereas 56 percent were for an assault weapons ban. (Stolberg, 2019) Democrats continue to view this as a winning issue. The bill remains short to ban because of the hesitation of a few Democrats who voted for president Donald Trump in the 2016 elections. According to CNN analysis, they have distinguished why Democrats hesitated to support the gun ban. Democrats are split; in total 25 Democrats have not signed the bill assault weapon ban. This is due to the 2016 presidential elections where most of them are in the districts where Trump won, they represent districts with fewer college graduates, or represent districts with smaller economies. (Brownstein, 2019) As a supporter of the Assault Weapon Ban, O’Rourke proposed a mandatory buyback of fifteen million assault-style weapons. Following that, advocates for gun control are trying to push the voting until 2021. If the Democrat House win the elections next year in the White House, they would only have to vote once for a ban on assault weapons. However the ban this year of 2019, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, has blocked a vote on House’s universal background check bill. (Brownstein, 2019) In addition, although the bill to ban assault weapons was not brought to the floor, Cicilline, a member of the Democratic Party, supports and continues ‘to build toward that 218’ (Brownstein, 2019). He has attracted supporters from the Democrats unifying them even more today.

David Cicilline, United States Representative for Rhode Island, brought forward his Disarm Hate Act. This act was passed by the Judiciary Committee. It prohibited individuals to legally own or purchase any guns if they were convicted of hate crimes. In addition, Cicilline supported the banning of high capacity magazines, Keep Americans Safe Act, and establishing federal red flag law, Extreme Risk Protection Order Act. These two acts were also advanced by the Judiciary Committee. Cicilline believes that gun violence and bigotry are connected. He also strongly agrees that individuals with hate crimes are in a sense ‘danger to our society’ (Cicilline, 2019). Cicilline also believes that Democrats are the ones taking action, exhibiting and desire a change in the nation. They are the ones going against gun violence however, Republicans are holding them back by blocking bills. Democrats will continue to press for action to reduce gun violence in this nation.

Many dismissed this hard topic or either dodged it completely to avoid conflict with other people’s opinions and views. Others however are open and want their voices heard. The subject gun control has been avoided for years until mass shootings have been more recent. Weapons such as Ak – 47’s and AR – 15’s are known as an assault style weapons that have been used repeatedly in mass shootings. In the book Rampage nation: securing America from mass shootings it answers pressing questions that society faces. (Klarevas, 2016) This book is written by Louis Klarevas who hits on mass shooting and individual acts of violence. It finds that individuals with a possession of a gun that goes of shooting sprees are usually mentally unstable. The attacks often and largely happen in places where guns are not prohibited or have strict laws. In Rampage nation, it is seen that laws that restrict guns like the federal assault weapons ban has reduced violence when it was in effect.

Many individuals are in support of the assault weapons ban because of the continued shootings happening in this nation. Some of these shootings have included attacks based on peoples races. The El Paso shooting that left 22 dead this year is known as a severe tragedy.

Studies have shown that mass shootings were reduced during the federal assault weapons ban of 1994. The data concludes that 70 percent of the mass shootings in the United States were less likely to occur during the federal assault weapons ban. (DiMaggio, 2019) Evidence shows that the ban does have some impact. Without the banning of assault weapons, many believe that mass shootings will continue.

Physical assault occurs when an individual person or a group of people provoke and attack an individual physically, with or without the utilisation of a weapon, or threatens to harm that person. A threat or intention of inflicting physical bodily harm on an individual that puts the person in danger of or in apprehension.

What are the signs of physical assault?

The following are examples of physical assault.

• Provocation: insults, death threats.
• Intimidation: making a fist, pushing, stalking, stealing/throwing objects.
• Brutality: attacks, struggles, fights.
• Punches and injuries: bites, bruises, injuries, dislocations, fractures.
• Assault with a weapon.

The consequences of physical assault in the workplace?

There are many consequences of physical assault. For the victim of the assault, having lived through a traumatic situation, they may be affected not only physically which include; physical scars, chronic pain, bruises, broken bones, but also psychologically: shock, constant fear, emotional instability, PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Depending on the injuries, the victim of the assault could be unfit to work for days, even months, be taken to the hospital and in some severe cases, they might have to undergo rehabilitation therapy.

For Witnesses

The witnesses of a physical altercation may experience a high level of stress. Depending upon the type of the violence itself and the time frame of the altercation some witnesses may suffer from psychological problems such as insomnia, nervousness, emotional instability, exhaustion. They may also suffer physiologically including: hypertension, ulcers, eczema. The witness might also suffer from PTSD in some cases of extreme violence.

What are the legal consequences of physical assault?

Depending on the extent of the violence, the Criminal Code distinguishes between three types of assaults. They include:

• Simple assault
• Assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm

Aggravated assault

Relying on the type of offence, there are different sentences for each and they may vary from a maximum fine of $2,000 up to imprisonment for a term up to fourteen years.

Impact of physical injuries

Life-threatening injury or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are rare. However, concussion or loss of consciousness is common just like problems with memory and concentration. A loss of consciousness or concussion is often the main result of an assault. Many of the victims may experience mild TBI. Scars and other physical marks, both of these physical consequences have direct and indirect effects on the victim. Strong hits directly affect the victim causing severe headaches, seizures and loss of consciousness. The victim could also sustain damage to nerves in their face. Scarring around the eye could lead to sight problems, which could cause problems with coordination and may prevent the victim from playing sports, attending school, going to work and other basic activities.

Direct effects which include memory and coordination problems may have serious impacts on a victim’s life, causing challenges in their educational, occupational and social functioning. Due to problems with their concentration, their ability to study may diminish, resulting in poor academic performance.

Psychological impact

The experience of physical assault often has negative psychological consequences for theBvictim(s) involved. Depression, anxiety, fear and anger are common to experiences of physical assault. Effects can consist of ongoing feelings of depression, hopelessness and worthlessness and might also have suicidal thoughts, challenges with decision making, inability to experience pleasure anymore from enjoyable activities.

Victims may also fear going out in public places as they fear potentially re-encountering their offender. Side effects of this fear are withdrawing from public and social life, refusing to leave their home, avoiding certain areas or shopping centres. Victims sometimes completely relocate in order to avoid encountering the offender.

Economic impact

Experiences of fear, psychological illness and physical injury after an assault could cause issues with occupational and educational functioning. For example:

• being unable to work because of the fear of encountering the offender in the street while doing their job
• an inability to re-engage at work due to serious mental illness caused by the physical assault
• injuries sustained during the assault affecting the ability to return or to complete the work.

In conclusion people should not assault people of the community or anyone out of the society, Before thinking of assaulting someone you should keep in mind the consequences not only for you but for the impact on the victim and their family. There are many consequences for the victim such as PTSD, psychological impacts, physical impacts such as broken bones, internal bleeding, bruises and damage to the head, social impacts and economic impacts. To prevent this type of altercation or physical assault you should contact an adult immediately if you are threatened by someone or if you yourself are thinking of assaulting someone.

Sexual assault is becoming a common issue among society unfortunately it could happen to literally anyone anywhere at any time , however the real question is can any forms of sexual assault or abuse be prevented by knowledge about the topic at a young age ?

Presentations about sexual assault could help a teen speak up if they have been sexually assaulted in the past or even if it is happening in their present life . In an article i read titled “ Men Are Often The Victims Of Sexual assault in the Military “ Anton claims that when one past military Veteran was asked if he was sexually assaulted he has finally came out and said . ‘Yes,’ he corrected himself. He had been sexually assaulted. The doctor made a notation in his chart.

If a young Adolescent didn’t know what the topic was before hand and learns about it at a young age and they were a victim of any type of sexual assault they could speak up about the situation. In another Online article i read titled “Feminist Messages Aim to Prevent Sexual Violence” There are people who are trying to teach women how to stand up to themselves which really could help a young woman . But these classes should and could be brought to Teens as well. Many people dont like to speak up about sexual assault because they are scared or being blackmailed by the predator .

With that being said , being informed about sexual assault at a young age could help one in the future be more alert . In the online article i read titled ‘Feminist Messages Aim to Prevent Sexual Violence’ Pozner states While it’s certainly important for women (and men) to evaluate our social behavior with an eye toward safety, staying sober and staying home does not inoculate women against sexual violence. The hard truth is you never know now-and-days , anything could happen to anyone no matter where you are . And coming out about it is a touchy and hard topic to talk about as well . Being informed could help a teen in the future know how to be safe and be more aware about their surroundings as well as pointing out the more obvious hints .

Sexual assault is something that is hard to discuss and some people might not want to admit it or talk about it In Leonora LaPeter Anton’s Article titled “Men Are Often the Victims of Sexual Assault in the Military” One retired veteran was so Scarred he did not speak about it for 40 years until questioned about it . furthermore , some audiences might be too young to hear about it and some parents might not want their child know at a young age. In Katherine Crosses online article “Sexual Assault Enters Virtual Reality” She informs us that “ Gropers are now finding a way to target women through the fully immersive headsets of virtual reality.” Which in fact a majority of these online users are younger audiences younger than the age of 18.

Preventing sexual assault is a very questionable topic. It’s a tremendous issue in today’s society, and can happen in your everyday setting even online . In Katherine Crossses online article ‘Sexual Assault Enters Virtual Reality” There is a part where an individual talks about her VR sexual assault experience , here is what she had to say The man’s disembodied hands, in the “QuiVr” virtual reality archery game, simulated constant groping of Bela mire’s virtual body—specifically, rubbing at her avatar’s chest—and chased her through the game world, heedless to her cries of “Stop!” over the game’s voice chat.

Therefore, being informed at a younger age could help resolve problems in the future by keeping more and more people safe.

Introduction

Sexual assault is a gross act of violence which strips a victim of their right to autonomy over their body and sexual experiences. Sex and partying are at the centre of student life at college, especially in the United States. However, there is a large rape culture among fraternities. Over a 10-week academic term, between 11% to 28% of college women reported experiencing an unwanted sexual encounter, ranging from unwelcome sexual contact to rape. As sexual assault degrades victims, and strips them of the right to control their own bodies, it is important that the severity of this issue is realised, so that it can be dealt with legally and earn justice for those suffering from the repercussions of this act.

In February 1983, a student, “Laurel”, at the University of Pennsylvania was gang raped by multiple members of the Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) fraternity. Laurel had consumed a mixture of beer and LSD before attending the party ATO was throwing. Partygoers later described Laurel as having behaved peculiarly; she was seen dancing off beat to her own rhythm and seemed disoriented and unaware of her surroundings. She was ignorant to the many men who danced with her throughout the party. As reported by numerous attendees and hearsay narratives, about half a dozen ATO brothers had sex with Laurel following the end of party. Another attendee, Anna, heard the young men boasting about the sexual encounter, and having noted Laurel’s behaviour the night before, presumed that the brothers had raped her. Anna believed that Laurel’s drug and alcohol induced condition made her powerless to give consent. In the ATO brother’s recollection of the events, they claimed that Laurel had lured them into the sexual encounter. The believed the event was an ‘interview’ for the “little sisters program” they ran in the house, and even proposed the name of “express”, due to the ongoing nature of the experience. These events would have destroyed Laurel’s dignity as the situation and her condition became known to more people. The drugs and alcohol Laurel had consumed stripped away her autonomy and allowed her to be taken advantage of by the ATO brothers.

This essay is divided into three main questions. Firstly, how does the control of college party culture by male fraternities create an environment in which sexual assault can occur? Secondly, how is consent established legally and how it can be blurred in the college party environment? And finally, what repercussions of sexual assault do victim-survivors experience? By focusing on college party and rape culture and the effects of sexual assault, the ways in which women are stripped of their autonomy and dignity will be highlighted.

Fraternities and College Party Culture: Creating an Environment for Sexual Assault

Fraternities and the male gender play a dominant role in the American College experience. In many universities, the fraternities are located along main walkways, or in areas of heavy student traffic, making them almost impossible to miss. This prime location has made it easy for the all-male fraternities to gain control over student life, leading to a party culture based on sex and sexual exploitation. As a result of their position in the social hierarchy, the sexual manner in which the ‘brothers’ act at parties can become important in shaping the expectations of male college students, and may influence their choice as to whether to join a fraternity. This behaviour incorporates lack of accepting responsibility for any sexual abuse that occurs at their parities or on college grounds, and shifting of blame onto the women who merely attend or participate to have fun. Fraternities advertise their parties with free entry for women, implying that they are provided with alcohol in exchange for sex.

The parties hosted by fraternities generally take place in a large living with dimmed lights, serving as a dance floor for the attendees. The low lighting and loud music make it very difficult for people to recognise who they may be talking to or dancing with, thus, providing the young men with an excuse to lead their ‘partner’ away for better hear and see each other. The ‘bar’ is the focus of the party, where attendees can be served with beer and punch mixed in extremely high ratios, aiding the fraternity brothers in finding a partner for the night. Many young men look to sleep with drunken women as they are less able to resist their advances, so often encourage female party goers to keep drinking.

The fraternity brothers, and other young men, spend their time “scoping” out a potential partner for the night. Common targets are blonde, curvaceous women, wearing heavy makeup and tight fitted, little clothing. The tight clothing acts as a ‘sneak peek’ into what the man may be able to enjoy if he chooses that girl. The choosing procedure takes place like so: he will decide on a woman who he deems worthy and willing. He will then “scope” her out by giving her a ‘look’ or “going on the prowl”. He will then make contact with her by dancing and talking, and if she still seems ‘interested’, he will then lead her away from the party in the hope of getting a ‘score’. This type of interaction highlights how one-night stands are a significant part of the sex culture at college. As such, none of the young fraternity brothers look for establishing relationships with the women they sleep with. In most cases at parties, the girl is expected to leave quickly, and the pair will only meet again if the boy chooses. The brothers often brag to each other about the conquests, and use derogatory terms, such as “bitches”, “swanks” and “wench”. This is extremely degrading to the woman’s image and purpose, as it suggests that they are made for sex and are ‘only good for one night’.

Female students have reported that in some fraternities, brothers leave the blinds open, or the door is left unlocked, so that other people can watch the two ‘in action’. Some fraternities even house an upper level balcony as some what of a ‘viewing area’ to the events taking place in the bedrooms. While easy to see into the rooms, from within it is difficult to see outside, and so most females do not know they are being watched. This is an invasion of the woman’s privacy as she has not given consent to anyone to watch, but the man she is participating in a sexual act with.

As more women at their specific college become aware of the party culture and the goings on within the fraternities, some fraternities will advertise parties to women at other campuses who have a ‘one-night stand’ reputation to achieve the goal of ‘getting laid’,. These women are depicted as ‘sleazy’, and ‘dress the part’ as someone looking for sex. ‘Sleazy’ is a term used to describe someone who displays a sexual attitude and looks “ready for action”. The fraternity brothers will describe these women ‘sluts’ and ‘fair game’. If she seems receptive to the male’s sexual advances, she “wants it” or is “asking for it”, and attends the party willingly, “because they want to fool around with frat men, and we’re glad to oblige.” The fact that these girls reside on different campuses provides the brothers with ‘easy’ sex with no emotional attachment, as there is little chance of running into each other after the ‘one-night stand’ takes place. Thus, these women’s dignity is reduced, as they are viewed as ‘easy sex’ to male students and lose control of their personal image.

Establishing Legal Consent, and the Factors That Blur It

A lack of consent to sexual intercourse from the victim is one of the main elements that constitutes sexual assault. In the college setting, many factors contribute to a victim being unable, or unwilling, to provide consent to a sexual partner; the two important factors discussed below being alcohol consumption and different interpretations of consent by each gender.

It has been found in a study that men are more likely to employ nonverbal methods to convey their consent to sexual activity, while women are more often verbal with their consent. The study also found that sexual encounters in the college environment often follow a conventional ‘sexual script’ where the male acts as the ‘initiator’ by asking for sexual intercourse, while the female acts as a ‘gatekeeper’ by reacting to the male’s requests. Sexual assault creates a stigma that when it comes to sexual intercourse and sexual activity, women do not have power or autonomy over their bodies or the situation altogether. This gives the impression that women are overpowered in sexual activity and merely follow along with the male’s desires. While this is true for sexual assaults, in consensual sexual activity, many women like to take charge of the act and express the autonomy they have over their own body.

Alcohol affects an individual’s cognitive functioning, thus, making it difficult for a person to interpret the environment surrounding them. When intoxicated, it is likely that a person will act differently to how they would sober, and potentially act in a more sexual manner. This sexual behaviour could lead a perpetrator to misinterpret the victim’s intentions, such that the perpetrator may think the victim is looking to engage in sexual activity, when they are actually just under the influence of alcohol, which is clouding their judgement and decision making. Conveying consent is difficult for intoxicated victim’s as alcohol also impedes an individual’s motor skills, therefore making it tougher for a victim to fight off advances from a perpetrator or to show resistance. Therefore, the impacts that alcohol has on an individuals mind and body, and the changes it can make to a person’s behaviour, it is easy for a perpetrator to mistake actions for consent, and difficult for the victim to fight off unwanted advances.

Most American states initially adopted the English common law requirement that to prove rape, there must be evidence of threat of force used on the victim. While multiple jurisdictions have removed this requirement, 16 states still expect evidence of force, 11 others require proof of force when dealing with sexual penetration offences, and nine states need either proof of force or proof of the victim’s inability to consent. The issue with needing to show force is that in situations where alcohol has been consumed, not much force is needed to overpower the victim. Therefore, it would be difficult to find a perpetrator guilty of sexual assault if evidence of force is needed for a conviction. When an offender is not found guilty, it can often lead people to believe the victim had lied about the situation, which would significantly diminish their image and they would feel a loss of dignity. Thus, much law reform is needed in the state which still require evidence of force so that there can be a higher level of sexual assault convictions and justice for victims.

Repercussions of Sexual Assault on Victim-Survivors

Being such a horrid act, sexual assault, has many negative repercussions for victim survivors. Drugs and alcohol play a significant role in many sexual assaults. When consumed before the assault, they are used as an excuse for the act, and when consumed after the assault, they are commonly used as a coping for survivors. Substances and alcohol strip their users of their autonomy in literal and metaphorical ways. When you are intoxicated or high on a substance, you literally lose control over your physical body, so you may not have the ability to remove yourself from harmful situations. In a more metaphorical sense, drugs and alcohol also impair your ability to think rationally and sensibly, thus you lose a sense of who you are. This characteristic of drug and alcohol use is why many victims may chose to abuse substances as a way to cope with their experiences, as it allows them to focus on the high the drugs provide and forget the events of the assault. The problem with sexual assault in college specifically, is that drugs and alcohol are easily available to students. As a result, victims could become stuck in a cycle where they continuously take drugs and use alcohol to relieve their pain and do not seek professional help to help with their trauma. Another result of their continuation with alcohol and drugs could be putting themselves at risk of another assault, as discussed above, they are becoming the type of girl a fraternity brother preys upon.

Notwithstanding the frequency of sexual assault occurring on college campuses, female students often do not report their experiences of rape and assault to college authorities or the police. Alternatively, they are more likely to confide their sexual assault experience with a trusted associate. However, in discussing with peers, both positive and negative “social reactions” can arise. “Negative social reactions” are the reactions from peers that; condemn the victim due to their behaviour, divert attention away from the issue, have such an extreme reaction that the victim is unable to focus on their personal needs, or try to influence the survivor’s choices. Negative social reactions often result in higher amounts of drinking to relieve the problem, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety for the victim. When a victim receives negative feedback when disclosing her experience, the victim may feel like her chosen support system is blaming her for the assault due to her behaviour. This is likely to make the victim feel like she has lost her dignity, as she is being told that the invasion of her sexual autonomy and privacy was a result of her own actions.

Victim PTSD is often associated with the level of physical violence in the assault. As alcohol makes a person more willing to accept invitations, there would usually be less physical violence in an alcohol-related sexual assault. Therefore, one could conclude that victims that had been intoxicated during the assault may experience less PTSD. However, as discussed above, alcohol-related assaults are often reacted to negatively, causing self-blame in the victim-survivor, and increase their level of PTSD associated with the assault.

A victim’s self-blame can be differentiated by two aspects: behavioural and characterological. Behavioural self-blame is limited to the actions of the victim only before and while the sexual assault was occurring, for example, drinking at the event where the assault happened. Behavioural self-blame is less severe to a victim’s recovery as they realise they can control their future actions and avoid become a victim for a second time. Alternatively, characterological self-blame is the beliefs of an individual’s character. These have much more of an impact on a survivor’s recovery as it suggests that a personality trait of the victim was the cause of the assault, or that the assault was warranted. For example, if an individual is an overly friendly person, she could be viewed as having “asked for it” and thus, her peers and assaulter(s) might pass the blame to her. Characterological self-blame targets a woman’s dignity and autonomy. As it is difficult to change your characteristics and personality traits, a victim might feel like she has no control over future situations and that her autonomy is lost to her, making it easier for her to become a victim again. Her image and dignity would also be somewhat tarnished as she is now viewed in a certain way. Thus, sexual assault has lasting effects on victim-survivors, who must deal with the tarnishing of their reputation and the loss of their personal autonomy during the events, along with a sense of helplessness they may continue to feel about their behaviour and actions during the assault.

References

1. John F. Decker and Peter G. Baroni, ‘“No” Still Means “Yes”: The Failure of the “Non-Consent” Reform Movement in American Rape and Sexual Assault Law’ (2011) 101(4) Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology 1081.
2. Kristen N. Jozkowski and Jacquelyn D. Wiersma, ‘Does Drinking Alcohol Prior to Sexual Activity Influence College Students’ Consent?’ (2015) 27(2) International Journal of Sexual Health 156
3. Laura C. Wilson et al, ‘The impact of rape acknowledgement on survivor outcomes: The moderating effects of rape myth acceptance’ (2017) 74(6) Journal of Clinical Psychology 926
4. Laurie M. Graham et al, ‘Sexual Assault Policies and Consent Definitions: A Nationally Representative Investigation of U.S. Colleges and Universities’ (2017) 16(3) Journal of School Violence 243
5. Liana C. Peter-Hagene and Sarah E. Ullman, ‘Longitudinal Effects of Sexual Assault Victims’ Drinking and Self-Blame on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder’ (2018) 33(1) Journal of Interpersonal Violence 83
6. Lindsay M. Orchowski and Christine A. Gidycz, ‘Psychological Consequences Associated With Positive and Negative Responses to Disclosure of Sexual Assault Among College Women: A Prospective Study’ (2015) 21(7) Violence Against Women 803
7. Michele Cohen and KiKi Bochi, ‘College Horror Stories: Nation’s Campuses Struggling to Draw Line on Sexual Abuse’, SunSentinel South Florida (online at February 10 1985)
8. Peggy R. Sanday, Fraternity Gang Rape: Sex, Brotherhood, and Privilege on Campus (New York University Press, 2nd edn, 2007)

Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Sexual assault is a major topic on the news and across the nation. It is a reality that occurs in all areas of life. One common place where sexual assault frequently occurs is at college and university campuses, and alcohol plays a major role in this type of sexual assault. Sexual assault continues to be a serious problem among young people age 18-24. According to, women in this age group who are in college are three times more likely to experience sexual violence than women of all ages. For many people, going to college is an amazing experience. It is a place where you will learn more than you ever imagined. We like to focus on those many positive parts of college. But, as with so many things in life, college has its darker aspects too, like campus crime and assault. There are also some ways that can prevent problems occurring.

Many sexual assaults that occur on a college campus involve the use of drugs or alcohol.

First and foremost, drinking alcohol is one of the problems that can easily causes sexual assault. There is a definite correlation between alcohol and sexual assault. This is because a college is often a place where young people first get a chance to really experiment with both sex and alcohol. In result, the combination can lead to inappropriate and even dangerous situations for young women and sometimes for young men. For example, after drinking alcohol, men expect to feel more powerful and aggressive. This increases their expectancy of certain outcomes, especially in sexual situations. Alcohol is often used to facilitate the full range of sexual assault on campus.

Besides, another problem is drugs can also lead to cause of sexual assault. This is because drugs could be mixed into drinks easily. For instance, these drugs include party drugs or rape drugs. The drug normally is a clear liquid that has no taste or smell, and can very easily be hidden in the drinks. Consequently, all of these drugs can alter your perception and make you sexually stimulant. So that all drugs can lead to an assault and make something wrong or occur.

Other than that, there are some ways that can prevent the problems occurring. To begin with, people can remove themselves from situations where irresponsible men have alcohol or drugs. In addition, do not do things you do not want to do under any circumstances and leave if you feel uncomfortable. Case in a point, can learn basic self-defense techniques that may fight off sexual assault. On the other hand, people should also be aware that drugs could be mixed into the drinks. If outside, protect the drink. Do not leave a drink unattended. If you go somewhere, take the drink with you. Limit yourself to drinks from unopened containers or those that you saw being made and poured. If in doubt, do not drink the beverage in question. These are the ways to prevent the problems, it goes without saying that prevention is better than cure.

There are just a few small measures colleges or universities can take in preventing sexual assault. By having a safety escort program, want to make sure that everyone gets home safely. One way that college can tackle this is to have campus police escorts who help students back to their dorms when called. Moreover, increasing the presence of security or campus police. Having an increased security presence on campus can also prevent crime deterrent. However, security officers should be extremely vigilant in watching over residence areas on campus.

To conclude, it is important to realize the severity of this issue Everyone has a role to play in preventing sexual assault. We can take as communities, campuses, and individuals to help prevent sexual assault, as well as steps that should be taken when sexual assault has occurred. In result, can reduce the cases in sexual assault.

There are values the army uses to ensure all soldiers are treated with dignity and respect, the values are guides for soldiers to follow. The army values are a base for all soldiers to live their lives. Sexual harassment is detrimental to teamwork and creates a fractured work place. Sexual assault is a criminal act and does not fall in line with army values. The army has given guidance on the importance of dignity and respect for all soldiers by creating the army values, how to prevent and deter sexual harassment, how to prevent, intervene, report, and respond to sexual assault.

The Army Values

The United States Army has guidance on how soldiers should behave both on and off duty; soldiers should have values that are in line with the army’s values. Soldiers are trained starting in their initial entry training on the army values. “Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage (LDRSHIP).” (“Living the Army Values,” n.d.) All the army values are important to build well rounded professional soldiers. The value respect teaches soldiers the golden rule, treat others how they want to be treated. If soldiers treat others how they want to be treated, everyone would be treated with dignity and respect. According to the soldier’s code, “I will treat others with dignity and respect and expect others to do the same.” (“Living the Army Values,” n.d.). As a soldier and leader, everyone has the duty to correct actions that go against the army values. Programs created to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault are directly in line with the army values.

Sexual Harassment Prevention

Sexual harassment is a problem in any environment, it creates an unsafe work environment. The sexual harassment/assault response and prevention (SHARP) program was created to prevent sexual harassment and assault throughout the army with education and intervention. The army policy states sexual harassment is detrimental to readiness and teamwork. “Sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination that involves unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature between the same or opposite genders.” (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 68). Sexual harassment creates a work environment where soldiers may feel uncomfortable or unsafe. There are two types of sexual harassment, “quid pro quo, Latin for this for that, and a hostile work environment.” (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 69). Quid pro quo is when the harasser offers the victim favorable actions for sexual favors, such as passes or promotions. In these instances, the harasser is most likely in a leadership position over the victim. The victim may feel trapped or scared of reprisal if they refuse. A hostile environment could be caused by inappropriate music, pictures, how someone looks at another person, or jokes in the work place. “The categories of sexual harassment are verbal (whistling, sexual jokes, comments), nonverbal (undressing someone with your eyes, winking, blowing kisses), and physical contact (blocking the path, touching, kissing, cornering someone).” (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 69). The program includes mandatory training to help educate soldiers on what sexual harassment is, how to intervene to prevent or deal with sexual harassment, and how to report it.

The techniques for dealing with sexual harassment are: direct approach (confronting the harasser), third party (ask someone else to talk to the harasser), indirect (sending an email or letter to the harasser), chain of command (report it to direct supervisor), and filing a formal complaint. (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 69).

This training was created due to the need to educate soldiers about what sexual harassment is, why it does not belong in the army, how to intervene to stop it, and how to build an environment free of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment prevention is one part of the SHARP program, the other part is sexual assault response and prevention.

Sexual Assault Prevention

Sexual assault is a selfish act that is never acceptable, it goes against army values and hurts the army team. The army created the sexual assault prevention and response program to eliminate sexual assault throughout the army. “Sexual Assault is a criminal offense that has no place in the army, it degrades mission readiness by devastating the army’s ability to work effortlessly as a team.” (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 70). All soldiers are required to have SHARP training. The training educates soldiers on the definition of sexual assault, contains scenarios to help them act out difficult situations, informs them of reporting options, and care that is offered to the victim. The training also emphasizes the importance of not blaming a victim, it was not their fault and they should not be re-victimized by anyone. The training is conducted by specially trained soldiers who have been through the SHARP course, the instructors are victim advocates and may be trained at different levels, there are sexual assault response coordinators (SARCs) and unit victim advocates (UVAs).

The goals of the SAPR program are to: create a climate to minimize sexual assault, create a climate that encourages victims to report, establish prevention training and awareness programs, ensure sensitive and comprehensive treatment to victims, and ensure leaders understand their roles and responsibilities. (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 70).

Unit command teams are trained to create a command climate which fosters the SHARP program. The unit commanders conduct command climate surveys to ensure the training is effective and their units are a safe and cohesive team. The SARCs are trained on not only how to teach the training, but also how to take a report and care for a victim. The SHARP program has options for victims on how to report an incident and the response resources for those who help.

Reporting and response

There are different report options for victims of sexual assault and several resources to ensure they get the options and care they need. “Sexual assault is the most under reported violent crime in or society and in the military.” (Department of the Army, 2014, p.105). If a victim chooses to report, they have two choices on how they want to report a sexual assault, they can choose a restricted or unrestricted report. “Restricted reporting allows a soldier who is a sexual assault victim, on a confidential basis, to disclose the details of their assault to specifically identified individuals and receive medical treatment and counseling, without triggering an official investigation.” (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 71). Restricted reporting was built into the SHARP program to encourage the victims to report cases of sexual assault so they can get the physical and emotional care they need. Restricted reporting is a tool that is helpful for a victim who wants to get treatment for the assault but does not want to initiate the formal investigation. Restricted reporting also allows the victim to talk to a SARC, healthcare provider, VA, or a chaplain about what happened. Once a restricted report is taken, it will be saved, should the victim decide they would like to change their reporting option to unrestricted, they will not have to re-tell the incident. If the victims chooses to change to an unrestricted report, they cannot go back to restricted. “Unrestricted reporting allows a soldier who is sexually assaulted and desires medical treatment, counseling, and an official investigation of his/her allegation to use current reporting channels.” (Department of the Army, 2014, p. 105). A victim can report an unrestricted report to a SARC, VA, healthcare provider, chaplain, chain of command, or the military police. Unrestricted reporting opens an official investigation into the allegation, the victim can request an expedited transfer either to another unit on their installation or request a PCS. Unrestricted reporting is the only way an offender can be held accountable for sexual assault. The soldier can receive a military protective order (MPO) if they need one with an investigation, without one, the victim would have to provide justification to the command as to why they need a MPO. The SHARP program has educated soldiers on how to treat victims with dignity and respect, how to prevent sexual assault in the formations, a process to report an assault, a way to get the care needed for victims, and resources available.

Conclusion

The army has given guidance on the importance of dignity and respect for all soldiers by creating the army values, how to prevent and deter sexual harassment, how to prevent, intervene, report, and respond to sexual assault. The army values are a guide to ensure soldiers are treating everyone as they would like to be treated. The SHARP program has given soldiers the training and tools to stop sexual harassment and prevent or report sexual assault in their units. The army values do not allow for sexual assault or harassment in the army.

References

1. Department of the Army. (2014). Army Command Policy (AR 600-20). Retrieved from https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/pdf/web/r600_20.pdf
2. Living the Army Values. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier/living-the-army-values.html.

Some jobs represent a greater risk of employment than others. Working in a psychiatric ward is one of them. Nurses assigned to the psychiatric unit are well aware of the threats that can occur on a daily basis, including abuse, violent attacks and emotional outbursts. However, his desire to care for and recover his patients with mental illness is essential. Work-related risks are much more important for psychiatric nurses. According to Marian Villanueva and John Bernardo, experienced psychiatric nurses at a public health center in the Philippines, it is not clear when a patient will attack with a mental illness. A study in Victoria, Australia, found that mental health nurses were more exposed to violence in the workplace than police officers; 80% of mental health nurses suffered violence, which translates into more than one in three nurses. Although there are no exact comparative studies in the Philippines, this proportion is probably not too far apart. Kaori Fujishiro, Gilbert Cee and A. B. De examined the aggression of nurses in the Philippines. The team found that the health system was in good physical condition and that there was verbal aggression: one in 14 nurses reported having suffered physical abuse while one-third admitted being a victim of physical abuse. Verbal abuse to prove this, Marian and John carry the two ‘fighting scars,’ acquired through nails that extend over the hands and forearms, over many years of working in a psychiatric ward where patients are often unpredictable. They told MIMS that the three main threats to a nurse to protect the psychiatric space are violence, verbal abuse, and emotionally demanding situations.

Patient violence

In a potentially violent situation, a psychiatric nurse often struggles with functional conflicts: she fulfills the obligation to care for a patient or to protect herself. Long-term care professionals assigned to psychiatric services consider patient abuse as part of their work and have learned to apply a variety of strategies to prevent and manage abuse. Violence is a person’s energy attack. Violence, which is led by health workers in the short and long term, often affects nurses and the organization itself.

Results on the employee and the organization.

For the nurse, this can have physical and psychological consequences. The psychological consequences include post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, anger, anxiety, guilt and shame. It can also result in temporary or permanent injuries. This could lead to a reduction in job satisfaction, decreased quality of life, and ultimately the intention to leave the organization. Organizationally, workplace violence has long-term consequences that affect a larger group of workers. On the one hand, it could increase staff turnover and make nursing more difficult. According to a study published in Biomed Central, this could also reduce the morale of workplaces and give way to a hostile work environment where more errors and medical claims could occur.

Better for the patient

Sister John shared two cases in which he was a violent patient. The first was a patient ready to beat him, but he managed to remove it. Finally, the patient had to be restricted. The second incident was a patient six meters tall. Sister John recalled the support of five hospital security officials to maintain patient limitations.

With regard to patients with unstable mental health, he emphasized that the most important principle for psychiatric nursing is to determine what is best for them. This includes transferring care to other caregivers when the relationship is no longer therapeutic. Ausmed, an Australian technology and nursing company, pointed out that a direct attack on a nurse can affect the patient and other patients. It is suggested that you take action after an attack.

The Southern Nursing Research Society (SNR), a verbally abusive patient, defined verbal abuse in terms of mental health as communicating through behavior, tone and words that serve to humiliate a person to the individual.

The NSS explains that verbal abuse is a significant problem that puts the patient’s attention at risk. Its impact on nurses is similar to physical violence, less physical injury. However, verbal abuse leads to more sales, negative emotions, reduced productivity and negative impacts on care. Nurses also report stress after combating constant verbal abuse. A Japanese study conducted in 2006 found that severely abused psychiatric nurses had serious mental effects. Researchers have suggested that nurses working in the psychiatric ward should have adequate medical equipment.

The Marian Sister shared her experiences with a terrible patient. The illusion that the patient was focusing on him he did it every time he walked into the room, not realizing the verbal abuse before beginning the treatment of patients. In that case, Nurse John used the same strategy used to do the best for the patient: he transferred his patients to another nurse.

As most nurses say, it is best that they never include a patient who is currently verbally abusive. If the situation increases when a family authorizes the patient’s anger, a nurse or supervisor is used to intervene. The University of Jacksonville also emphasized that nurses should not take offensive comments from the patient and should remember that they have proven this, regardless of the staff employed.

Emotionally exhausting

One of the most difficult aspects of mental health care is to absorb all the emotional wounds and psychological states of each patient. The Marian nurse pointed out that the Marian sister had indicated a station with more patients who needed to listen to each other for a long time of several tens, which was a disadvantage. In fact, Gail Stuart has observed (2013) that mental health nurses are disconcerting when patients express emotions such as sadness, despair or anger, longer and more intense. It is interesting to note that psychiatric nurses for the emotional effort that has to go through each layer have a greater ’emotional intelligence,’ according to a study by a Dutch mental health nurse. It means the ability to perceive, control and expresses emotions. The collective assessment of the emotional intelligence of the participating nurses is statistically significant in relation to the general population. This does not mean that nurses are not ’emotionally exhausted’ by their mental health or affected ‘by the patient’s emotions.’ Emotional work (emotional work) refers to how professionals manage their feelings according to the rules and policies of the organization. It can be a superficial action or a deep action of the self It goes without saying that breastfeeding requires a lot of emotional work. According to a study by Cowburn (2005) and the man, mental health needs nurses; deep interpretations use a more ’emotional’ exercise.

These workers, probably unqualified, dominate complex situations every day. They convince a paranoid man to take drugs that they consider toxic, or motivate a depressed woman in the shower for the first time in weeks. They respond to hostilities and frequent abuse with courage, patience and empathy.

When they recover, many become qualified teachers, buyers, lawyers or parents staying at home. However, with increasing pressure on the beds, service users become much sicker when they enter the hospital, much less when they leave the hospital. The patient’s rotation is more important so that the work we do while filming is faster. This creates a stressful environment and the turnover and illness are high. As a result, we rely on agency staff that do not know our patients and cannot deal with the aggression.

Unlike the police, we cannot justify the use of molds, wives, clubs or acorns, and we cannot inflict pain. This is often our relationship with service users between security and disaster. With less time, we often miss the opportunity to intervene. When people are upset or frightened, they cannot argue in the same way. Combined with acute illness, his indignation reflects the injustice of a system that removes all freedom but is not sufficiently equipped to meet his needs. Our rooms are like ovens and our employees are most affected by this frustration.

When a service user cuts an artery, lights a fire or attacks another patient, it is up to me to control the situation.

The real tragedy of reducing psychosocial services rests with the users themselves: the pressure on the beds gives us hope that the worst will happen before we can justify admission. Some people who were previously treated at an early stage of mania now stay so long that they spend thousands of pounds attacking their partner or stripped off the street before being admitted. It costs them work or marriage or gives them uncontrollable debt. When we finally treat them, they collapse to recognize the path of destruction and remain in deep depression.

Some people are so paranoid that they cannot leave their homes and deteriorate in the misery of abandonment and social isolation. Easier to deal with at first, your disappointments are fixed and consolidated. Either they survived trauma that hurt them, put their lives at risk because they struggle and are unable to get the psychological treatment they need.

People with long-term mental illness are ideal victims: they are often too sick to defend their rights or stigmatized to call attention to their illness. The most serious patients are those who are less likely to need treatment and even less to pay for private health insurance.

How much do you weigh? What were you wearing? Did you drink in college? Are you sexually active? Do you have a history of cheating? How many times did you black out?

On trial, these were some of the questions directed towards Emily Doe (pseudonym), a Stanford graduate victim of sexual assault who was found unconscious behind a dumpster, hair dishevelled, naked from the top down on January 17th 2015 and who had learnt of the grim details of her assault from a news article. The case of People v Turner raises debates over questions of autonomy and consent and concerns of the prominence of rape and sexual assault on campus. Her perpetrator, another Stanford student, Brock Turner was sentenced to six months in county jail for fear that it would severely impact Turner’s opportunities as a rising, champion swimmer. Such leniency in Turner’s sentence demonstrates how rape culture on campus and fraternities exerts a lack of accountability and justice served for rape and sexual assault victims. It further generates discussions over traditional notions of rape and sexual assault, in terms of this essay, against a woman, as forceful and non-consensual sex. Whilst this notion does provide a clear violation of a woman’s autonomy, it questions whether the mere word of ‘yes’, Turner claims, the disorientated and unconscious, Stanford victim had muttered in response to whether he was allowed to finger her, reflects consent. On drawing on this, this dissertation will explore, in three subsections, the prevalence of rape and sexual assault on campus and American fraternities whilst examining how social and legal agencies surrounding rape culture constrains a woman’s right to exercise her full autonomous value. I will first begin by discussing the socialisation of rape culture within fraternities and college as a social sphere to exert male dominance and power. Then, by utilising Schulhofer’s parable of the hospitalised athlete, explore the importance of upholding autonomy in cases of rape and/or sexual assault. This will be followed by analysing the significant need to acknowledge the invisible harms of consensual unwanted sex as acts of rape and sexual assault.

Rape as a social sphere of male power – Fraternities and rape on campus

Through a feminist interpretation, rape and rape culture as a social sphere of male power have become a by-product of society’s perpetuation of gender norms. In this way, rape inherently becomes part of a cultural interpretation of sexuality that eroticises dominance, that is, male power over women’s submission, humiliation, violation, and injury which reflects sexual excitement. These gender norms are historically reflected in an intrinsically gendered system of law and Western liberal thought, where the legal exclusion of women from participating in a male-dominant public sphere in activities such as voting to working as lawyers, emphasised the widely accepted objectification that a women’s role should be confined within the domesticity of the home as child-bearers and submissive wives (Higgins, 1999-2000). This is in contrast to the association of strength, power, and the title ‘breadwinner’, tied to the attributes of men. Although acceptance and rigidness of these traditional roles have since shifted in contemporary society, the gendered social system of unbalanced powers and ideas of male domination are retained through society’s psychological indoctrination of these values, exuded since early childhood. The retention of this socialisation is significantly shaped by the role of parents, particularly, the stereotypical relationship between fathers and sons. Fathers, driven by fears that their son might grow up being a “‘pussy,’ ‘sissy,’ ‘punk,’ or ‘softy’- terms commonly associated with boys who fail to meet the traditional standards of masculinities in America” (Harris & Harper, 2008) – contributes to an over-emphasis on the desirability of stereotypical masculine characteristics such as toughness and aggressiveness. These power “privileges” provided to men, instill the belief that they have complete power over women and thus, have the right to perform that power through acts of sexual assault.

Moreover, the entertainment industry has also significantly contributed to these attitudes which have created rape culture. The objectification of women as sexual objects and the dominance of men are leading images portrayed in advertisements. Particularly, the storylines developed concurrently with these images were problematic in curtailing rape and rape culture where “42% of the storylines suggested the victim wanted to be raped…and 46% suggested the victim was to blame for the assault” (Kahlor & Eastin, 2011). As an average American encounters 3000 advertisements a day, the repetition of these sexual and gendered depictions of women normalises such perspectives that are projected into rape culture.

These ideas portrayed by parents and the entertainment industry embody a larger force in supporting and reinforcing the perceptions of rape within college, particularly, fraternities. Fraternities or Greek letter organisations are male social organisations in American colleges or universities. Fraternities and its initiation rituals exert and emphasise masculine values such as obtaining “a clean cut, handsome appearance, athletic skills, wealth, a high tolerance for alcohol, and sexual success with women” (Schwart & DeKeseredy, 1997). The focus of sexual success and exploitation of women are repeatedly emphasised within college fraternity parties, as not only a desired characteristic of masculinity but a necessary condition of manhood (Ward et. al, 1991). In this way, the commodification of women as ‘bait’ for new fraternity members, intentionally utilise women as servers of their needs and as sexual prey (Martin & Hummer, 1989:b). This is exemplified in the Little Sister program. The Little Sister program, adopted by Fraternities recruits fashionably attractive women to not only assist in attracting new members but act as sexual utilities. As the title, Little Sister demonstrates subordination, it promotes a gender hierarchy on campus that fosters and encourages sexual exploitation. The display of attractive, skimpily dressed and nubile women in recruitment materials, allows fraternities to implicitly or explicitly promote free sexual access to women. The structural access to women, surrounding this program and the absence of normative support for refusing fraternity member’s sexual advances, as found in sororities, may make women in this program vulnerable to coerced sexual encounters and exploitation. The normalisation of the culture surrounding rape and sexual assault leads to a lack of accountability and demonstrates ineffective administration responses as seen in the tone and wording of campus alerts used after three incidents of rape were reported in a month at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), in 2011. Due to the frequency and limited amount of time between the attacks, the University President, Jeffrey D. Armstrong issued an email to the Cal Poly community addressing the incidents. However, the contents found in the email took on the approach of victim blaming, drawing on discussions around the victims’ alcohol use, the importance of responsible alcohol and drug consumption, as well as numerous precautions women can take to avoid sexual assault. This fails to assign responsibility and accountability to the perpetrator by placing focus and blame on the use of alcohol and its consumption by the victim (Borgeson, 2011). By exercising such practices, it reinforces the socialisation of male power within on-campus rape culture without repercussions as well as denies victims’ validation and undermines their opportunity and right to uphold their autonomy. The next section will follow on questions of autonomy and how it is upheld and undermined.

Autonomy: Schulhofer and the hospitalized athlete

Autonomy or to have one’s own autonomous value can be defined as having the authority to determine and enforce the rules and principles to govern one’s own life without the interference of external forces. However, the socialisation of male power and pertinence of rape culture on campus and in fraternities, undermines this right to autonomy, through MacKinnon’s theory of dominance feminism. Dominance feminism exhibits how sexualised dominance suppresses and obstructs women’s autonomous choices. However, the pervasive system of sexual domination and gender inequality ingrained within societal perspectives, affects more than just women’s sexual choices but their capacity to exercise their autonomous value as conclusive second class citizens. This leads to concerns and debates around how as second class citizens, that is inferior to men, can women uphold their full autonomy as victims and/or potential victims of rape or sexual assault on campus?

Schulhofer argues that in order to enhance one’s entitlement to autonomy, sexual intercourse, penetration or activity should always entail an affirmative indication of consent. This idea is demonstrated through Schulhofer’s parable of an injured hospitalized athlete with chronic knee problems, who is recommended by his doctor to undergo surgery. However, the athlete cannot make up his mind about whether to undergo the surgery and does not voice his uncertainty and continues to remain silent even when the surgeon prepares the anesthesia and reiterates that he can stop the procedure. The surgery is undertaken despite the unresponsive nature of the athlete. Drawing on this parable it is clear the intrusion on the athlete’s body requires “unambiguous, positive permission”. This demonstrates how the duty to respect individual choice and autonomy is unequivocal. Furthermore, his choice of protagonist challenges claims that the protection of a woman’s autonomy is inherently paternalistic. If the male athlete lying indecisive on the operating table is replaced with a woman or even so, a woman of colour, would the meaning of impermissible violation of autonomy still clearly remain? It is evident that gender, race and class are factors that hinder the type of care patients may receive and the way the patient’s autonomy is upheld. For example, judicial reasoning in right-to-die cases found that gender becomes a significant determinant on a patient’s autonomy in courts. The influence of gender has witnessed a court’s willingness to accept evidence of men’s preferences with regard to life-sustaining treatment, whereas women were more likely to be considered “difficult” and “to be talked down to, scolded, and patronized”. In doing so, it reflects how society perceives the female patient as someone without a will, someone whom the intrusion is more likely to be permissible and someone whose autonomous value is disregarded. This draws back to the case of People v Turner, where Doe, subjected to questions of what she was wearing, how much she had drunk and more, attempts to undermine the autonomy of the victim and discredit their voice by defaming their character which adverts to an assault-deserving immorality that allows for such permissibility ‘into’ her body.

However on trial, Turner and his attorney justified the actions of Turner based on the narrative that Doe had eagerly consented, and if this was correct then by drawing on Schulhofer’s argument, Doe’s autonomy was upheld when she allegedly consented. Despite such claims, Doe argues that she had never consented. The issue around whether consent was present, as a means of upholding and protecting one’s autonomy, is thus, ineffective. Instead, exercising full autonomy requires socially supportive relations, that can commence, in the context of rape and sexual assault on campus, through evaluating and revisiting existing campus policies in order to produce appropriate administrative responses that promote the protection of women’s autonomy as a responsibility of both men and women. The current ineffectiveness of the policies and administrative responses in American colleges is a result of placing its focus on victim-blaming and its discouragement of reporting cases of rape and/or sexual assault. For example, a complainant was told at the University of Connecticut that “women have to just stop spreading their legs like peanut butter” or rape will “keep on happening till the cows come home”. In order to overcome situations like this, proposals have been made to increase accountability and transparency for campus rape by requiring colleges to undertake and publish annual surveys to “assess the prevalence of sexual assault, the number and results of disciplinary hearings, and the effectiveness of remedial strategies”. Such changes may give rise to a greater incentive to address and educate rape and the importance of respecting another’s autonomy and body.

Thus far, the prevalence of rape culture in fraternities and colleges, influenced by gendered systems in society and the media, in favour of male dominance have been addressed. As well, the exploration of autonomy and what may give rise to someone’s autonomous value in cases of rape and/or sexual assault are discussed. The next section will look at how autonomy is secured in cases of consensual but unwanted acts of rape on campus.

The invisible harms of consensual, unwanted rape

The expression of non-consent and the presence of physical force during a sexual encounter have been the dominant elements in identifying and determining an incident of rape. In doing so, acts of rape that do not embody these elements are marginalised from discussions and accountability. This becomes a result of the institutions and law that delineate certain requirements that may or may not make sexual encounters illegal or harmful (Schulhofer, 2005). In Massachusetts, for example, the law defines rape as an act of submission by force and requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt of both force and non-consent in cases of rape. The flaws found within these legal and social institutions in shaping sexual encounters as only harmful if compelled by forceful, physical injury, views other intrusions on freedom of choice as harmless. However, eliminating the requirement of force will not address the significant issues concerning rape on campuses as consent further produces difficulties in establishing autonomy and justice for its victims. In cases of rape, establishing the presence of affirmative and genuine permission may not be as straight-forward as Schulhofer (1992) argues above. Instead, consent may present practical legal problems in socially unequal circumstances, where coercion is evident (MacKinnon, 2016:459). For example, many American colleges do not explicitly prohibit sexual relations between professors and their current students. This can be seen within the policies found at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which only requires the professor who engages in a sexual relationship with a student, to disqualify him/her -self from grading the student’s work. This can be damaging in hypothetical situations where students may be coerced into performing sexual favours in order to avoid failing a class. Likewise, the Little Sister Program, discussed above demonstrates how peer pressure and the social culture and unequal power balances within fraternities, may influence involvement in unwanted sexual acts. Thus, these circumstances demonstrate the failure to acknowledge acts of consensual but undesired sex as destructive to not only a victim’s autonomy but her political security in the social world (West, 2017:805). In discussing this, questions that arise include, what characterises consensual unwanted sex and whether the rigid definitions of rape under-criminalise sex, that whilst at face-value is consensual, is fundamentally unwelcome.

First, consensual but unwanted rape may be defined as those acts where sex is mutually consented, but where one party does not physically desire, emotionally welcome, or find the encounter pleasurable (West, 2017:806). These acts can occur on campus in situations of peer pressure, influences of the culture found in social organisations or even in partner relationships. As there exists mutual consent, these acts are not defined as rape and thus go unaddressed. This produces the risk of undermining the significant harms caused by consensual sex. Krahé, Scheinberger-Olwig, and Kolpin (2000) reported that over one-third of college women in America, had consented to unwanted or undesired sexual intercourse. As a result, a high proportionate of female university or college students suffer from depression and other related psychological and emotional harm such as reduced self-esteem and sexual and political agency (West,2017:809). This brings forward the next question as to why are these harms of consensual unwanted sex, so under-criminalised and invisible?

Societally, the invisibility of such harms is a result of the principles of liberalism in which prioritises the importance of consent rather than the wellbeing of the person (West,2017:816). Within liberal theory, consent is recognised as the mechanism in which creates value, that is, the value to be free and autonomous in choosing the rules and policies that govern one’s life politically, economically, socially, and so on. Sex, or specifically consensual sex ties in within these values of liberalism and consent, as opportunities to increase the autonomous value of the libertarian. This liberal focus on consent is continued politically within the structures of contemporary or liberal feminism. In battling centuries of responsibilities, roles, and infirmities inflicted on women without their consent such as rape, involuntary pregnancy, and motherhood, liberal feminism commits itself to enhance the liberty and equality of women through the necessary requirement of consent. The requirement of consent has, therefore, carried itself into institutions and culture which frames society’s lived experiences. Thus, force and consent alone are not sufficient factors of a checklist that can determine whether sex is wanted, desired, or when someone’s autonomous is upheld. However, by reversing the rigid institutional determinants on what impedes on pleasure, pain, desire and consent within the structures of universities, colleges and society as a whole, and acknowledging all spectrums of sexual harm – consensual or not, will enhance the moral quality and autonomy of each victim.

In analysing the prevalence of rape and rape culture on campus, it reflects the disheartening reality of rape supportive and victim blaming culture. These harmful acts on campus reflect how legal institutions and cultural dynamics concurrently work to erotise and normalise male dominance in sexual intercourse within colleges and broader society. In doing so, a woman’s sexual and political agency becomes diminished along with her autonomy. Schulhofer (1992) argues that in order to uphold this, affirmative consent must be present. Although this is a valid point as the majority of cases of rape that are discussed involve forceful and involuntary penetration, what Schulhofer has failed to examine is not only the lack of effective administrative responses within American colleges but how consent is problematic in increasing cases of consensual, unwanted sex or ‘rape’. By breaking and challenging the rigid institutions and social dynamics through educational and media strategies and expanding our conception of harmful acts of rape and sexual assault, it will assist in protecting and upholding each individual’s sexual autonomy. Here, the only question that remains is when will things change for the better not only within our educational institutions but liberal society?