On January 18, 2013, people hold a protest on University of North Carolina campus. Many protesters held up signs with slogans such as “No excuse for rape”. Photo curtesy of The Nation.
By ANEESA CONINE-NAKANO – Webmaster
Rapes are at a record high at universities in the U.S, however colleges are doing little to bring justice to victims.
It is no shock that colleges play a large role in rape culture. The media has followed several high profile cases in which the alleged rapist faces little to no consequences by the college.
The victim, however, falls prey to various forms of victim shaming in order to protect the college’s reputation.
The number of cases of sexual assault, battery and rape in colleges is shockingly high, but rapists rarely, if ever, face the law.
The National Sexual Violence Resource Center states more than 90 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault. For many reasons, this can be related to the mishandling of cases by colleges throughout the U.S.
Most recently, the woman who was allegedly raped by Florida State University quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston in 2012 has filed a civil case against FSU. Throughout the case, FSU showed incompetence to follow the Title IX regulations where it states “(Under the Title IX regulations a university cannot) subject any person to separate or different rules of behavior, sanctions, or other treatment.”
Although it is terrifying that reported sexual assaults in college has risen 50 percent since 2011, the number of colleges with none may pose a larger threat.
Colleges with a small number or no reported rapes, sexual assault and sexual battery may have these results because victims are not in any way encouraged to report harassment by the college.
The bottom line is many colleges, whether by preventing victims from coming forward or ignoring the prevalent issue, are making their choice to ignore the issue of rape.
Although this may not be the intention, it has created a society where victims are afraid of coming forward in fear of backlash from their community, not to mention the fact that it is not guaranteed whether their attacker will face any repercussions.
At the University of Georgia, the most recent case happend over a month ago and rounds up UGA’s 2014 rapes to eight reports. Rapes happen on all college campuses and rapists need to be punished for the heinous crimes they commit.
Yes, the college in which the rapes have happened have infamous reputations. However, it is far better to bring victims to justice than to protect the college’s reputation. Many colleges pride themselves for promoting truth above all else. Colleges must realize that covering up the truth about sexual assault on their campuses promotes victim shaming and rape because of circumstance.
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