We have been writing about sexual assaults on college campuses for over 10 years now, and in that time we have seen and heard just about everything proposed in the way of a solution to a problem that may not have a solution.
The latest ones are to allow guns on campus and to outlaw drinking.
Sexual assault on college campuses has been in the spotlight lately as students and the federal government are mandating stricter policies and stronger enforcement of existing laws. These two ideas are just the latest in a series of attempts to get this out of control problem under control.
In our article called How Safe Is Your Daughter In College we cite the May, 2014 issue of Time magazine which called America’s campuses “hazardous places for young women,” particularly those who are 18 or 19 years old, just beginning their college experience.”
Statistics show consistently that close to 20-25% of all college age women will be assaulted during their four years at an institution of higher learning.
In this recent blog post about the Congressional Report On College Campus Assaults we quoted the report as follows:
- “Close to 70% of all victims are drugged, drunk, or otherwise incapacitated.
- Less than 10% of victims actually report the crime to anyone.
- Only 2% of the victims actually report it to law enforcement.”
The idea proposed by the New York Times on 19 February, 2015 would allow guns on campus in the hopes that that would reduce sexual assaults. They point out in their article that lawmakers in 10 states are pushing bills that would permit the carrying of firearms on campus, although they admit for ancillary reasons.
Opponents of this bill point out that colleges are notorious for high rates of binge drinking and other recklessness that would be prone to gun accidents. Some experts maintain that because 90% of sexual assaults are committed by someone that the victim knows it would be hard, if not impossible, to pull the trigger in those circumstances.
Other opponents of the idea say that Republicans are just capitalizing on a hot issue to push their agenda.
As of this writing nine states allow people with legal carry permits to take concealed firearms to campus with some restrictions. Many of those states had bans but lifted them in view of recent events.
In another bizarre twist this CBS news story is reporting that Dartmouth is prohibiting high risk drinking on campus and will implement a four-year sexual violence prevention program, ending pledge or probationary periods for all student groups-mainly fraternities-and creating new residential communities. It should be pointed out that Dartmouth is one of 95 schools currently under federal investigation for its handling of sexual harassment under title IX of the US code.
Other proposed solutions are to eliminate fraternities and sororities but that idea is not holding up because hazing in those organizations is already outlawed on many campuses.
Earlier in February, 2015 the New York Times did an opinion piece about the case of Paul Nungesser, the Columbia University student who was accused of raping a fellow student Emma Sulkowicz. They were attempting to show how to address the Campus Rape Issue. That case probably would’ve died a normal death after Mr. Nungesser was cleared by a campus tribunal and found not guilty except for the fact that Ms.Sulkowicz was unhappy with the outcome of the on campus trial.
Sulkowicz became known as the “mattress girl” carrying a mattress around campus to raise awareness about sexual assault. The mattress girl phenomenon became a YouTube sensation as college students from around the country emulated her carrying mattresses. She became so well known for this issue that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (Democrat of New York) invited her to the State of the Union address and publicly declared that the victim received “no justice.”
Further investigation revealed that the two traded affectionate messages between each other for weeks on social media after the incident in question-hardly the behavior of a victim who received “no justice.”
According to this op-ed piece, the Department of Education has forcefully told schools to handle sexual grievances themselves rather than turn them over to local police authorities. This instance is like so many others where a wrong has occurred and authorities over compensate to fix it.
Now schools are being told to disregard what most Americans think of as the basic civil rights of a person accused of a heinous act.
In many institutions the perpetrator is not even allowed to get a lawyer to speak for him. Schools have to determine guilt on the basis of a “preponderance of evidence” rather than “clear and convincing evidence”-legal terms that distinguish between a 51% likelihood that the assailant did it rather than a 75% one.
It is clear that universities around the country are struggling to meet the demands of the federal government.
The biggest bone of contention seems to be whether or not Universities should be allowed to implement and uphold their own standards of conduct rather than have local government and law enforcement impose their will. Since Universities carry a lot of clout in their community, wouldn’t it make more sense for these institutions to work together with local law enforcement as opposed to fighting each other?
With the almost certainty about sexual assault on a college campus, women need to seriously consider carrying a self-defense product with them. We recommend keychain pepper sprays because they are more likely to be with you whenever you need one. And you never know when you may need one.
We have 189 different pepper sprays, but the ones we suggest most are keychain pepper sprays with 108 to choose from.
What do you think of these crazy ideas? We want to hear from you. Please chime in with your thoughts.