Last week’s blog discussed California’s new College Consent law aimed at reducing the number of sexual assaults on college campuses. In an effort to explore at least part of the impetus behind this new law, today’s blog takes a closer look at the connection between alcohol consumption and sexual assault at colleges and universities. In no way do I mean to imply that alcohol is always the instigating factor in college sexual assault, but since alcohol consumption is a big part of college life for many, considering the role of inebriation in college sexual assault is important.
What is Happening?
Contrary to popular belief, sometimes these rapes are calculated and planned well in advance. Dr. David Lisak, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, created a short documentary called The Undetected Rapist based on interviews he conducted with college date rapists. His findings indicate that the men who committed assaults often staked out their targets in advance, inviting them to attend a party with the intention of having sex with them by the end of the evening. When the women would arrives at the party, the perpetrator would make sure she had plenty to drink—usually some kind of punch loaded with alcohol—and then encouraged her to follow him into the back of the house or upstairs to a room designated for his planned activity.
In other situations, assaults involving alcohol are not preplanned: they occur because one or both parties are intoxicated. There just isn’t clear communication (or clear heads). In this case, the victim, and possibly the perpetrator, will be dealing with more than just a hangover the next day.
What Needs to Happen
The need for sexual assault prevention programs on college campuses is obvious. Both men and women need to understand the potentially dangerous link between alcohol consumption and sexual assault. It’s not by accident that it is predominantly first year women being assaulted during their first few months on campus. Therefore, implementation of sexual assault prevention programs needs to happen during orientation at the beginning of each academic year, and follow-up programs should be offered throughout the term at various times to accommodate students’ schedules.
Reporting Assaults
According to rape hotline statistics, rape is the most underreported crime on a national level. Of course, this phenomenon of underreporting holds true on campus life as well for various reasons. Often, colleges try to handle these crimes internally, reporting to campus police rather than to local government law enforcement. This is done in an effort to redue negative visibility for academic institutions, as it helps maintain their reputations as safe campuses rather than sites of debauched partying.
In other cases, campuses often do not attempt to remediate situations for fearful students. For a recent example of campus indifference to survivors of sexual assault, consider Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University undergraduate rape survivor to understand why. She reported the crime, and two other undergraduates also came forward to report assaults by the same perpetrator, but two years later, her perpetrator is still a student on campus. Sulkowicz, now a senior, carries her dorm mattress with her to every single class in order to protest the university’s handling of her case. In a show of support and solidarity, many of her peers have begun helping her carry the mattress on campus.
What You Can Do Today
Campus safety and violence prevention are important to all of us. We want our brightest minds to find a safe space in which to blossom and develop into contributing members of society. We all want to recall our college years with fondness, not trauma. The College Consent Law is a good start, but colleges need to make use of their local law enforcement rather than trying to handle problems internally. Here’s what you can do to help:
- If you’re a survivor of sexual assault, survive like Emma Sulkowicz: your silence will not protect you, and it won’t protect other women like you. Talk about it. You don’t have to carry your mattress to every class, but I can tell you—as an expert in this field for a quarter of a century—that if every sexual assault survivor did, college classrooms would be mighty crowded. Your story of assault is every bit as heavy a burden as that young woman’s mattress, but telling it won’t throw your back out.
- Organize an open-mic night for survivors of sexual assault to speak out. Think about it: talking about sexual assault doesn’t cause sexual assault. But sexual assault relies on our willingness to remain silent.
- Whether you’re a survivor or not, help other survivors carry their burdens. Be the extra set of hands to help carry the mattress; be the shoulder to cry on; be the person who breaks the silence and speaks honestly about the frequency and devastation of assault.
- Prevent sexual assault, starting with young men, who are most frequently the perpetrators of sexual violence. If you have a son or are the mentor to a teen boy, you need to share this recent post from Upworthy with him. Eradication of rape doesn’t rely solely on the empowerment of potential victims; it relies on potential perpetrators learning that it’s not okay to rape someone. The only way that happens is through education, peer support, and role modeling.
- Organize a self-defense class on campus. Research shows that fighting back works!
Share this:
