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SEXUAL ASSAULT ON CAMPUS

How It Affects The Mental and Academic Health of Students

THE INTRODUCTION

THE SCENE

Imagine. You’re a college student at a party with your friends late at night after classes. You consume a large amount of alcohol, and so do your colleagues as loud music blares around you. As you’re conversing with another incapacitated friend, they lead you to another room and begin engaging in sexual acts without your consent. Without the ability to speak coherently, or yell for help over your loud friends and their music, you end up being sexually assaulted. Weeks, even months later, you have trouble pursuing serious relationships and your grades slip as a result of the physical and mental trauma you experienced..

..all because of that one night where no bystanders at all helped you.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER?

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER?

As a result of a sexual assault, students on campuses may suffer physiologically, psychologically, and sociologically. As part of a study on sexual victimization on college campuses, too, Herman (1992) identified the following symptoms among victims experiencing long term effects: (Herman, 1992)

  • Shock/confusion
  • Agitation
  • Fear/social withdrawal
  • Depression
  • Suicidal thoughts
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Victims also reported the following physical symptoms the most frequently after experiencing a sexual assault encounter:

--> Bruises, black eyes, cuts, scratches, swelling, and chipped teeth.

Kelsie Skillen (18) - University of Glasgow

Jessica Hughes (19) -DePaul University

STATISTICS AND STUDIES

STATISTICS & STUDIES

Physical and sexual violence is a serious public health and social problem. Mengo and colleague Black (2015) report that:

  • 33% of women in the United States experience physical abuse and 35.6% report sexual abuse.

The prevalence rates of sexual and physical/verbal violence among college students are also staggering. The researchers reference a study conducted by that Fass, Benson, and Leggett (2008) found:

  • 32.4% of college-aged women reported at least one incident of physical violence during college and about 16% of college women experienced at least one form of sexual victimization during the first and second year and in the great majority of cases (75–80%), the victim knows the attacker.

Although fewer and harder to gauge, college men too are victimized. Krebs et al. (2007) found that:

  • 6.1% of college males were victims of either attempted or completed sexual assault.

EFFECTS ON STUDENTS: SHORT AND LONG TERM

EFFECTS: SHORT AND LONG TERM

  • Notably, after unwanted sexual encounters, students will be highly likely to experience negative health side effects. Results of a study conducted by Jessica A. Turchik et. all in 2012 found that over half of the college students reported some form of sexual victimization; men particularly with sexual victimization experiences reported higher levels of weekly drinking, problematic drinking, tobacco use, sexual risk-taking behavior, and sexual dysfunction.
  • Students who experience physical/verbal and sexual violence will experience significant drop in their grade point average and are more likely to drop out (Mengo and Black, 2015).
  • Cognitive factors play a large role in the onset, severity, and outcome of PTSD after sexual assault (28). These factors include mental defeat and confusion, negative appraisal of emotions and symptoms, avoidance and perceived negative responses from other students.

THE SOLUTION

THE SOLUTION

  • Psychological therapies are available to assist students in their recovery
  • Number of rape prevention centers and education programs are on the rise aiming to debunk rape myths, change victim-blaming attitudes and de-stigmatize the subject.
  • Empowering the victim and putting control back into their hands.

Physicians, therapists, law enforcement agencies, and family and friends must work together to find the meaning of recovery from the perspective of the students.

  • Universities greatly benefiting from implementing violence prevention programming and practicing safety precautions amongst students.
  • Providing in-detail information regarding unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, etc

FINAL THOUGHTS

FINAL THOUGHTS

Recovery from psychological issues due to sexual assault related PTSD is not just a challenge and threat for the average student, but for the community as well. The recovery process is also a sociological issue and societal aspects should not be ignored. The prevention of PTSD and other mental/sexual health impacts on student victims should be sociologically directed by targeting attitudes towards and origins of sexual assault with considerations of how these attitudes may create a rape-prone society and allow for such a high frequency of sexual assaults on college campuses.

I chose this topic because for very close friends and colleagues of mine, they've silently experienced/witnessed sexual assault on their campuses. After consulting them personally about their thoughts toward the event, many wish more safety programs and features, such as the buddy system, were implemented into their colleges. The issue is important and relevant to me, as I do not want any men or women alike to undergo the same physical and psychological trauma I, and other friends have experienced firsthand.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Burns, Vicki L., et al. "Exploring the Role of Race and Gender on Perceived Bystander Ability and Intent: Findings before and after Exposure to an Online Training Program to Prevent Sexual Assault on Campus." Sage Journals, vol. 25, no. 8, 19 Nov. 2018, pp. 999-1017. SAGE Journals Online, journals-sagepub-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/1077801218807089?utm_source=summon&utm. Accessed 11 Nov. 2021.

Chivers-Wilson, Kaitlin A. "Sexual assault and posttraumatic stress disorder: a review of the biological, psychological and sociological factors and treatments." McGill journal of medicine : MJM : an international forum for the advancement of medical sciences by students vol. 9,2 (2006): 111-8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323517/

Fedina, Lisa, et al. "Campus Sexual Assault: A Systematic Review of Prevalence Research from 2000 to 2015." Sage Journals, vol. 19, no. 1, 22 Feb. 2016, pp. 76+. SAGE Journals Online, journals-sagepub-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/doi/full/10.1177/1524838016631129?utm_source=summon&utm_medium=discovery-provider. Accessed 26 Nov. 2021.

Khadr, Sophie et al. "Mental and sexual health outcomes following sexual assault in adolescents: a prospective cohort study." The Lancet. Child & adolescent health vol. 2,9 (2018): 654-665. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30119759/

Lewis, Kaleea Regina. Race, Ethnicity, and Differential Perceptions of Sexual Victimization (Assault). 2013. U of South Carolina - Columbia, PhD thesis. University of South Carolina Scholar Commons, scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=3675&context=etd. Accessed 25 Nov. 2021.

Mellins, Claude A et al. "Sexual assault incidents among college undergraduates: Prevalence and factors associated with risk." PloS one vol. 12,11 e0186471. 8 Nov. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186471

Mengo, Cecilia, and Beverly M. Bladck. "Violence Victimization on a College Campus: Impact on GPA and School Dropout." Sage Journals, vol. 18, no. 2, 1 Aug. 2016, pp. 234-48. SAGE Journals Online, journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1521025115584750. Accessed 1 Dec. 2021.

Turchik, Jessica A. "Sexual victimization among male college students: Assault severity, sexual functioning, and health risk behaviors." Psychology of Men and Masculinities, vol. 13, no. 3, July 2012, pp. 243-55. ProQuest Social Science Journals, www.proquest.com/docview/894622554?accountid=13158&pq-origsite=summon. Accessed 25 Nov. 2021.

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