Only 5% of victims report their assault due to the overwhelming atmosphere undergoing an experience as traumatic as rape creates (Schwartz, 1997, p.6). There is an inherent denial and indifference towards victims of sexual assault which illustrates the fragmented college disciplinary system. Since reporting a sexual assault to a college often results in administrators treating rape as academic misconduct rather than a serious and violent crime, it fosters the moral ambiguity of what constitutes sexual assault. This results in the victim’s reluctance to report their abuser’s crime since rape culture has taught victims that it is pointless for them to go forward since colleges tend to exhibit favoritism. Furthermore, there are definite ways
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There are a variety of reasons why a rape victim may not report their sexual assault immediately. They may feel scared, ashamed, or even a responsibility for the crime itself. The belittling of victims’ struggles and disregard of the perpetrator’s crime is exhibited through the People v. Brock Turner case. Brock Turner was a Stanford swimmer who only served half of his six-month sentence after he sexually assaulted a woman outside a fraternity house. While Turner’s father described it as “20 minutes of action” in his letter to the judge, the victim stated “I was told that because I couldn’t remember, I could not prove it was unwanted” (Buncombe, 2016). Despite the public condemnation of Turner’s actions, the continued diminishment of sexual assault consequences results in victims feeling as though their struggle is unnecessary and stifles their voices by making them feel like coming forward is pointless. The aftermath of the case ignited widespread public criticism accusing Judge Persky of judicial bias in favor of male and class privilege since he stated: “A prison sentence will have a severe impact on [Turner]” (Stack, 2016). This statement received extreme backlash regarding Persky’s extreme leniency and empathy when convicting Turner which was attributed to his inability to differentiate between danger, race, and class. The mishandling of cases and indifference towards victims of assault results in a prevention system that allows the offender to walk away essentially unscathed compared to their victim. Similarly, the vehement backlash victims may receive discourage them from reporting. Many colleges accused of negligence use the tactic of blaming the plaintiff for their assault to rid themselves of blame which contributes to rape culture. A case at Worcester Polytechnic Institute received
There are a variety of reasons why a rape victim may not report their sexual assault immediately. They may feel scared, ashamed, or even a responsibility for the crime itself. The belittling of victims’ struggles and disregard of the perpetrator’s crime is exhibited through the People v. Brock Turner case. Brock Turner was a Stanford swimmer who only served half of his six-month sentence after he sexually assaulted a woman outside a fraternity house. While Turner’s father described it as “20 minutes of action” in his letter to the judge, the victim stated “I was told that because I couldn’t remember, I could not prove it was unwanted” (Buncombe, 2016). Despite the public condemnation of Turner’s actions, the continued diminishment of sexual assault consequences results in victims feeling as though their struggle is unnecessary and stifles their voices by making them feel like coming forward is pointless. The aftermath of the case ignited widespread public criticism accusing Judge Persky of judicial bias in favor of male and class privilege since he stated: “A prison sentence will have a severe impact on [Turner]” (Stack, 2016). This statement received extreme backlash regarding Persky’s extreme leniency and empathy when convicting Turner which was attributed to his inability to differentiate between danger, race, and class. The mishandling of cases and indifference towards victims of assault results in a prevention system that allows the offender to walk away essentially unscathed compared to their victim. Similarly, the vehement backlash victims may receive discourage them from reporting. Many colleges accused of negligence use the tactic of blaming the plaintiff for their assault to rid themselves of blame which contributes to rape culture. A case at Worcester Polytechnic Institute received