CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULT / BLOG 4

The Association of American Universities came out with a new, shocking survey this week about sexual assault and misconduct on college campuses. These surveys interest me largely because I learned about so many of them in Sex Crimes and Society, a course I took last semester with Dr. Mancini. Often times surveys are "unofficial" and don't cover every aspect of the topic which makes them hard to live by religiously.

The discrepancies can come from only focusing on one gender instead of both males and females, not spreading the school pool large enough geographically or from being too broad on what "sexual misconduct" really means. For this survey, the AAU looked at cases ranging from rape and attempted rape to unwanted fondling or kissing. Although this is more thorough, critics say that equating rape and unwanted kisses isn't right to the victims of these crimes as rape often leads to more serious psychological disorders in the future. Another issue that often arises is women's likelihood of reporting crimes. Out of almost 800,000 students who received the survey questions, only 150,000 took part.

There are many more critiqued aspects of this survey discussed in the article that I read but honestly this is how I look at it: it's a new survey about a very old problem. The more information that we find out about sexual assaults the better. That way one day a seemingly "perfect" survey can one day be created so we can combat this issue properly.

That “perfect” survey would consist of the following: equal accounts by females and males between a relevant age grouping across various kinds of schools around the nation (i.e. community colleges, large state schools, religious schools, ivy league status schools and more). Even more difficult, the surveyors would need to make sure that respondents are being 100% truthful and not omitting any information. A specified survey separated by type of offense. “Less” traumatizing offenses such as crude catcalling would not be weighed the same as something “as” serious as rape. These are only some of the things that need to be stabilized on the next official survey involving sexual misconduct on college campuses.

I’m glad that the AAU conducted this survey regardless of whether or not critics believe that it was properly done because it brings back to light the sexual misconduct issue and reminds everybody that even though there is far more education being given out on campuses around the nation, the problem still persists. Often times a problem will be talked about for so long and so hard (like this one has) that people become desensitized to the issue at hand. Reminders like this survey show that there is a larger issue that education itself cannot defend entirely on its own. Education paired with proactive tactics will be the only way to help end this epidemic around the country. With one step and one survey at a time, we can hopefully lower the numbers of sexual misconduct cases on campus and in the streets.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/22/health/campus-sexual-assault-new-large-survey/index.html