Rape
Culture is a society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the
effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse. Posit a culture
that advocates and normalizes rape, which is blatantly not true of the Western
world and why people obviously deny it (because it doesn’t exit). “ Urban
Dictionary
Have you ever been raped? Or thought of raping someone? This
is to inform you on the process of rape culture on college campus, who it
targets the consequences they face and how serious schools(Lincoln University)
take it. The rape culture targets based on statistics 1 in 3 (33%) women are
survivors of sexual violence or intimate partner violence. 1 in 6 (17%) men are
victims of sexual violence. The numbers would appear higher but some people
don’t think anyone will believe them or sometimes don’t know how to open up
about this to make a case. Rape culture is affecting college campuses in many
different ways the article “8 appalling examples of how rape culture shows up
on college campuses” by Sian Ferguson Suggest
1.
Orientation, Traditions, and Initiation
Describe raping others; to initiation
ceremonies where students are expected to have sex, a number of traditions
rituals during university orientation are demonstrative of rape culture.
“ Initiation also brings into question of the
idea of force? Where someone is forced to do something against his or her will
for no good reason, we’re perpetuating rape culture. When we make them do
things despite them saying no, we’re saying their consent doesn’t matter.”
S/he also said that sometimes we need to force people to do
things to prevent them from hurting themselves and others. But initiation
ceremonies and traditions are a far cry from those emergency situations. Based
on the survey on survey monkey most Lincoln University students had responded
to when does it become ok to force someone into having sex?
https://www.surveymonkey.com/analyze/EC1mfL0yAWjLFAZhx6g_2FrfIBkT8C_2FYZ_2B5tkz7z26Gyg_3D#
That it is never ok to force someone
into having sex and the other 2% out of the 55 responses said that when they
say no it becomes ok to force someone into sex. The confusing part about this
question is that it should never be ok because when someone says no you are to
respect their wishes, the same way you would want them to respect yours.
2.
A lack of adequate disciplinary measures
powerful examples of anti-rape activism on campuses, I often think of Emma
Sulkowics
In 2014, Sulkowics became well known for
carrying her dorm mattress around Columbia University’s campus, as a visual
form of protest against her university’s refusal to expel her rapist.
“One took incomplete notes of her story, writing that she
was tipsy that night. Adjunctions, kept asking her to explain the position she
was in, and she said at one point want me to draw it out for you? So she drew a
stick drawing. She says one of the three judges even asked whether Paul used
lubricant, commenting, ‘I don’t how it is possible to have anal sex without
lubricant first.’ This is one of many cases that women go through, she is not
alone but is one of the many students that faced a system that was skewed
against victims and in the favor of perpetrators. The mishandling of rape cases
is one of many reasons why people are questioning whether universities should
handle rape cases at all. I did another survey with Lincoln Students on what is
considered rape? And 53 responded when the person forces you into sex, and the
other people wrote in responses saying sex without consent, when someone forces
any type of sexual activity on you, when a person says no & you still
decide to carry on with the act, and whenever no is being said and the person
still insist on doing what they please. Many girls at Lincoln University feel
as though if they was to report an case people wouldn’t believe them and ask
why you wanted so long to tell someone or just the opposite of what they hoped.
Then I asked what consequences should someone face if they rape someone face if
they rape someone? 1.82% response was suspension for 2 weeks, 58.18% was
expelled, 3.64% counseling and 36.36% had other response. 10 people wrote in jail, 3 people put
expulsion and arrest, 1 put counseling, 1 said it’s up to the discretion of the
victim, Rape is jail
time; you not only assaulted this individual but you also took their dignity as
well as their innocence and turn them in to your personal toy thing. Yea rape
is jail time. I agree with the CPU selling option but Lincoln needs an actual
program that is geared towards reshaping men and women's mindsets about what
rape is and how they view what it is. Also, it should not only address the
symptoms of rape but try to instill things in them that will irradiate the
source of rape behavior and behaviors that can lead to rape for both
genders--even if it's accidental. This is what the students responded to the question.
3.
Secrecy Around Rape Statistic and Policies
Done a great deal of work around campus
rape, and I’m used to skeptics asking the same question: But what are the
statistics?
This is hard to answer because the
statistics on campus rape are often really difficult to find. Some universities
don’t release rape statistics to protect the anonymity of victims despite the
fact that nobody asked for names. The
lack of statistics is often intentional: Many Universities sweep the issue of
campus rape effectively denying the problem of rape on campus, in certain countries,
universities are legally obliged to make their statistics public. But even in
cases like that the statistics can still be disported. Not everyone who
experience sexual violence will report it, especially when they are afraid of
being disbelieved, or when they are unsure of how to report it. I did another
survey question asking Do you think Lincoln University takes rape culture
serious? 10.9% said yes, 43.64% said No, and 45.45% said somewhat. But we
haven’t figured out why the percentage for students saying yes is so low or who
actually is answering the questions to the survey if its all males or all
females, because once you do the survey your name is not exposed just what you
think is.
4.
Victim- Blaming by staff
A campus security official referred to a rape
case as ‘another girl getting herself
into trouble’. In another, a residence warden tried to punish a rape victim for
having her rapist in her dorm past visiting hours, saying it ‘would not have
happened if she adhered to the rules. When people in positions of authority
demonstrate victim blaming, two scary things can happen: 1. Those who have been
sexually violated might internalize the victim blaming (Blame themselves) and
begin to feel unsafe which usually discourages us from speaking out, and
finding support. 2. It comforts rapist the more we suggest that rape is
justified by what the victim wears or how they act, the more rapist with these
attitudes are espoused by university officials, lectures, staff members,
security personnel counselors and disciplinary bodies, we alienate victims and
comfort rapists.
This goes into the Women Convocation that former President
of Lincoln University had in 2014 trying to speak on rape on college campus. He
went on to believe that he was letting us in on a little secret that ‘Men treat
you, treat women the way women allow us to threat them’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtddnI4dUHE
this made a lot of us feel like ok he has a point right here but after that
0:04-0:18 the video went downhill. He started saying ‘We will use you up, if
you allow us to use you up,’ and that when it comes time for us to make that
final decision, we’re going to go down the hall and marry that girl with the
long dress on.’ Like how does this have any point on what type of Women are
going to get married, say if my grandma was the total opposite so does that
mean she is fast because she wore skirts above her knee? He says that those are
the type of girls you take home to mom because they carry themselves with
respect, so because someone strips to make money they respect themselves
because that’s the only way they can get money.
Lastly to my favorite part of this whole video 1:29 if you
want to fast forward pass the non sense he goes to talk about three cases of
young women, who after having done whatever they did with the young men, and
then it did not turn out the way they wanted it to turn out go and tell Public
Safety he raped me. So then we have to do an investigation, and start pulling
back the layers and asking all kinds of questions. And when we start trying to
collect the data and ask the questions…and why do we do that? Because we know
that possibly somebody’s life is getting ready to change for the rest of his or
her life. Because there’s no more serious accusation, and within the last 30
days, the United States federal government has now issued a new set of
regulations that deal with sexual misconduct on college and university
campuses, and the penalty is jail time. I understand that him sharing this case
with us was suppose to show how important Lincoln University takes rape on
college campus but it did the opposite for me and other ladies. He goes more
into what happens, when you allege that somebody did something of that nature
to you, you go to jail. I don’t care how close they are to finishing the degree;
their whole life changes overnight because once you get a record it stays with
you for the rest of your life. They’re going to be expelled from the
university, it’s going to be very difficult for them to get into any other
school because they will have to explain at the receiving institution, why they
were expelled from the institution they expelled them.
How does someone put themselves into situations into being
raped? Because he went on to say he is saying this so we don’t put ourselves in
a situation, that would cause us to be trying to explain something that really
needs no explanation had you not put ourselves in that situation. So basically
most rape victims just woke up one morning to say hmmm today seems like a good
day to get raped that doesn’t make any sense at all on how we can put ourselves
in situations.
5.
Toxic Hook Up Culture
“ Hook Up culture” is often prevalent in
universities. Hook Up culture, referring to a culture where it’s socially
acceptable to have casual sexual encounters-often with multiple people. This
sort of openness and sexual liberation can be great in certain circumstances.
When patriarchal thinking inserts itself into hook up culture, it becomes toxic
and harmful. It’s a problem when people promote casual sex, or any kind of sex
without understanding and promoting consent and respect.
Lincoln University students responded to this question When
someone goes to a party does that better the chances of hooking up, 45.45 %
said yes which is 25 people and 54.55% said no which was 30 people who said
responded to hooking up after a party. Which means if someone is under the
influence.
6.
Not Prioritizing Education on Consent
Some colleges attempt to educate their
students on consent, they’re too few and far between. In a world where primary
schools and even high schools seldom focus on consent education, it’s shameful
when institutions of higher education don’t even attempt to fill the gaps in
our knowledge its not like colleges and universities don’t have the capacity to
educate people. This is true that we are warned about Plagiarism to the point
where ignorance isn’t an excuse for plagiarizing. We can apply a similar
approach when it comes to teaching people about consent: just as we show people
how to avoid committing plagiarism, we can show them how to practice consent.
Should it be the college job to talk about rape culture like
they do “Plagiarism?” 94.55% said yes which is 52 of the students, 5.45% said
no which was only 3 so this is something the University can reflect on with
having mandatory events that Women and Men should be required to go to and
answer questions if they are put into the situations of being raped or someone
saying that they raped them. This workshop should be less judgmental because we
have to take it serious with serious cases people might have questions on. If
the University thought this to us I feel like the percentage for rape would be
lower, no one would be afraid to speak up or seek support.
7.
Stifling Protest Action and Student Organization
The consequences for speaking out against
rape were worse than the consequences for raping. “Universities have immense
power over students and staff, which can intimidate protestors, many students
fear a record would lead to them losing funding, or being expelled.”
So who do you think are victims of rape more? Females 50.91%
28, Males 0, and Anybody 49.09% 27, during this survey I was wondering why
nobody put males and only females, anybody because I’m pretty sure it is high
for males also but because males are usually scared to say it happens to them
because they will feel less masculine if they say they are raped since they are
suppose to be the dominant one in the bedroom. Which this is not always true
8.
A Denial that rape culture exists
Admitting that a problem exists is one of
the first steps in solving that problem.
We
took it to survey one last time to find out if students have read the Title IX
in the student handbook 32.73%(18) said yes, 54.55%(30) said no, and 12.73%(7)
they don’t care to read the student handbook. Lincoln University Sexual
Misconduct Policy, Policy Number: HRM 122 Effective Date: February 21, 2015
Next Review: February 21, 2016. Reviewing Department: Human Resources and Vice
President for Student Affairs. Status: Approved by the Acting President and
Board of Trustees
http://www.lincoln.edu/departments/office-president/title-ix
Lincoln University is committed to providing a work and learning environment
that is free from all forms of unlawful discrimination, including sexual
harassment, sexual assault, stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, and
other forms of sexual misconduct.
This has me wondering why hasn’t the Title IX been updated
when we are two months almost three months into the 2017-year. Is it because
Lincoln University just switched coordinators or because no one is asking the
school to update the Title IX? Questions remain but they won’t stay untold.
Stay tuned for the videos I have provided on asking students, dean of students
and Title IX coordinator.
The
Book Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships http://muse.jhu.edu/journal/671 in the library talks about black Sexuality
and Relationships is devoted to addressing the epistemological, ontological,
and social construction of sexual expression and relationships of persons
within the African diaspora. The journal seeks to take into account the trans-historical
substrates that subsume behavioral, affective, and cognitive functioning of
persons of African descent as well as those who educate or clinically serve
this important population. Muting Dating
Rape: A Co-Theoretical Analysis of Communication Factors Related to Rape
Culture on a College Campus http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=224280f2-3ed6-4de9-97a9-cd61507fcffa%40sessionmgr103&hid=102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=44620401&db=ufh Previous studies suggest that college campuses
foster a rape culture in which date rape (most commonly, rape
of women) is an accepted part of campus activity (Buchwald, Fletcher, &
Roth, 1993; Sanday, 2007). In focus groups at a Midwestern university,
researchers asked students about rape as they experienced it or knew
about it on campus. The study revealed attitudes and perspectives about rape
communicated from cultural, social, and individual levels. Co-researchers'
comments indicated such attitudes exist in relation to and are expressed
through behaviors preceding potential incidences of rape, during rape
itself, and in response after rape occurs. Throughout this process, college
students, especially females, were muted, potentially contributing to the
creation and perpetuation of a campus rape culture. With the articles on
Ebsco host I plan to invest rape more and with the help of Lincoln University
faculty and staff. Just after my blog post
was releases February 28, 2017 the Title IX was sent on the student wire
as mandatory course that the students have to do, I plan on seeing how many
students actually did it.
