Sexual Harassment and Date Rape

I believe that sexual harassment and date rape are often over looked on college campuses, by the administration and the students themselves. Sexual crimes have been occurring for a very long time, but now they seem to be pushed aside. I am getting the impression that often times women are not believed. Laura Dunn’s story is mentioned in an article, the writer of the article gives the impression that they do not believe her. The writer says “alleged rapist” implying that she made her story up. I think that victims are sometimes overlooked because of how society views women. Women are fighting for equality and they have made much great advancement, but I think popular culture dehumanizes women. For example, in many rap videos women are dressed in revealing outfits and shown in seductive ways. In the actual song itself, women are often referred to with derogatory terms and as possessions rather than people. Popular culture glorifies sleeping around making sex in general more acceptable. I think that popular culture causes sex crimes to be viewed as miniscule. On the college campuses I feel that even though the women are victims, I feel they are not completely innocent. In the articles I read, alcohol was always a factor. In one case, the victim had no idea if she gave consent or not because she was too intoxicated. I feel that the victims often, but not always, put themselves in situations where sexual crimes can happen. I am not trying to accuse the victims at all, I sympathize greatly for them, but as a little helpful criticism, more can be done to prevent these kinds of situations. In two articles I read, the assailant was an athlete. Both competed in tough contact sports. I think that this is not a coincidence. I think that the assailants were fueled by their ego. Being an athlete in excellent shape makes them “better” than the average person. I believe that this realization boosted their ego and caused them to believe that they can do anything and get away with it because they are better than everybody. In the cases I studied, the college administrations and police departments avoided the situation completely. Victims stated that the police were reluctant to investigate and did not keep in contact with them. The administration did not give out punishments (or at least it was not stated in the article). I think that this gives a message that sexual crimes are acceptable and little will be done to stop the assailant. I think that anybody accused of sexual crimes, with supporting evidence should be expelled, and a full investigation by local police, not the rent a cop college police, should be carried out. The assailant should not be treated with any sympathy. They should be punished to the fullest extent the law will allow. Their actions should be nationally known and they should not be allowed on any college campus. I think that there is a lot of work to be done regarding the seriousness of sex crimes, and the majority of authority figures are not doing enough.