Are college campuses responsible for teaching students not to rape? Since their founding, institutions of higher learning have served as places of intellectual and social growth. Modern-day colleges and universities, however, operate in the wake of a looming issue: sexual assault.
Several surveys — including a recent poll published in The Washington Post — estimate that one in five college women will be victims of sexual assault. AEI resident scholar Christina Hoff Sommers investigates the prevalence of sexual assault in her video blog, The Factual Feminist. According to Sommers, “The one in five claim is based on a 2007 internet survey with vaguely worded questions, a low response rate, and a non-representative sample. Other studies with similar findings have used the same faulty methods. But the real number, according to the BJS [Bureau of Justice Statistics], is one in 53; too many, but a long way from one in five.”
Despite the disputed proportional accuracy, all can agree that sexual assault occurs too often. Individual schools and students implement a variety of sexual assault prevention and awareness methods. Emma Sulkowicz, also referred to as “Mattress Girl,” carried around a mattress to symbolize the emotionally destructive consequences of her alleged assault. Prevention has also arisen in powerful mottos, such as “1 in 5 Women,” “It’s On Us,” “Yes Means Yes,” and “I (heart) Consent.” But how do we know if these prevention measures are working?
A recent study by Dr. Charlene Senn of the University of Windsor, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, seeks to test the effectiveness of a comprehensive, long-term campus sexual assault education program. The first group of 451 female students experienced an “Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act Sexual Assault Resistance program” that lasted the duration of 12 hours and included “information-providing games, mini-lectures, facilitated discussion, and application and practice activities.” On the other hand, the control group of 442 female students was provided access to general information sheets about sexual assault found on many college campuses. Students then completed surveys at intervals of one week, six months, and 12 months to document instances of sexual assault. According to the results of the study, students in the control group were much more likely to have experienced any sort of sexual assault, including both attempted rape (9.3% compared to 3.4%) and completed rape (9.8% compared to 5.2%). Additionally, the risk of experiencing “attempted coercion” and “nonconsensual sexual contact” was higher within the control group. Though men’s actions were not directly manipulated within the experiment, “the resistance program may have increased women’s ability to detect and interrupt men’s behavior at an early stage.”
While her results are valid, Senn’s method fails to take into account several considerations that are vital to addressing sexual assault on college campuses. First, the session focuses on sexual assault prevention from a survivor’s perspective. While this is valuable, the study diverts attention from the student inflicting the assault. Senn proposes that boys’ sexual assault education must begin at a younger age, such as middle school. Additionally, the education session was tailored to fit women’s behaviors and attitudes, but excluded men’s status as survivors of sexual assault. If the method proposed in the study is to be applicable on college campuses, the single-gender view of assault must be eliminated to be inclusive of male and female students, as well as sexual orientation. Furthermore, as with all studies of sexual assault, the results are dependent upon the survivor’s compliance and ability to determine whether the act experienced does, indeed, constitute sexual assault.
Though Senn’s study leaves several questions unanswered, the overall message is simple. With a better understanding of how to avoid particular situations, a student’s chance of experiencing assault can be diminished. As universities respond to the hot-button issue of campus rape, Senn’s analysis may help administrators craft sexual assault prevention strategies that go beyond a generalized understanding and achieve measurable results.
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