It’s no secret that sexual assaults on college campuses have been increasing in recent years. According to the Washington Post, federal campus safety data has shown that nearly 100 colleges and universities in the US had at least 10 reports of rape on their main campuses in 2014. Although Brown University and University of Connecticut tied for the most at 43, Rutgers-New Brunswick came in at number 8 with 32 reported incidents. In fact, a recent poll had found that one in five women have been sexually assaulted while in college. That’s a pretty scary number for a parent.
According to victim advocates, although these numbers are troubling, it’s still can be seen as positive thing because victims are stepping forward. In the past, many of these incidents would have gone unreported.
Recently, a Stanford swimmer was sentenced to only six months in jail and three years of probation for sexually assaulting a woman in 2015. This very lenient sentence has drawn harsh criticism, especially after it was revealed that the Baylor University football coach failed to respond to reports of sexual assault involving football players. These types of incidents show that colleges are more interested in the PR problem of a sexual assault than protecting the students that attend their institutions.
So what can be done to stop sexual assault from occurring on school campuses today? Universities say they are working hard to protect its students from such crimes, but is it enough? Time will tell.
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