Argument Proposal Essay

Ta’Nya Jones 

English Composition II

Professor Hammett

Essay 1 Argument Proposal

13 September, 2023 

Word Count: 1025

Solutions to Rape on College Campuses 

Rape on college campuses, that’s the problem. Rape is sexual penetration without consent; it’s also a form of sexual assault, it’s challenging to try to have solutions to limit rape from happening without mentioning and bringing sexual assault into the discussion. Sexual assault is when any unwanted sexual contact happens to someone without consent. Being sexually assaulted is a situation that should never occur in any instance. April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but we need more than just a month; this is a topic that needs to be discussed until there is a solution to the problem. This social epidemic is, to say the least, traumatizing and inhumane; there are ways rape on college campuses can be limited and controlled. 

A start as a way to bring more awareness to rape on college campuses is by informing students about the problem before they get to their destined college. Sthitaprajnya Panigrahi mentions in her article “Importance of Seminars and Workshops for Students in Higher Education” that “Seminars and workshops provide a chance to interact with experts from the specific field”( Panigrahi, 2020). With that being said, high schools nationwide could host sexual assault awareness seminars that are mandatory for juniors and seniors, but are an option for freshmen and sophomores. At these seminars, they could invite guest speakers from the community, and reach out to sexual assault activists, such as Tarana Burke, the creator of the Me Too movement, to come and speak. Other guest speakers could be people who have personally dealt with rape or sexual assault and are open to sharing what they went through and how it affected them. Counselors from colleges that have dealt with the victims could also come and share. Law officials could provide information on how to report a rape and what steps you should take to ensure the offender receives the necessary punishment through the law. This solution could be a start and a way to prepare and educate future college students about the reality of rape in the college environment.

One solution to limit rape on campuses is by informing fraternities about the sexual assault that occurs from members of their organization. Kara Emsley’s article “Let’s Get Greek: Sexual Assault Trends Within College Greek Life,” she mentions that “Research has found that fraternity men are three times more likely to sexually assault a woman than non-affiliated classmates”, also that “Most research attributes these high numbers to rape culture imbedded within Greek life, toxic masculinity, and the increased use of alcohol and other substances in Greek social spaces”( Emsley, 2022). When going through the process of joining a fraternity, there should be a section that the applicants have to go through in order to be considered for joining that specific fraternity, where they spend mandatory days discussing sexual assault and how to prevent it within the Greek community. These mandatory days should contain information about hazing, date rape drugs, and many other dehumanizing activities that have been a part of the frat culture for many years that are in need of a change. 

Another solution that should be considered is mandatory discussions about sexual assault with the sororities. “Additionally, for women in sororities, it was reported that they are 74% more likely to be raped than other college women”(Emsley, 2022); this shows that sorority members are high-risk targets for rape. Women planning on entering a sorority should know and study the facts about rape and sexual assault activities that take part within their community and how they are high-risk targets. Although sororities and fraternities have had an unique way of conducting things within their organizations, and many people won’t be happy with these changes, they could have a positive outcome and make an atrocious situation begin to turn around for the better good of the people. 

Sexual assault is fairly higher at the beginning of the school year with the new incoming freshman and homecoming events that happen on campus, “More than 50% of college sexual assaults occur in either August, September, October, or November” ( RAINN, n.d). During these times colleges could send out constant reminders to their students to not take drinks or any substances from anyone without seeing where it came from with their own eyes, try not to be out late at night alone, and send out whatever emergency hotline number they should use in case a nonconsensual sexual incident occurs. Another solution is that law enforcement could also be more present, and active on campus. They could also express that they’re on the victim's side so they will feel safe enough to report their rape to the authorities. American Association of University Women is a women's advocating group that has been together since 1881, and they speak on why most rape incidents at colleges go unreported. Their website states, “Despite numerous studies showing that rape is common on campuses, 89% of colleges and universities reported zero incidents of rape”, “Contributing factors can include: individual student fears of reporting to school authorities or law enforcement; procedural gaps in how institutions record or respond to incidents”(AAUW, 2022). Rape on college campuses will never change as long as the students don’t feel safe or confident enough to confide in the proper authorities that are supposed to protect and support them. 

 Students need to have more access to information about sexual assault without having to go all over to find the facts and resources that are needed to fight against it. These are just a few solutions that could be a start to getting this social epidemic under control and limiting rape incidents. 

References

“An Underreported Problem: Campus Sexual Misconduct”. AAUW. 12 May 2022, www.aauw.org/resources/article/underreported-sexual-misconduct/. 

“Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence Accessed 13 Sept. 2023. 

Emsley, Kara. “Let’s Get Greek: Sexual Assault Trends within College Greek Life ~ Making Waves.” Our Wave, 18 Dec. 2022, www.ourwave.org/post/lets-get-greek-sexual-assault-trends-within-college-greek-life. 

Panigrahi, Sthitaprajnya. “The Higher Education Review.” Importance of Seminars and Workshops for Students in Higher Education, 19 Feb. 2020, others.thehighereducationreview.com/news/importance-of-seminars-and-workshops-for-students-in-higher-education-nid-1261.html.