Ta’Tyana Stevens

320 White Hall

Hampton, Virginia 23668

 

November 18, 2015

Arianna McLymore

Editor

Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications

100 E Queen St

Hampton, Virginia 23668

 

Dear: Ms. McLymore

 

Assault, robbery, rape, and murder are common crimes on college campuses. Of these crimes, rape is the most common. According to Kelly Wallace, “The Journal of Adolescent Health, found that 19% of women, nearly one in five, said they had been a victim of attempted or completed rape, either by force or while they were incapacitated due to alcohol or drugs, during their freshman year." Statistics have shown that rape involving college students have increased significantly. With statistics showing that rape has increased, we need to collectively work on increasing awareness of faculty and students, increasing police presence, and improving policies on college campuses.

 

We should increase rape awareness on college campuses because students, including myself, have this common misconception that rape cannot happen to them; however it can, and it can happen to anyone. One of my close friends, was raped, and she thought it would never happen to her, but it did, and it affected her negatively. She decided to exceed her drinking limit, by doing so she allowed herself to be in a vulnerable state from which she was taken advantage of sexually. If my friend was more knowledgeable on rape and situations that can precipitate a rate this situation could have possibly been avoided. Had she been pre-educated, she would not have exceeded her drinking limit and she would have been more aware of her surroundings. Without the knowledge, she unfortunately became statistic like the one mentioned previously. Students need to be educated on rape, the different types of rape, the effects of rape, and the aftermath of rape. Rape education should be included in the freshmen orientation to reduce rapes involving freshmen. Rape education should also be included in mandatory dorm meetings. The students can use this information to protect themselves and avoid situations similar to my friends.

 

In addition, to increasing rape awareness, we should increase police involvement. They should asses their staffing needs to decide if they need to recruit and hire. By adding one additional officer per gate it will increase police presence on the campus therefore allowing students and faculty to feel safer. The police officers should continue to monitor and shut down parties in the harbors to prevent party-rapes, which is common in party settings. By involving the police we can better handle campus rapes.

 

Lastly, we should adopt a sexual consent policy similar to the Antioch College sexual offense prevention policy of 1990. The sexual offense prevention policy, or (SOPP), is a campus-wide policy of Antioch College that states “all sexual interactions must be consensual” and “non-consensual sexual behavior, verbal and sexual harassment are not tolerated at Antioch College”. If our college adopts a policy similar to the Antioch College we can decrease sexual violence on our college campus.

 

To conclude, if our college increases awareness, involves campus police, and improves policies we can decrease the amount of rapes that occur on our college campus. Although, we cannot prevent rape, we can try. We must take the necessary precautions to try and protect our students and faculty from sexual violence.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ta’Tyana Stevens