The federal government has been cracking down on the issue of rape across college campuses in the United States. This has come to light as rape victims have increasingly gone public, continuously filing formal federal charges and plastering it across social media.
It has caused the White House to release a “1 is 2 Many” public service announcement featuring Vice President Joe Biden among a throng of male celebrities who advocated the need to stop rape as “it begins with [them].” They have also started a website – notalone.gov – that offers advice to both students and schools as to how to react to and take care of rapes.
President Barack Obama has also instilled new guidelines for colleges that refer to how they deal with rapes – especially after students at Columbia University have accused the university of mishandling rape cases. The new guidelines hold the decisions and handling or raped by the schools more accountable, and campus cases will become more transparent.
“Each case should be looked at individually,” said Ms. Thomas, Assistant Principal of Miami Lakes Educational Center, “and both students and parents should have this informational available to them. For example, the rapist that Brown University is letting reenroll back into school – who not only raped the victim but choked her. The University shouldn’t torment her like that. Schools should be stricter with their consequences.”
With an increase of complaints and accusations of misjudgment from colleges, there is a worry that this might reduce enrollment rates. With this government website, these accusations and handlings are supposed to come light as students research schools.
“When I applied to college I was stuck between FSU and UF,” said Gabriella Nunez, a sophomore at the University of Florida, “a deciding factor was safety and if I was going to be far away from home, I needed to convince my parents that I would be safe. UF’s orientation secured that they brought the reality of rape and assault and outline stats that would prove it was generally a safe place and that there would be support if anything would happen.”
“When I went to study aboard for one year in Spain, this wasn’t a concern,” said Mrs. Erica Evans-Desimone, the MLEC Cambridge Head. “There was just this general rule that both male and females, but especially females, had to remain aware. Nowadays kids are too trusting. You have to know the basic rules that you pour your own drinks and you don’t take any drinks from other people.”
“College is fun, but it’s easy to find yourself in a bad situation and alone,” continued Nunez. “You can rely on yourself for safety but it’s reassuring to know your college cares about it to take various measures to ensure students are well informed and supported.”
As frustration continues to stir, activists are trying to change that. In April, students from Columbia University placed red tape over their mouth during an event for freshmen as they tried to get them to pressure officials about resource details for victims.
“No school wanted to talk about this and scare away prospective students,” said Dana Bolger, an activist, to the New York Times. “We’ve hit them where it hurts: their reputations.”
