Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 1

Meg Airey
10/6/14
English 212W Marc Bousquet
Literature Review
Sexual assault has become more and more of a prevalent issue on college
campuses. The most methodologically rigorous study, conducted in 1974, investigated
the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. The study found that 54% of
college women had experienced some form of sexual assault since the age of 14. 15%
had experienced the definition of completed rape, and 17% had experienced an attempted
or completed rape in the past year (Abbey, 2002). Similar rates of prevalence have been
found across other studies throughout colleges in the United States.
The prevalence of alcohol related to sexual assault is even more staggering. On
average, at least 50% of sexual assaults among college students are associated with
alcohol use (Abbey, 2002). That is not to say that alcohol causes sexual assault, this is
simply a high correlation. Alcohol is often used as an excuse, such as I was drunk, I
didnt know what I was doing. However, 81% of alcohol-related sexual assaults
involved both the perpetrator and the victim drinking alcohol. While alcohol is involved
in sexual assault, this does not excuse the actions of individuals who consume it. Alcohol
does not cause sexual assault. As seen in Abbeys conceptual model relating alcohol to
sexual assault, pre-existing beliefs about alcohol effects these heterosocial interactions as
well as the effects of alcohol at the point of forced sex (Abbey, 2002). While alcohol is
frequently a factor in a sexual assault case, it does not cause sexual assault.
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Sexual assault programs geared toward prevention have become ubiquitous on
college campuses. One article, published by Breitenbecher, provided a review of the
effectiveness of these programs, evaluated on their modifying the following sexual
assault-related attitudes, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. In general, programs
tended to have a positive short-term effect on changes in attitude and behavioral
intentions. However, these results are not uniform and present mixed findings
(Breitenbecher, 2000). There still is much needed to be done to provide long-term
behavioral changes, and systematic evaluation and refinement of college prevention
programs must be supported in order for these programs to be fully effective. In order for
us to successfully combat this issue, it first starts with dissolving the stigma that exists on
college campuses surrounding sexual assault. This can be explored through the use of
melodrama. While melodrama is often considered a bad form of rhetoric and polarizes an
issue to the extreme, it can also be used to unite people against an inherent evil (Anker,
2005). In Ankers article, uniting people in hatred against the perpetrators of 9/11 was
taken too much to the extreme. America was united against the wrong villain, so to
speak. However, if properly defined, uniting people against sexual assault, rather than
the perpetrators of sexual assault, can only make progress. Using melodrama, we then can
fully tackle this issue with preventative programs that target all aspects of sexual assault:
not just for the short-term, but also for the long term and beyond.
Linear Paper
Researchers have defined sexual assault as: the full range of forced sexual acts
including forced touching or kissing; verbally coerced intercourse, and physically forced
vaginal, oral, and anal penetration (Abbey, 2002). Throughout the years, sexual assault
Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 3
has become more and more of a problem on college campuses. Today, 1 in 4 college
women will be victims of sexual assault during their academic career (Hirsch, 1990).
Every two minutes, another American is sexually assaulted. And each year, there are
237,868 victims of sexual assault (RAINN.org). Clearly, this problem has not been
resolved since it was first reported in the 1950s.
Sexual assault is a complex problem in that there are many other problems that
are intrinsically involved in sexual assault. Victim blaming, rape myths, lack of sexual
communication, alcohol abuse, and gender roles are among these problems. Therefore,
there is not simply one solution to sexual assault: it must be tackled at various different
angles in order to combat the issue as a whole. However, in order to fully analyze sexual
assault, we must first look at its stigma.
Sexual assault is one of those hot button topics that often have negative
stereotypes surrounding it, which creates an associated stigma. We often look at victims
of sexual assault as being women who are dressed a certain way and drink so much that it
seems as if they are asking for it. A study in 1999 found that women are often too
ashamed to report their victimization, for fear of embarrassment and self-blame (Girden;
Kabacoff, 2010). No wonder that 60% of sexual assaults are not reported to the police
(RAINN.org). By voicing these stereotypes, we propagate this idea of victim blaming and
discourage women from reporting their personal experiences.
By not being educated about the true facts, we also further increase the stigma
surrounding sexual assault. Our society commonly believes in rape myths, which are
defined as prejudicial, stereotyped, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists
Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 4
(Burt, 1980). Some common examples of rape myths are that only bad girls get raped
and he was drunk, he didnt know what he was doing. These rape myths result in the
victim blaming mentioned above and exonerate the attacker for their actions. Like victim
blaming, alcohol is frequently used as an excuse to exonerate the attacker, and is often
looked at as the cause of sexual assault. However, this is not true. There is simply a
correlation in the involvement of alcohol with sexual assault. The causal direction is also
double-sided; in fact, it could be the opposite in that men may consciously or
unconsciously drink alcohol to give them an excuse to commit sexual assault (Abbey,
2002). Alcohol should never be used as an excuse for misbehavior or mistreatment of
individuals. Alternatively, a third variable such as impulsivity or peer group norms
should be looked at as a potential link between alcohol consumption and committing
sexual assault. Our continuous belief that alcohol causes sexual assault is only giving the
perpetrator an excuse and the victim a reason as to why the assault occurred. Alcohol is
never an excuse, and the victim is never at fault.
Gender roles also play a crucial role in the stigma surrounding sexual assault.
American gender norms about dating and sexual behavior encourage men to be the
dominant ones in the relationship and to take no as convince me (Abbey, 2002).
Women are constantly stuck in this gender binary of being considered prudes or sluts
based on how they respond to a sexual interaction. By saying no, they are considered a
prude, whereas if they are saying yes, they are considered sluts. On the other hand, men
are expected to always be forceful and sexual. Both genders are caught in this set
standard of how sexual relationships should be approached: men are expected to initiate
sex, while women are expected to limit how much sex occurs. And both genders expect
Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 5
this behavior from one another! Therefore, womens refusals to engage in sex are
interpreted as playing hard to get and encourage men to keep trying. This further
encourages women to blame themselves for sexual miscommunication, thinking, Oh, I
shouldve been more forceful in saying no. This perpetuates the idea that sex without an
enthusiastic yes is not a crime, encourages victim blaming, and gives the attacker an
excuse for his actions.
Now that weve looked at sexual assault and the different variables that
contribute to sexual assault, how can melodrama be used to combat this issue? As defined
by the Oxford American dictionary, melodrama is a sensational dramatic piece with
exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions.
Melodrama is often used as a literary tool meant to polarize an issue, pointing out the true
villains and heroes: persuading us to believe in the goodness of the heroes and in the
inherent evil of the villains. As Friedman describes in Citizen Spielberg,
The heroes and heroines of melodrama suffer for our sins; their torment caused by
the intolerance, rigidity, and repressive codes of the conventional social order
establishes and confirms them as innocent victims worthy of our compassion and
admiration. Thus, melodramatic characters attain moral status chiefly through
their suffering. We are forced to share their perspectives, feel their pain, and
understand their plight.
In essence, Friedman describes how melodrama can be used in various ways to persuade
an audience into believing in a certain idea. For example, Elisabeth Anker describes how
melodrama was used to unite the American people against the war on terror following the
events on September 11
th
, 2001. Media coverage of this tragic event in American history
illustrated melodrama as a way of compelling a national identity, identifying the U.S.
as the hero and the perpetrators of 9/11 plane crashes as the hostile villains. While uniting
Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 6
the U.S. after a tragic event was perhaps necessary, Anker argues that the media coverage
simplified a complex issue using melodrama right at the brink of its occurrence and
mandated punishment for the villains, rationalizing any hatred toward these terrorists.
Melodrama can be used as a powerful rhetoric to persuade an audience to believe a
certain way, even if that certain way is skewed.
However, I believe that melodrama can be used in a positive way in order to
combat the issue of sexual assault. Melodrama definitely polarizes an issue in that it
points out a good and an evil; however, if the right hero and villain are chosen in an
injustice, melodrama can be our most powerful tool. Perhaps using melodrama flaw in
describing the 9/11 incidents was uniting Americans against the wrong evil. What if,
instead of being united against the terrorists, we were united against hatred or terrorism in
general?
What Friedman describes in the aforementioned quote points out the true value in
melodrama. The rigidity of societal standards creates the suffering of heroes/heroines and
shows us their true struggle and suffering. This establishment unites us in compassion
and admiration for these victims. In terms of sexual assault, weve seen how gender roles,
victim blaming, and using alcohol as a scapegoat fabricates a stigma against victims of
sexual assault. So who or what is to blame, and how do we prevent this? Conversations
about sexual assault today often revolve around how women should prevent it, which
only communicates to women that they alone are responsible (McDonald, 2014). We will
not solve anything by believing either of these: in fact, this will only make things worse
and further perpetuate the problem. What we need to do, and what melodrama can help
us with, is to fight and question the true villain: our society itself. Sexual assault and rape
Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 7
culture on college campuses can only be fought with us uniting against said culture and
creating better preventative college programs that address the issue on all levels,
considering all variables. While current college preventative programs attempt to battle
the issue, there seems to be a common lack in their success in the long term
(Breitenbecher, 2000). These programs need to address the long-term attitudinal,
emotional, and cognitive behaviors that prolong sexual assault. Through melodramatic
rhetoric, we all can be forced to share the perspectives of our true heroes, the sexual
assault survivors, to understand their plight and battle against the real evil: rape culture.
In conclusion, there are many variables that make sexual assault on college
campuses a complex problem. There is no simple cause. While blaming the victim,
gender norms, and alcohol are common ways of rationalizing sexual assault, this type of
thinking fails to grasp who or what the true villain of sexual assault is. We need to
change our rape culture into one that does not exist and shift our society into changing
how we think about sexual assault and about the expectations of men and women. By
developing better long-term preventative college programs and dispersing accurate
information about sexual assault, we will decrease the amount of unreported rape, and
women will feel more comfortable reporting assault. This is the first step. While this
desired change appears extremely dramatic, what better tool to use than melodrama?




Sexual Assault on College Campuses Airey | 8
Works Cited
Abbey, Antonia. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (2002): 118-28. Journal Of Studies
On Alcohol / Supplement No. 14, 2002. 2002. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
Anker, Elisabeth. "Villains, Victims and Heroes: Melodrama, Media, and September
11." Journal of Communication 55.1 (2005): 22-37. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 38, 217-230.
Breitenbecher, Kimberly H. "Sexual Assault on College Campuses: Is an Ounce of Prevention
Enough?" Applied and Preventive Psychology (2000): n. pag. Applied and Preventive
Psychology. Cambridge University Press. Web. 6 Oct. 2014.
Friedman, Lester D. ""They Don't Know What They've Got There": Spielberg's
Action/Adventure Melodramas." Citizen Spielberg. Urbana: U of Illinois, 2006. 63-118.
Print.
Girden, Ellen R.; Kabacoff, Robert (2010). Evaluating Research Articles From Start to Finish.
SAGE Publishing. pp. 8492. ISBN 9781412974462.
Hirsch, Kathleen. "Sexual Assault and College Campuses - Statistics." Statistics about Sexual
Assault. Sarah Lawrence College, n.d. Web. 06 Oct. 2014.
McDonald, Soraya M. "Emma Watson: Feminism Too Often Is Seen as man-
hating." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 Oct. 2014.
RAINN. "Statistics | RAINN | Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network." Statistics | RAINN |
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2014.