2008 Woodie Awards
Not on My Campus
When the rapist is someone you know
Sherri Daus
Issue date: 2/5/04 Section: Features
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This year one in four college women will be raped by someone they know. The assault will happen at a party, in a dorm room, or on a date. It will probably go unreported because the victim won't even realize she was raped. She will feel confused, unsure of herself, ashamed. Her attacker will tell his friends about the good time he had. Her friends will tell her how drunk she was.
Date or acquaintance, rape happens on college campuses around the nation. Experts estimate that out of the 10 percent of rapes that are reported, 60 percent are perpetrated by someone known to the victim. Of these, women aged 15 to 25 make up the majority of victims. While assaults cannot be completely eliminated, preventative strategies can go a long way in the fight against date rape.
Mary Koss, a professor at Kent State University, along with her colleagues, surveyed approximately 7,000 students on thirty-two campuses in 1985. The results were published in "Ms." magazine, and they are widely recognized as the primary force for raising date rape awareness to a new level. Koss's studies revealed that, while one in eight women had been victims of date rape, one in 12 college men admitted to having sex with a woman against her will. None of these men, however, considered themselves rapists. Similarly, 43 percent of the victims didn't even acknowledge or recognize that they had been raped. In fact, only five percent of the raped women actually reported the incident to authorities.
Koss found that at least 55 percent of the victims in her study had been drinking or taking drugs just before the attack, which accounts for the confusion regarding the status of the assault. Of the men who were identified as having committed acquaintance rape, 75 percent had taken drugs or alcohol just prior to the rape.
When a victim is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, she usually feels the rape was her fault. She may not remember the events clearly, or is confused by stories she is told about what happened. Many victims say later that they drank too much or took too many drugs to realize what was going on; by the time they realized their predicament, it was too late. Sometimes a woman passes out and awakens to find a man having sex with her.
Date or acquaintance, rape happens on college campuses around the nation. Experts estimate that out of the 10 percent of rapes that are reported, 60 percent are perpetrated by someone known to the victim. Of these, women aged 15 to 25 make up the majority of victims. While assaults cannot be completely eliminated, preventative strategies can go a long way in the fight against date rape.
Mary Koss, a professor at Kent State University, along with her colleagues, surveyed approximately 7,000 students on thirty-two campuses in 1985. The results were published in "Ms." magazine, and they are widely recognized as the primary force for raising date rape awareness to a new level. Koss's studies revealed that, while one in eight women had been victims of date rape, one in 12 college men admitted to having sex with a woman against her will. None of these men, however, considered themselves rapists. Similarly, 43 percent of the victims didn't even acknowledge or recognize that they had been raped. In fact, only five percent of the raped women actually reported the incident to authorities.
Koss found that at least 55 percent of the victims in her study had been drinking or taking drugs just before the attack, which accounts for the confusion regarding the status of the assault. Of the men who were identified as having committed acquaintance rape, 75 percent had taken drugs or alcohol just prior to the rape.
When a victim is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, she usually feels the rape was her fault. She may not remember the events clearly, or is confused by stories she is told about what happened. Many victims say later that they drank too much or took too many drugs to realize what was going on; by the time they realized their predicament, it was too late. Sometimes a woman passes out and awakens to find a man having sex with her.