NCJ Number
158563
Date Published
1993
Length
44 pages
Annotation
This analysis examines the unique characteristics of college students and college life that promote the incidence of alcohol- related sexual violence.
Abstract
Within the college environment, many men learn that rape and sexual assault are easy crimes to commit and to get away with. In this paper, "rape" refers to "all forms of physical sexual intimacy in which significant physical force is used or threatened by one of the parties involved contrary to the will of the other." In an atmosphere where everyone is a friend of someone else, female students give their male classmates the benefit of the doubt and trust them too easily. The sex role stereotypes and myths to which they cling only serve to complicate their social interaction. The use of alcohol further confuses gender relations. An integration of two salient factors make college campuses dangerous for women; rape myths, which weaken an individual's inhibitions to rape a woman, coupled with alcohol's excuse-giving qualities, temper the seriousness of the victimization, thus increasing the risk for women that they will be raped by a follow student. Efforts must be directed toward both changing existing attitudes and reducing the amount of alcohol use to create a safer campus environment for women. 64 references