The BBC Pop Up team has spent September living in a house on the edge of the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado. The issue of sexual assaults at US colleges was raised repeatedly by students we met.
It is a national problem, with studies suggesting one in five women will be victims during their time at university.
One in five women being raped on college campuses, at first glance doesn't seem out of the ordinary since in overall society women are sexually molested at the rate of about one in five. But the difference is staggering!
In overall society the one in five statistic accounts for all sexual assaults, not just rape as in colleges. Rape, of course is worse, often far worse, than many sexual assaults which may not include invasion of the victim's body.
Also, the one in five rate is over an average of about 4 years in college; in society it is over a period of the first 18 years of a girl's life. If a girl spent 18 years in college (just humor me on this - no blonde joke please), the odds on her being raped are better than even.
And it is a serious problem at CU-Boulder too. The college is on the White House's list of schools suspected of Title IX violations - that's a law guaranteeing that women in federally-funded universities won't face discrimination due to their gender.
More than 70 schools including CU-Boulder are accused of having improperly dealt with sexual assault cases, and are now the target of a federal investigation.
While sexual assault is not a problem specific to fraternities, studies have shown that on college campuses, men who join a fraternity are three times more likely to rape than other men.
The White House launched a campaign last week called "It's On Us". The initiative is aimed at encouraging male students to intervene to stop abusive behaviour.
Will curbing fraternity culture help prevent college rapes? Or are they easy targets for a more complex problem? Indeed! It's obvious that fraternities contribute to the problem, and, I believe, so does the easy availability of pornography to adolescent boys.
See also:
California Defines when "Yes Means Yes" to Combat University Rape Culture
Campus Culture of Rape Addressed by White House Report - but Not Well
Backlash Against Polish to Detect 'Rape Drug' Just Stupid
The 'Culture of Rape' - Getting to the Roots of This Rapidly Growing Phenomenon
Benjamin Zand investigated the role fraternity culture plays in sexual assault at CU-Boulder. Watch his report here: Students in Boulder speak about sexual assaults
It is a national problem, with studies suggesting one in five women will be victims during their time at university.
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| UC Boulder campus |
In overall society the one in five statistic accounts for all sexual assaults, not just rape as in colleges. Rape, of course is worse, often far worse, than many sexual assaults which may not include invasion of the victim's body.
Also, the one in five rate is over an average of about 4 years in college; in society it is over a period of the first 18 years of a girl's life. If a girl spent 18 years in college (just humor me on this - no blonde joke please), the odds on her being raped are better than even.
And it is a serious problem at CU-Boulder too. The college is on the White House's list of schools suspected of Title IX violations - that's a law guaranteeing that women in federally-funded universities won't face discrimination due to their gender.
More than 70 schools including CU-Boulder are accused of having improperly dealt with sexual assault cases, and are now the target of a federal investigation.
While sexual assault is not a problem specific to fraternities, studies have shown that on college campuses, men who join a fraternity are three times more likely to rape than other men.The White House launched a campaign last week called "It's On Us". The initiative is aimed at encouraging male students to intervene to stop abusive behaviour.
Will curbing fraternity culture help prevent college rapes? Or are they easy targets for a more complex problem? Indeed! It's obvious that fraternities contribute to the problem, and, I believe, so does the easy availability of pornography to adolescent boys.
See also:
California Defines when "Yes Means Yes" to Combat University Rape Culture
Campus Culture of Rape Addressed by White House Report - but Not Well
Backlash Against Polish to Detect 'Rape Drug' Just Stupid
The 'Culture of Rape' - Getting to the Roots of This Rapidly Growing Phenomenon
Benjamin Zand investigated the role fraternity culture plays in sexual assault at CU-Boulder. Watch his report here: Students in Boulder speak about sexual assaults
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