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Roxanna Walker

Professor Foster

RHET 1312-02

16 April 2017

Teaching Consent on College Campuses

As a female and college student, I have to worry about issues that the opposite sex

rarely worries about. One of these issues, particularly among female college

undergraduate students is, whether they will be a victim of rape. They have to worry

about whether the drink that they were handed to at the party by that guy had been

drugged, whether their clothes were insinuating something their lips hadnt consented

to, or that because they kissed that guy indicated that more would follow and saying no

would go in one ear and out the other. Women worry about whether that story that was

on the news last night about that girl couldve been about them or whether the next

time would be. This constant worrying stems from a series of things, but particularly for

me, the statistic that 15 percent of women will get raped while incapacitated due to

drugs and/or alcohol consumption and that nearly one in five women between the ages

18 and 21 have been a victim of attempted or completed sexual assault.

Although these numbers are frightening and deeply concerning, what is more

concerning is how the focus pertained to preventing rape is more oriented to how

women can prevent it from either happening to them or from recurring. Ignoring the

fact that the women who reported getting sexually assaulted admitted that the first time

they were assaulted occurred ,when they were teenagers, before attending college. This
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indicates that out of the 18% of women who were a victim of incapacitated rape before

college were 41% more likely to get rape while attending. The main issue isnt with

females getting raped in college and preventing it, but with the women reporting getting

assaulted occurred at ages as young as fourteen. Even still, teaching women how to

prevent sexual assault isnt what Im trying to raise awareness about, what Im more

affected by is why women are being taught how not to get sexually assaulted instead of

how not to sexually assault -not just women- but people in general. Instead of some

reverse victim blaming (where people make the victim blame themselves for what

happened to them), or asking them what they had on or how much they had to drink,

and telling them to purchase pepper spray or rape whistles; we should teach people how

not to rape and what consent sounds like.

Since my subject matter is college campus sexual assault and my audience is

college students, staff, parents, and administrators, it wouldve been easier to reach

them on campus. Therefore, I create a college magazine cover that provided article titles

pertaining to rape culture and consent on one side and excuses, victim blaming, and

quotes about sexual assault and consent. However, while I was creating the magazine

cover, I decided to create a flyer that provided more information and a statistic that

read, 1 in 5 college undergraduate students will be a victim of sexual assault. In

addition to two quotes that also read, RAPE is the MOST COMMON CRIME on

American College Campuses today and Do not be a bystander, recognize the signs of

sexual assault and intervene. Considering the quotes that I used and the information

that I provided, I would consider my public service announcement as a combination of

all three appeals -pathos, ethos, and logos. Sexual assault, being the serious subject that
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it is, I decided to effectively raise awareness is by appealing to all possible audiences:

those who appeal to facts (the statistics), those who are emotionally triggered by

information (the various quotes), and those who believe in right and wrong no matter

what (various quotes). Since Im covering all three appeals, I believe that all possible

audiences will, not only be reached, but also affected and become more aware of sexual

assault.
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Work Cited

Campus Sexual Violence: Statistics.

https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence. RAINN. 2016.

Accessed 16 Apr 2017. Web

Nesbit, Jeff.

https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/at-the-edge/2015/11/18/rape-on-college-

campuses-nearly-1-in-6-freshmen-women-are-assaulted. U.S. News & World

Report LPS. 2017. Accessed 16 Apr 2017. Web.

Sex Without Consent Is Rape. http://www.consentiseverything.com/. Thames Valley

Police. Accessed 16 Apr 2017. Image from Web.

Wallace, Kelly

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/20/living/feat-rape-freshmen-women-new-

study/. Cable News Network. 2017. Accessed 16 Apr 2017. Web