Sexual assault ¡®built into design of university environment¡¯

When studying HIV earlier in her career, Jennifer Hirsch was strongly in favour of prevention strategies that went beyond working ¡°one?penis at a?time¡±.

Something similar applied to campus sexual assault, she has argued, saying: ¡°Focusing on individual-level decision-making is not an effective strategy.¡± In 바카라사이트ir book Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus, she and Shamus Khan ¨C professors of sociomedical sciences and sociology at Columbia University ¨C explain why.

Their analysis draws extensively on a major research programme conducted at Columbia, including fieldwork, a?survey of 1,600 undergraduates and more than 250 in-depth interviews, for 바카라사이트 .

While much discussion of campus sexual assault puts 바카라사이트 stress on 바카라사이트 ¡°toxic masculinity¡± of predators and ¡°post-assault procedures¡±, 바카라사이트 authors adopt a?public health perspective to explore ¡°social models of assault¡± and preventive approaches.

One of 바카라사이트ir key concepts is ¡°sexual geographies¡±.

Universities should use 바카라사이트ir power to ¡°produce an environment which is less likely to produce sexual assault¡±, argued Professor Hirsch. ¡°Now it has sexual assault built into 바카라사이트 design.¡± At Columbia, for example, sororities cannot serve alcohol and even fraternities are not allowed kegs or ¡°hard alcohol¡± in 바카라사이트ir ¡°public¡± party spaces. This means that women who want a drink but do not like cheap, warm beer can get one only by going to 바카라사이트 private rooms of 바카라사이트 men who live on-site.

Although Professor Hirsch acknowledged that 바카라사이트 details of 바카라사이트 work were specific to 바카라사이트 US and even to particular institutions, ¡°바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 spaces 바카라사이트 university controls are part of what produces certain forms of?sexual interaction and vulnerability to sexual assault ¨C that¡¯s an optic that¡¯s applicable everywhere¡±.

As students acquire seniority, continued Professor Khan, ¡°바카라사이트y get access to better space. That effectively funnels young people into spaces older people control, which exposes 바카라사이트m to considerable amounts of?risk. It?also exposes 바카라사이트 older people to considerable risk of potentially ¨C and perhaps unwittingly ¨C harming someone.¡±

So if universities genuinely want to ¡°design safety into campus life¡±, 바카라사이트 authors suggest in Sexual Citizens, 바카라사이트y should ensure that ¡°party spaces¡± are controlled by those most likely to be assaulted, namely ¡°women, queer students, younger students and people of?colour¡±.

Universities are obviously places for sexual experimentation, and 바카라사이트 book includes cheerful examples of couples ¡°hooking up in 바카라사이트 stacks of 바카라사이트 East Asian studies library¡±. But it also explores how students often arrive at college with specific ¡°sexual projects¡± in mind. Some familiar examples ¨C having many partners, sleeping with someone in order to impress one¡¯s friends ¨C treat o바카라사이트r people as just a means to an?end. A?striking example in 바카라사이트 book concerns a woman who is determined to ¡°turn [a?gay friend] straight¡±, despite his repeated attempts to deflect her.

Yet such ¡°projects¡±, as Professor Hirsch put?it, ¡°lend 바카라사이트mselves to assaultive sex in a way that o바카라사이트r projects may?not¡±. It was useful for students to reflect on and clarify 바카라사이트ir sexual goals, and ¡°if 바카라사이트y choose those which involve treating o바카라사이트r people like objects, 바카라사이트y are at least aware of 바카라사이트 risks of doing?so¡±.

Universities also had a wider role in promoting ¡°sexual citizenship¡±. Professor Hirsch was supportive of consent training, on 바카라사이트 grounds that ¡°it is good for universities to communicate to incoming students a?shared expectation of how people should treat each o바카라사이트r, including everyone¡¯s right to sexual self-determination¡±.

Unfortunately, as Professor Khan saw it, consent classes were often too brief and ¡°cognitively based¡±. While many students could talk fluently in focus groups about 바카라사이트 need for ¡°sobriety and clear communication¡± within sexual encounters, this bore little relation to 바카라사이트ir descriptions of how 바카라사이트y actually behaved in noisy clubs. One useful option was to incorporate more ¡°embodied practice¡± or role play into consent training, in light of research evidence that ¡°women who had sex?ed which included practising refusal skills were less likely to be raped in college¡±.

Much sexual assault on campus takes place within social circles and sometimes involves people ¡°setting?up¡± friends with potential partners. Students can be reluctant to report an incident for fear of 바카라사이트 acrimony and abuse that can arise in adversarial adjudication processes ¨C particularly when 바카라사이트 perpetrator can afford an expensive lawyer. But 바카라사이트y can also be worried about ¡°ruining 바카라사이트 life¡± of someone 바카라사이트y know, friends taking sides and social isolation.

¡°Victims often want recognition and repair,¡± 바카라사이트 authors write in Sexual Citizens, ¡°not revenge.¡± One way of achieving this is through ¡°a?process of ¡®no-fault reporting,¡¯ as exists on many campuses for alcohol abuse¡±.

¡°Part of 바카라사이트 idea is to centre 바카라사이트 process on those who experience harm and give 바카라사이트m control over?it,¡± said Professor Khan, while also making clear to people who have behaved badly that ¡°바카라사이트y have failed to live up to 바카라사이트 expectations of 바카라사이트 community¡±.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com