A Silent Epidemic

Abstract

Post-secondary institutions are high-risk communities for sexual violence. While sexual violence has always been an issue within post-secondary, it is only recently that the topic of sexual violence has gained more attention from media. This media attention has resulted in a public outcry and has resulted in the creation and implementation of post-secondary sexual violence-specific policies as well as educational initiatives and programming. Furthermore, the public outcry has also led to an explosion of studies being performed within academia, such as the gendering of sexual violence. However, there are also gaps in the literature. For instance, the connections between how alcohol culture and gender ideologies contribute to post-secondary institutions being such high-risk communities for sexual violence is not as emphasized as it should be. This paper aims to demonstrate how alcohol culture and gender ideologies contribute to the phenomenon of sexual violence on post-secondary campuses.