Prevalence of Campus Rape

Abstract

Most administrators of colleges and universities are aware of the statistics about the prevalence of campus sexual assault and rape. Campus sexual assault and rape have the potential for ruining the lives of both victims and perpetrators. The authors suggest that educators, administrators, and strategic leadership teams need to understand how social norms theory, sports, and rape culture play into the prevalence of campus sexual assault and rape on students' ability to thrive in and complete college and the need to adopt a proactive stance whereby they can help to offset the negative outcomes for the students involved while at the same time focusing on the legal and risk management impact of neglecting to establish and/or non-enforcement of policies to both prevent and address campus sexual assault and rape. Many educators and administrators fail to understand the potential costs of Title IX violations and benefits to colleges and universities from the violence against women laws, especially the Amended Clery Act. Lastly, recommendations are forthcoming in helping leaders and risk management employees be proactive and strategically plan to reduce and address the occurrences of campus sexual assault and rapes.