Acquaintance RapeThe Impact of Acquaintance Rape for Female College Students
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Acquaintance rape, commonly referred to as "date rape," is sweeping across college campuses throughout the United States. Described as nonconsensual sexual contact achieved by force, manipulation or coercion between two people who know each other, it is a form of sexual violence that had been given little attention prior to the 1980’s. Recent studies indicate that one in four female college students will be the victim of acquaintance rape at some time during four years of college making it the fastest growing crime against females in college institutions. However, because there are widespread false impressions among all college students that acquaintance rape does not exist, is not “really rape” or is not a serious crime, many believe that it is not as traumatic to the victim as rape by someone unknown to them. These erroneous beliefs often leave the victims of acquaintance rape more devastated than the rape action itself. The purpose of this paper is to examine the facts surrounding female acquaintance rape on college campuses and the role that crisis intervention techniques play in the recovery from an experience that many experts describe as crippling.
The Impact of Acquaintance Rape for Female College Students
Every two minutes someone in the United States is raped, and the chance of the victim being a female college student is four times greater than that of any other demographic (Burnett et al., 2009). Research and documentation confirms that college campuses are hotbed environments for rape, and that sexual assault is a considerable problem. In fact, a study conducted by Fisher, Cullen and Turner (2000) found that 1 in every 36 female college students were the victim of an attempted or completed rape act within one academic school year. Another study conducted by Fisher, Cullen, and Turner discovered that approximately 33% of all female students...