Dear Future President,

I’m currently a senior in high school, and most of my friends and classmates are preparing for the next chapter of their life, heading off to college to help create a new and safe world. College will be a life changing experience: little to their knowledge for some it will be but not for the best reasons.

I would like to bring light to the issue of sexual assault cases on college campuses in America. According to National Sexual Violence Resource Center article it is statistically proven that “One in five women and one in seventy-one men will be raped at some point in their lives”: knowing that one of my four friends or I have this fate in our future, that one of us will be sexual assaulted in our lifetime it's absolutely the most horrific thing to have in mind. These statistics change when going to college:according to the Enquirer's editorial board of Cincinnati.com, “[...] the first three to four months of the school year is when most sexual assaults happen to women, mostly incoming students (one in four students will experience sexual assault this year)”. In the beginning of college, students should be meeting new people, adjusting to the new way of living and not worrying if at a party they will sexually assaulted.

In order to fix this issue we need to educate everyone that sexual assault affects not only the victim but also the family. In the Washington Post they interviewed sexually assaulted victims who stated, “ I cried a lot and felt dirty, and just gross. I felt like it was my fault and like I was broken. I felt like I had been unfaithful to my partner because I didn’t stop it.” If more victims were to open about their story to educate others how much their life was affected and still after this event her life had changed dramatically. According to Mollie Lam, “Sexual assault is a learned behavior. By fostering a campus culture of gender equity and respect through programming, training, and awareness campaigns, faculty and staff can help prevent sexual assault.” Teaching all the students the damage that can be done those sexually assaulted could prevent more from happening. Also an other solution to the issue is college administrators who take it to their hands and expel the student that raped someone, in order for others to know the seriousness to this issue. In the case of the People Vs. Turner, the actions taken against Brock Turner was like a slap on the wrist. According to Mariana Koren, "While Turner is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, a sentence of six months—which could be reduced to three months for good behavior [...]". The time that he is sentenced isn't anything because he sexual assaulted a young lady that now has a daily reminder of what had happened to her. He should have more time in prison instead of three months because the pain he has caused her is forever there. 

Sexual assault cases in college should be taken more seriously because it affects the victims in ways that can’t be explain, the pain that they feel not knowing if what they wear could get them raped or if their drink is laced with a drug. Educating the students and creating a punishment so that others don’t do it, would tremendously lower the issues on sexual assault cases in college.This issue needs to be addressed so that my friends or I are not just a statistic.

Sincerely,

Esmeralda G.