Final Paper Outline

Purpose: to increase awareness of low sexual assault reporting rates and

provide solutions to increase reports
Thesis: Low rates of reports are due to embarrassment, fear, and lack of
action by colleges and police. This stigma can be reversed by increasing
awareness, bettering resources, and having harsher punishments
Outline:
Introduction

Title
o
o
o

IX
Originated in 1972 by Nixon
Originally focused on athletics, now focuses on sexual assault
Discuss JMU incident (girl was raped by 3 men, men never
punished)

Sexual Assault Statistics

Argument 1: Sexual assault occurs far too often, and it can happen to
anyone, not just women
o Definition of sexual assault
o Misconceptions about sexual assault
o Number of women affected
o Connection to thesis: This gives background on sexual assault,
which leads to why people dont report it
Argument 2: Although sexual assault can happen anywhere, it typically
happens at parties, often by people the victim knows
o Definition of party rape
o Connection between party rape and acquaintance rape
o Connection to thesis: rape/assault by someone the victim knows
is a big reason they dont report
Argument 3: alcohol is often a factor in sexual assault cases
o Percentage of sexual assault cases that involve alcohol
o Number of students too intoxicated to know whether sex was
consensual
o Connection to thesis: sometimes people dont report bc they
were drunk
Argument 4: alcohol makes men more aggressive and women more
vulnerable
o How alcohol affects men
o How alcohol affects women
o Alcohol affects gender roles dominance and passiveness

o Connection to thesis: one reason people dont report is because

they dont think what happened to them is significant (often bc
they were intoxicated)
Argument 5: men are often the assailants, but can also be the victims
o Stats about rape by fraternity men
o Number of men who are victims
o Psychological effect of sexual assault on men
o Connection to thesis: for men, a big reason for not reporting is
embarrassment

Case Study/Studies

Argument: schools handle sexual assault very poorly

o The woman at Columbia who had to go to school with her rapist
bc the school didnt do anything about it
o They messed up her report
o She sees her assailant on campus
o Connection to thesis: a more in depth case study about one of
the reasons people dont report (bc often, nothing happens to the
assaulter)

Reporting Sexual Assault

Argument 1: rape and sexual assault cases are complex and not often
reported
o Complexity of rape cases
o he said, she said
o Most people go unpunished
o Connection to thesis: intro to why sexual assault isnt reported
Argument 2: the percentage of sexual assault cases that are reported
is dismally low
o Report of 8 anonymous schools
o Percentages for rape, sexual assault, and sexual battery
o Image of graph
o Connection to thesis: Discusses the amount of people who report
sexual assault
Argument 3: too many assaulters and rapists walk away scot-free
o Data about investigating complaints
o Percentage of people expelled
o Connection to thesis: One of the reasons people dont report is
bc they dont think anything will happen to the person who
assaulted them
Argument 4: there are a myriad of reasons people dont report sexual
assault

o Relationship with assailant

Percentages reported
o Embarrassment
o Lack of faith in school or police department
o People dont think crime is serious enough
o Percentage of people who get convicted
o Connection to thesis: talks about why people dont report

School Reactions

Argument: schools are adopting stricter policies about sexual assault

o Discuss changes to Moorehouse and Spellman
o Discus other VA colleges and what theyve done to change
o Connection to thesis: these could be actual solutions to the
problem

Possible Solutions

Argument 1: one way to increase reports would be to increase

awareness
o Increase awareness victims realize seriousness of the crime
o Connection to thesis: gives a possible solution
Argument 2: another way to increase reports is to stop the myth that
people who report to the police are lying
o Many people perceive victims could be lying
o 2% of accusations are false
o Connection to thesis: another possible solution
Argument 3: decreasing victim blaming would increase reports
o Define victim blaming
o Decrease victim blaming
o Connection to thesis: possible solution bc women and other
victims should know that it wasnt their fault

Conclusion