No one knows for sure how many sexual assaults are committed on college campuses every year. The reason for that is quite simple and yet complicated at the same time. It has been estimated that close to 90% of all assailants are known to their victims, mostly because they are their classmates in school. There is a common misperception that sexual assaults are committed by complete strangers-nothing could be further from the truth.
Having said that, one of the contributing factors to the fact that so few assaults are actually even reported-estimated at less than 10%-is the peer pressure put on the victims by their friends and fellow classmates. The stigma from having an assault on your record at such a young age can be quite devastating. So students are not only encouraged not to report these felonies, but school administrators and their employees, including college police departments, do everything in their power to obfuscate the truths.
Last week I read an article that clearly demonstrated that campus police departments do everything they can to miss label these felony assaults. The more felony assaults that appear on school reporting the more scrutiny the school gets. Laws such as the Clery act and title IX require colleges to report felony assaults. If a felony assault is mislabeled as a violation of the student handbook, for example, as has been done for years, schools have little to fear from the Fed’s.
We have always maintained that women in a four year institution of higher learning, not only must learn basic self-defense techniques, but also arm themselves with self-defense weapons such as pepper sprays or stun devices. It may be their first and only line of defense against an assault.
We have 168 different models of Pepper Sprays to choose from. One of them will be just what you are looking for.
One of the best is the iStun Phone Stun Gun looks like a modern iphone but is a powerful 3.8 million volt stun device.
The first few years of college or university experience are actually the most dangerous for young women. There’s enormous peer pressure to fit in and get along in this highly socialized experience called higher education.
In the 4+ years that we have been writing about sexual assaults on college campuses. It appears that college officials are finally starting to pay attention to the seriousness of these felony assaults. Only through continued pressure from student groups and concerned graduates will the system change.
After years of the status quo, it is time for a change. The best way for that change to occur is to take the reporting of these crimes away from the University campus police and University officials and put it in the hands of the people who know how to investigate and prosecute felony assaults, which is what they are.