Abstract
The book, Addressing Violence Against Women on College Campuses, explores the multifaceted issues surrounding sexual violence on college campuses. It is an edited volume of readings that explores the nature of violence and current legislation and educational initiatives on campuses. The end of the book addresses current challenges that universities face in preventing campus sexual assault. After reading this book, the reader will have a better understanding of the issues of sexual violence on college campuses, a historical context to federal and school initiatives in preventing sexual violence and its challenges, and establishing future discussion on what still needs to be done.
Divided into four parts, the first part looks at the prevalence and causes of sexual violence on college campuses. It includes an in-depth look at the types of violence women experience in college, including domestic violence and stalking. There is also a focus on the causes of violence such as hypermasculinity and the prevalence of alcohol use while in college. There is an analysis of the historical impact of legislation on sexual violence provided in this section. For instance, Figure 1 in the first chapter gives a detailed time line of federal legislation concerning higher education and sexual violence, starting with the implementation of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ending with the 2014 White House Task Force Report. The second section looks at past and current legislation that helped usher in many of the provisions on college campuses, including an in-depth explanation of Title IX, the Clery and SaVE Act, and the Dear Colleague letter. One of the most intriguing writings in this section is Chapter 11, which takes a close look at the mandatory reporting for sexual assault victims on campus. While the purpose of the legislation was to help victims feel comfortable reporting sexual violence, mandating reporting requires the victim to see their experience as rape as well as report it in an official capacity to receive on-campus provisions (e.g., change classes if defendant takes the same class). This hindrance may be exacerbated if students feel they have to go through the judicial process once reported. Part 3 looks at how campuses have developed educational programs to combat violence such as active bystander intervention and engaging men in preventing sexual violence. The final section looks at future efforts and challenges in preventing violence. It includes a look at schools that have gone through Title IX investigations and are deemed, “rehabilitated schools.”
The book is comprehensive and takes a look at major issues surrounding sexual violence on campus. There are several ways this is done in the book. One, while the book is not heavily focused on statistics, the information provided in the book is beneficial to understanding the depth of the problem. For example, Chapter 3 focuses on the prevalence of dating violence on college campus. Statistics are provided that would surprise many individuals unfamiliar with the topic. However, providing this type of information helps to shed light on an often overlooked topic.
It also focuses attention on men preventing sexual violence on college campuses. While most rhetoric on this topic talks about how women can prevent being a victim of violence, there is little mention of how hypermasculinity plays a role in the prevalence of violence and how that needs to be addressed to prevent sexual violence. For instance, Chapter 5 talks about, “male peer support theory” that analyzes how men live in a society that perpetuates and normalizes violence against women and depending on who their male peers are, this violence may be deemed acceptable in dating relationships. Similarly, Chapter 15 engages the necessary focus on men with addressing how to engage men in the anti-violence initiative.
What is particularly unique about the book is that the contributors come from an array of backgrounds, from professors, researchers, administrators, victim advocates, and Title IX coordinators, all of whom are experts in this field and can provide an encompassing view of the problem and possible solutions. Combining academics and practitioner views on the topic in the edited volume provides students with a well-rounded view of sexual violence and makes for an interesting read.
While not a focal point for the edited volume, it does touch upon issues that require more focus. As stated in Chapter 5, certain groups are left out of the conversation, namely, those who experience same-sex on college campuses. There is also not a great deal of information about trans experiences with sexual violence on college campuses. These two areas should be further explored.
Overall, this book would be perfect for classes that focus on victimology and sexual victimization. It is a useful tool to help explain major legislation and issues surrounding sexual violence on campus. However, those that work in academia as Title IX coordinators and advocates would benefit from the knowledge provided on sexual assault. This work could help start conversations about the pervasive issue of sexual violence on college campuses.