Campus Gang Rape: Party Games? (Test)
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| JULIE K. EHRHART AND BERNICE RESNICK SANDLER * |
| NOTICE: THIS PAGE IS FOR INTERNAL EDITING AND TECHNICAL TEST PURPOSES ONLY. THE CONTENT HEREIN IS NOT YET FINALIZED AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED READY FOR USE AT THIS TIME. |
Table of Contents
Taking Unfair Advantage
Rape: Not By Strangers Only
The Legacy of Acquaintance Rape
Are College Women Especially Vulnerable?
Fraternities and Gang Rape
The Role of Alcohol and Drugs
The Role of Pornography
Campus Reactions
Institutional Responses
Some Legal Remedies for Victims
Recommendations
Selected Resources
The events described below are not isolated or rare occurrences. These experiences—acquaintance gang rape—happen all too frequently at fraternity and/or other campus parties at colleges and universities across the country.
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…The 17-year-old first year student went to the fraternity “little sister” rush party with two of her roommates. The roommates left early without her. She was trying to get a ride home when a fraternity brother told her he would take her after the party ended. While she waited, two other fraternity members took her into a bedroom to “discuss little sister matters.” The door was closed and one of the brothers stood blocking the exit. They told her that in order to become a little sister (an honorary member) she would have to have sex with a fraternity member. She was frightened, fearing they would physically harm her if she refused. She could see no escape. Each of the brothers had sex with her, as did a third who had been hiding in the room. During the next two hours a succession of men went into the room. There were never less than three men with her, sometimes more. After they let her go, a fraternity brother drove her home. He told her not to feel bad about the incident because another woman had also been “upstairs” earlier that night.—(occurred at a large state university)
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…It was her first fraternity party. The beer flowed freely, and she had much more to drink than she had planned. It was hot and crowded and the party spread out all over the house, so that when three men asked her to go upstairs, she went with them. They took her into a bedroom, locked the door, and began to undress her. Groggy with alcohol, her feeble protests were ignored as the three men raped her. When they finished, they put her in the hallway, naked, locking her clothes in the bedroom.--(occurred at a small eastern liberal arts college)
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…A 19-year-old woman student was out on a date with her boyfriend and another couple. They were all drinking beer and after going back to the boyfriend’s dorm room, they smoked two marijuana cigarettes. The other couple left and the woman and her boyfriend had sex. The woman fell asleep and the next thing she knew she awoke with a man she didn’t know on top of her trying to force her into having sex. A witness said the man was in the hall with two other men when the woman’s boyfriend came out of his room and invited them to have sex with his unconscious girlfriend. The witness declined to participate but the other men joined the boyfriend and later, two more men, in raping the woman.—(occurred at a small midwestern college)
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…No one was sure how many fraternity brothers had had sex with the young woman the night before. It was at least five, maybe seven or eight. Accounts of the incident differ. The victim, who had been drinking and taking drugs at the party, said that when she asked for a place to sleep the brothers carried her upstairs. She remembers having sex with one of them willingly. Then one by one, a group of men had sex with her. She pleaded throughout to be left alone. The men insist that she was sober, alert, and willing, actually encouraging them.—(occurred at an Ivy League institution)
Taking Unfair Advantage
“If it is found that sexual attitudes and actions on this campus are such that human beings are being subjected to degradations and that society as a whole is being degraded, a university should be the first to discover it and to plan to execute programs to discourage such behaviors.”
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--University president, after a gang rape incident |
“Men can drink with their friends and not worry about being taken advantage of. They are not victimized by their friends and peers—they are not raped, sodomized, or otherwise violated. Women who drink do not have that luxury. If a woman should become drunk at a fraternity or other campus party, the men at the party have several options: they can choose to ignore her, they can help her or they can exploit her. At too many college parties the men are choosing to take advantage of her.
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--Conversation with Leslie R. Wolfe, Executive Director Center for Women Policy Studies |
When the Project on the Status of Education of Women, at the then-Association of American Colleges and Universities first heard of incidents such as those described above, we initially believed that they were isolated occurrences. However, as we gathered more information we began to realize that these events were not single aberrations but events that happen all too commonly on too many campuses. The Project has identified more than 50 incidents occurring at a wide range of institutions: public, private, religiously affiliated, Ivy League, large and small.1 On some campuses, Project staff were told “it happens almost every week.” Apparently, no institution is immune from the potential problem of “fraternity gang rape” or “party gang rape.”
The vast majority of male students do not gang rape. The fact that some do should not be ignored. This paper is a first attempt to describe the phenomenon of gang rape as it sometimes occurs on campuses, some of the causes that bring it about, its impact on the victim and other students, how to deal with it, and most importantly, now to prevent its future occurrence.
When we began to read about rape, we found studies and materials about individual stranger rape, stranger gang rape (as in the New Bedford, MA incident several years ago) and “date” rape. We were unable to find any research on what we began to call ”acquaintance gang rape.” The few mentions of campus gang rape in magazine or newspaper articles that do exist came from the Project.
The great majority of the reported incidents occurred at fraternity parties, although, in some instances, gang rapes have also occurred in residence halls. A number have also involved college athletes.
The scenario is basically the same: a fraternity holds a party. In many cases but by no means all, a young woman often has had too much to drink and/or too many drugs. Therefore she may be unaware that the “friendly” persuasion of the brothers is actually a planned pursuit of easy prey. By the time she recognizes her predicament, her confusion has changed to fear and panic, and escape seems impossible. She is unable to protest or her protests are ignored. Anywhere from two to eleven or more men rape her.
It appears that on some campuses gang rapes are common occurrences. Some fraternities, in “invitations” for their parties, even advertise the event with “playful” euphemisms such as “gang bang” or “pulling train” (which refers to the men lining up like train cars to take turns). Far from viewing this behavior as rape, they seem to regard it as normal party behavior.
In fact, in almost all instances, the men involved are unaware that their behavior is gang rape; in their minds they are “only” engaged in group sex with a “willing” partner. The fact that the woman may be intoxicated (even to the point where she cannot give consent) is viewed by some participants in gang rape as meaning that “she asked for it.” The woman’s ineffective protests may be viewed as “consent”; even if her protests are vigorous, her “no” is interpreted as “yes.”
All too often the victim does not report the incident to anyone in authority until much later, if at all; campus administrators are much more likely to hear about incidents through the “grapevine.” In all cases, the effect on the victim’s self-esteem is devastating. She tends to blame herself, in part, for going to the party in the first place, drinking alcohol, not resisting enough, etc. The victim often leaves school.
Whether these incidents are increasing in frequency is not known; what is clear is that these instances are increasingly being reported by the women involved. Unlike the men, who may characterize what happened as a series of voluntary sexual encounters, the women involved see it very differently—as violation of their bodies.
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“No person asks to be hurt or degraded, just as no one asks to be robbed because they are carrying money in their pocket. No woman—whatever her behavior—“deserves” to be raped by one or seven or eleven men. Rape is the responsibility of the rapist(s), not the victim.”
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--Ehrhart and Sandler |
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“Date rape is common and gang rapes happen more than anyone would like to think”
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--Ed King, Director of Residential Life at Bradley University (IA) addressing the Western Regional Greek Conference, April, 1985 |
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A faculty advisor to the Interfraternity Council said that after the gang rape several fraternity members came to him and said that it (the gang rape) was not an isolated instance.
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--Reported in local paper after campus gang rape |
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This behavior is not a new phenomenon on campuses. In years past when this type of incident occurred, the women involved were often described as “nymphomaniacs.” Although the terminology may have changed over time, in many cases the “blame the victim” attitude has remained” “she had too much to drink,” or “she never should have gone upstairs.” Thus, some institutions have in part felt justified in ignoring the problem. Behavior that in the outside community would be considered a serious criminal offense, i.e., rape, may in the academic setting, in many instances, not be viewed as rape but as private relations between men and women. It may be excused with a “boys will be boys” attitude, justifying the behavior as “just a prank” or “youthful hijinks” or with the belief that the woman “asked for it.” Even when the behavior is recognized by the institution as rape, it may be viewed as a single aberration on the campus and not as part of a larger pattern.
When these incidents are reported, institutions are often unsure how to handle the situation. Concern for the institution’s image, desire to shield the rape victim from further unwanted publicity, and fear of expensive lawsuits brought by the victim or countersuits by the fraternity are among considerations which may influence administrators in dealing with campus gang rape. Institutional responses have been uneven at best. Many schools do not have formal policies or procedures that can deal adequately with acquaintance gang rape and therefore they are at somewhat of a loss as to how to handle the situation. In these cases, responses have ranged from no action at all to suspending the fraternity brothers involved and/or requiring them to seek counseling, asking them to read materials about rape and write an essay about it, or putting the whole fraternity on “social probation”—prohibiting the entire fraternity from having parties for a specified time. In most instances the men involved receive little or no punishment despite the fact that they may have been guilty of criminal acts.
Because the vast majority of gang rape incidents go unreported, university officials may believe that an absence of reported rapes indicates the absence of a problem. This denial may subtly encourage the practice to continue by being construed as tacit tolerance. Indeed, colleges and universities need to be aware of the potential problem of fraternity and acquaintance gang rape on their campus so they can develop effective prevention policies and programs and deal with incidents if prevention should be unsuccessful.
Institutions need information on this subject if they are to deal with fraternity gang rape effectively. The academic community has always been concerned with education in the broadest sense—the values that students learn about life at large. Attitudes toward sexuality are part of those values. Preventing acquaintance rape and gang rape on campus often hinges on students’ awareness of their own sexual rights and responsibilities and those of others—the right to say “no” and the responsibility to accept “no” for an answer.
The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness of campus gang rape; discuss the role of alcohol, drugs, and pornography in fraternity gang rape; highlight successful model programs for rape prevention activities; and provide practical recommendations for policies and procedures to deal with fraternity gang rape should it occur.
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| Rape: Not By Strangers Only |
“There is little argument about the events that took place in the early morning hours of (date). What is at issue here is the naming of the event. We are asked to believe that six boys engaged in sexual activities with the same woman on the same night and a wonderful time was had by all. …What happened that night is at best a sexual shame, at worst it is a criminal act of violence having little or nothing to do with sex.”
-- Editor, campus newspaper
Although much has been written about acquaintance rape, there has been virtually nothing written about the acquaintance gang rape. Therefore, in order to understand some of the dynamics involved, the problems of acquaintance rape are first explored in the following discussion.
The popular conception of rape in which a stranger hides along a dark deserted path is in many cases not the only way it happens. It is estimated that in 50-75 percent of all rapes the victim knows her attacker 2—hence the term “acquaintance rape.” He could be a neighbor, fellow student, friend, employer, or lover. Indeed, women are far more vulnerable to acquaintance rape than stranger rape—the victim may trust her attacker; she may not realize immediately what is happening and she may feel reluctant to take defensive action for fear of harming someone she knows.
Stranger rape typically involves anger and the urge to dominate and degrade—it is a show of power through sex. Acquaintance rape is more typically the use of power to obtain sex. In both forms, however, women are viewed by the rapist as weak and vulnerable, as someone not worthy of the ordinary respect one gives to one’s fellow human beings.
The view that rape is committed only by strangers explains why the victims of acquaintance rape sometimes may not view themselves as having been raped at all. Thus a student may answer “no” to the question “have you ever been raped?” but answer “yes” when asked if an acquaintance or date has ever forced her to have sex against her will. Similarly, some males who deny ever having raped anyone nevertheless admit to having “forced sex” on a date. In one study, over 4 percent of male college students admitted to the use of violence to obtain sex, while an additional 27 percent had used lesser degrees of physical and emotional force when a woman was unwilling to have sex with them. 3
The Legacy of Acquaintance Rape
“(A Woman) who had been gang raped when she was seventeen by a group of fraternity brothers who had ejaculated all over her, felt for two years afterward that she could not wash the smell of semen out of her hair.”
Susan Brownmiller,
Against Our Will 4
Acquaintance rape is in many ways even more psychologically damaging than other sexual assaults. The feelings that a rape survivor expresses—shame, guilt, fear, disbelief, lowered self-esteem—are often even stronger in the case of acquaintance rape 5 in part because the rapist was someone she believed would not harm her. She may be so upset as to “deny” the experience in some instances, initially acting as if nothing has happened.
While the stranger rape victim often develops fears of the unfamiliar, the acquaintance rape victim, however, is likely to find her own sense of trust in friendship destroyed. The stranger rape victim can attribute what happened to having been in the wrong place at the wrong time. In contrast, the victim of acquaintance rape is far more likely to blame herself because she initially opted to date the man (or attend a campus party, accept a ride from a “friend,” stop for a casual conversation of allow someone into her home). 6 She may doubt her own judgement and may find it difficult to trust others because the assailant was a friend or fellow student whom she had trusted initially. She is frequently reluctant to tell family, friends, school authorities, or the police about the attack.
Furthermore, a victim of acquaintance rape often finds that people are less likely to believe in her innocence and/or to understand what happened to her. They may be less than sympathetic because they hold her at least party responsible for the incident.
The woman who has been forced to have sex against her will is often concerned about having to see her assailant(s) again. It is not unusual for a woman student who is raped to transfer to another school or to drop out altogether.
Are College Women Especially Vulnerable to Acquaintance Rape?
“If it wasn’t rape, was it proper conduct? If you conclude that it was proper conduct, is this the state of our nation’s morality? Is this the attitude that young men have toward women?”
-- University information officer, after a gang rape occurred
College women are especially vulnerable to acquaintance rape for a number of reasons. They are at risk emotionally—young women away from home for the first time are often unsure how to handle or protect themselves in new situations. Usually, their social circles expand greatly at a rapid rate. They may not have developed the skills needed to balance independence and security. At the same time, college men are also insecure and may be seeking confirmation of their “manhood” via sexual behavior. Additionally, parental restrictions are replaced with the freedom of college life.
College women are at risk demographically—acquaintance rape happens most frequently among those between the ages of 15 and 24. It tends to happen on the first, second, or third date, says one rape crisis counselor, partly because college students have more sexual freedom now and expectations are higher.7 Claire Walsh, director of sexual assault recovery services at the University of Florida states, “Some men assume that if a (college) woman is modern, i.e., sexually liberated, she’ll automatically want to have sex. And if she doesn’t, they may feel cheated or used. Often they personalize the rejection, based on their own insecurities regarding maleness. They become threatened and angry and aggressive in an attempt to regain or achieve feelings of adequacy and control.” 8 In one study involving 432 adolescents, 54 percent of the males and 42 percent of the females agreed that forced sexual intercourse was permissible under some circumstances (if the girl led the boy on, turned him on, or said
“yes” and then changed her mind). 9 Thus, a sizeable number of young men and women believe that rape is sometimes acceptable behavior.
Still another series of studies of U. S. and Canadian male college students reported that 35 percent of the male subjects thought they might commit rape if they could be certain they would not be caught. 10
Several campus studies have examined acquaintance rape in general (although not the acquaintance gang rape). One study measured the incidence of acquaintance rape, noting that over half of the women students surveyed reported experiencing sexual aggression—verbal threats, physical coercion or violence—at some time from someone they knew. One in eight had been raped, although many did not use that word to label the experience. 11
In another study, 75 percent of freshmen women said they had experienced sexual aggression. Incidents were more likely to have occurred during their senior year of high school or first year of college, on the first date, in either the victim’s or the rapist’s room.12 A study of 200 college sophomore and junior women reported that 15 percent had clothing unfastened against their will; 35 percent had their genital area touched against their will’, and only 43 percent had not been forced to do anything against their will. 13
Fraternities And Acquaintance Gang Rape
“For many…males…the transition to college represents a first step in a struggle for a kind of ‘manhood’ from which women are viewed as objects of conquest—worthy, but decidedly inferior, adversaries. The idea of women as equals is strange and inconvenient at best, terrifying at worst. Unfortunately, most colleges and universities provide refuges ideally suited to reinforce these prejudices: fraternities.”
--Andrew Merton, University of New Hampshire 14
“The motivation of men or boys who rape in groups is generally agreed to be somewhat different from that of solitary rapists. Boys gang-rape for each other, in a kind of frenzied machismo, to prove themselves, to show off, to be part of a gang, or, at best, out of fear of being ostracized if they don’t. They do it as a dare of a joke….Group rape has traditionally been considered less perverted than solitary rape because of the assumption that gang-raping is some kind of proof of masculinity, a sort of rite of passage.”
-- Helen Benedict, Recovery 15
“Whether all the other men who rape—the fraternity and school kids who gang-rape…--fit into any of these classifications (of solitary rapists) is not known. They may simply be men who do not see women as human beings with a right to say no.”
-- Helen Benedict, Recovery 16
In the last few years fraternities have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, many believe as a result of a swing towards conservatism generally among young people. Fraternities seem to offer young men structure, friendship, formality, and ritual at a time in their lives when hey are looking for just such guidance. They also appeal to some men because they provide an intimate atmosphere in the somewhat impersonal setting of many institutions.
The fraternity system on campus brings with it advantages and disadvantages for students and the institution as whole. Fraternity members point to the encouragement given them in study habits, social service projects and organizational development. Some fraternities perform worthwhile public services such as tutorial services, “big brother” programs, etc. On the other hand, many believe that these positive activities and programs can be achieved outside the fraternity framework just as well.
Often the social life of students revolves around fraternity parties and on some campuses, institutions provide few alternatives. Fraternity parties can become a model for students’ social life, i.e. large group functions with alcohol, loud music, etc., although in some instances, they may lead to vandalism and sexual abuse.
The fraternities’ role in campus social life and the “animal house” behavior associated with some fraternity parties appeals to some young men. They may feel insecure and threatened by the more independent and confident young women of the ‘80s who may compete with men for grades and jobs. These young men at eighteen and nineteen may have an unrealistic view of women reinforced by sex-role stereotyping and the media. A dean of students at a private college describes it as follows: “Let’s face it, eighteen year old girls are older than eighteen year-old guys. These women are telling them to pick up the junk they leave in the hall, to quiet down, to behave. The more mature guys learn to deal with it, and end up making friends among the women….The ones who can’t handle it…run away. To fraternities. Here at last, they think, their fantasies will come true. But what they’re really doing is retreating to a place where they will see women only when and where they want to.” 17
Limited research on men who join fraternities suggests that they feel less in control of their lives and believe that what happens to them is often determined by fate or chance. Thus, they do not always feel responsible for their behavior. They may also be more likely to seek attention, and want to dominate others. 18 In a closed environment such as a fraternity, these negative values are more likely to be acted upon.
Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss in depth the pros and cons of the fraternity system, it cannot be denied that nearly all recent reported gang rape incidents have involved fraternities. This section looks at fraternity gang rape specifically, but it should be noted that these incidents are not limited to fraternity house settings. They happen at off-campus parties and in dormitories; they involve other groups of male students. The dynamics are essentially the same.
The evidence is startling: reports from some campuses indicate that at least a few fraternities have actually planned a “gang bang” as a part of the weekend’s activities. Are fraternities, seen by some as “bastions of conservative locker-room attitudes”19 fostering an increasing climate of hostility and/or sexual aggression against women? Undoubtedly, experts say, men in certain group situations will do things they wouldn’t’ ordinarily do as individuals.20 Many experts believe that a man in a gang rape situation may be acting out not only hostility toward women, but expressing strong emotions that he feels for other men. Often one man is the “leader”; the others willingly follow him. “Men rape for other men,” says Claire Walsh. “It’s a way of maintaining the myth of macho masculinity; a way to confirm their feelings of sexual inadequacy. If a man in the room didn’t participate, his sexual capacity could be called into question.” 21 Gang rape is the “ultimate proof” of men’s power—they are dominant over women. Sex is not seen as an expression of love and friendship but as a way of expressing dominance and/or only as an end in itself.
If the fraternities constituted a state of the union, it would be a very small one, with about half the population of Vermont. If, in a state that size, 50 confirmed gang rapes took place within two or three years, impartial observers might begin to wonder about the place.”
-- Andrew Merton, University of New Hampshire 22
“Fraternities are sporting clubs, and their game is women.”
--Associate Professor at liberal arts college 23
Individual feelings of responsibility for their violence by the gang rapists may be further minimized by the group dynamics of the rape. The group develops together a common sense of masculinity and power which may also reduce their inhibitions. Research exploring the characteristics of “rape prone” societies tends to support this view: one such characteristic is the existence of special men’s clubs. 24 Special men’s clubs on campus, e.g. fraternities, may foster a whole range of antisocial behavior such as rowdiness, alcohol misuse/abuse, hazing, sexual harassment, sexual aggression, and rape. These behaviors persist in part because within the fraternity males engaging in them are not socially ostracized from their brothers. In fact, these behaviors are reinforced and encouraged by the positive attention they receive. The brothers’ reinforcement of each other is stronger than the campus’ disapproval.
Voyeurism is often a part of the acquaintance gang rape. At one campus, brothers not involved directly in the rape watched through a peephole; at another campus, pictures were taken. As still another campus, brothers would raise ladders to the window of other brothers’ rooms who were having sex with women.
In almost all the cases of fraternity gang rape, many more brothers knew what was going on than actually participated but none that we know of interceded or went to the authorities. Often, the “bonds of brotherhood” prohibit “getting their brothers into trouble”; therefore, witnesses may remain silent or even lie. One victim was told by a fraternity member not involved in her rape that he was indeed her “friend” and would like to help her (in testifying in a college investigation); but he didn’t want to get his brothers in trouble—he had to “stick up” for them. At another institution a male student member of the disciplinary board noted that nearly all the cases brought before the board concerned fraternity brothers who commonly covered up each others’ indiscretions. He described the role of the fraternity: “By using the (fraternities) as a crutch, a sanctioned way of lying to protect the guilty, individuals never need to account for themselves. Those men learned a lesson: no matter how sleazy your actions there is always the fraternity to hide behind.” 25
Increasingly, however, fraternities and the values and behaviors they encourage are being closely scrutinized by many institutions. Administrators are beginning to question whether the disadvantages of the fraternity system are outweighing the advantages. Indeed, after careful study of the quality of campus life, several schools have disbanded fraternities (and sororities) altogether. Others are monitoring more carefully and/or limiting fraternity activities.26 One institution’s faculty report on the future of the fraternity/sorority system on their campus stated that fraternities are “inherently divisive.” In the committee members’ view the benefits of fraternity membership were limited to the members of the fraternity itself rather than of value to the community as a whole. 27
The Role of Alcohol and Drugs
“My past was brought up like I was an alcoholic nymphomaniac. The guys in question didn’t have to go through any of this. I was the victim and I was made to feel like the guilty person.”
-- Campus gang rape victim
As previously noted, alcohol and/or drugs are almost always involved in campus gang rape incidents. Indeed, alcohol and/or drugs were involved in every one of the fraternity gang rapes identified by the Project. Although not a direct cause of rape, the mood-altering effects of these substances apparently help to set the stage by reducing men’s inhibitions and helping them to excuse or rationalize their abuse behavior. It weakens a woman’s ability to assess dangerous situations, and also lessens her capacity to take effective steps to safeguard herself.
A woman’s use of alcohol or drugs, however, may implicate her in the eyes of others an “accessory” to the crime or at least a “willing” participant. Again, she is held accountable for what happened to her despite the fact that she was participating in the same drinking behavior as the men. Men can drink with their friends and not worry about being taken advantage of. They are not victimized by their friends and peers—they are not raped, sodomized, or otherwise violated. Women who drink do not have that luxury. If a woman should become drunk at a fraternity or other campus party, the men at the party have several options: they can choose to ignore her, they can help her or they can exploit her. At too many college parties the men are choosing to take advantage of her. 28
A study at the University of Minnesota showed that while drinking among college students was down slightly overall, use of alcohol was highest among 18-year-old students, 97 percent of whom said they drink. Drinking was reported to be heavier and more frequent among students who said they identified with a collegiate subculture—participation in campus life and activities—and among those whose grade point averages were below a C+. Students who lived in residence halls or sorority or fraternity houses were twice as likely to be heavy drinkers as any other group except students who shared off-campus housing. 29 Many fraternities glorify drinking and may deliberately encourage women to overdrink. At one institution, members of one fraternity kept a chart that listed the number of beers it took to seduce certain women.
On some campuses, only alcohol is served at fraternity parties; no other beverage is available. Campus control of alcohol at parties is often inadequate or absent. However, a growing number of colleges and universities are proposing and enforcing stricter regulations regarding the use of alcohol on campus. Many are also developing programs to deal with students’ abuse of alcohol.
The Role of Pornography
“Women and men do not receive an equal education because outside the classroom women are perceived not as sovereign beings but as prey. The growing incidence of rape on and off campus may not be fed by the proliferation of pornographic magazines and X-rated films available to young males in fraternities and student unions; but it is certainly occurring in a context of widespread images of sexual violence against women, on billboards and so-called high art.”
--Adrienne Rich, On Lies, Secrets, Silence 30
Pornography on campus may be another factor relating to fraternity party rapes. Although it is difficult to show a direct link, and it is beyond the scope of this paper to do so, most experts on rape believe that pornography promotes the attitude that women exist solely for men’s sexual gratification and pleasure. Further, because of the exploitative images of rape in pornographic materials, some men are able to believe that a rape victim is not being coerced and that women are always willing participants. On some campuses, many fraternity houses subscribe to pornographic cable TV; others show X-rated films on a frequent basis. The effect of these materials on male students may contribute to a lessening of respect for their female colleagues and make it easier for them to treat women as objects, as the victim of a “gang bang” and as the realization of a pornographic fantasy.
Campus Reactions
Aftermath of campus gang rape at a state university: the fraternity adviser to the Interfraternity Council quit in disgust; more than 100 faculty members signed a petition calling for expulsion proceedings against the 6 students identified; a state legislator criticized the university’s handling of it; women’s groups denounced the refusal to prosecute; campus and local newspapers ran numerous front-page stories for some time; the woman student contracted herpes and also dropped out of school.
-- Account from a student newspaper
“Several dozen women were met with jeers and boos when they marched along the campus’ Fraternity Row after a gang rape. The women carried signs, one of which read ‘It’s still rape, even when you’re rich, white, and in a frat.’ Taunts came from the student crowd along Fraternity Row: ‘Gang-rape. Gang-rape.’ ‘Let’s rape her.’ And ‘I’ll take that one.’”
-- Account in a local paper
Fraternity gang rape is perhaps the most notorious and blatant instance of acquaintance rape on campuses. As such, reactions to incidents on campus are often highly emotional and conflicted. Some students and faculty may be appalled that this has happened on their campus. Others will defend the fraternity system and decry the bad publicity caused by the incident. And many will hold the victim accountable for the incident. Women and men have often been socialized to believe that women are responsible for the outcome of sexual encounters; i.e., male sexuality can be controlled by women, and should a woman be sexually victimized, it is believed to be ultimately her own fault.
After a gang rape incident at a large state university, letters poured into the offices of the student newspaper, the majority of which expressed indignation at the negative publicity the fraternity was receiving. “Not much though, was given to the woman,” said the then-editor of the paper. She turned out to be a (first-year student), kind of overweight, having a hard time adjusting to college life. She wanted to be liked, and slept with several members of the fraternity prior to the incident, so she was both an easy mark and someone who drew little sympathy. People did not look on her as a person in trouble. Nobody was concerned with how it felt to not even know what may have been done to her while she lay there unconscious. She left school, and everyone focused on the fraternity.” Another victim of a fraternity “gang bang,” this one at a small eastern college, describes her treatment at a disciplinary hearing for the fraternity: “My past was brought up like I was an alcoholic nymphomaniac. The guys in question didn’t’ have to go through any of this. I was the victim and I was made to feel like the guilty person.” 31
Although other women on campus are usually frightened and demoralized by reports of a gang rape, the victim is often criticized as sharply by other women as by men. By blaming the victim of the rape, some women can reassure themselves that this would not have happened to them because they would not have acted the way the victim did (i.e., gone upstairs, drank too much, not protested enough, etc.).
A gang rape perpetrated by fellow students in a campus setting is a profound violation of the trusting and collegial atmosphere that characterizes the academic community. It sends shock waves reverberating through every aspect of campus life. The effect of such an incident on the community is often polarizing, with volatile issues such as men’s and women’s traditional sexual behavior hotly debated. On some campuses where a fraternity party gang rape has surfaced, little else is talked about or written about in the campus newspapers for weeks. Student petitions have been circulated and demonstrations and protests have been held by fraternities, campus women’s organizations, and other students. Often the administration’s handling of the situation becomes the focus of just as much debate and attention. It is in the handling of such extreme incidents that inadequacies in judicial procedures and administrative protocol can often be identified.
Institutional Responses
…One of the attributes of a truly liberally educated person is a concern for other people. Presumably a liberal education would enable a person to empathize with another, to have compassion and respect for the rights of other persons.
-- Stanley Paulson, former dean, Pennsylvania State University
The actions and reactions of the campus administration following a reported party gang rape are critical to a just outcome for the victim and the assailants and to the recovery of the academic community. As stated earlier, there are several concerns that the administration must balance. One is the institution’s responsibility to provide support for the victim: to see that if she requests anonymity her wishes are honored, to provide her with information on her rights and her alternative courses of action, to provide adequate medical care and counseling services if she wishes, and to support and aid her in dealing with police investigations and/or legal actions.
An important concern of the institution is, of course, its image. Institutions may hesitate to take specific actions for fear of drawing more public attention and negative publicity, treating rape on campus more as a public relations problem. However, in many cases the consistent and timely response of an institution to the situation can ameliorate many of the complications that can make the ordeal even more painful for the victim and others involved. At one Ivy League school, the poor handling of a gang rape resulted in a campus investigation of the administrative procedures that were followed and an eventual formal apology to the victim by the institution. The president acknowledged that the university’s policy of almost total secrecy about the gang rape led to rumors and gossip that repeatedly swept the campus, worsening an already distressing situation for all the individuals involved and for the university as a whole.
One problem institutions may have is that many fraternities have an agreement with institutions whereby fraternities are obligated to “accept collective responsibility” for the activities of individual members if the misbehavior by these individuals is knowingly tolerated by the members of the fraternity and the behavior violates the institution’s rules. In some instances of gang rape institutions have been reluctant to punish all members of the fraternity when only some participated in a rape. The punishment may then be watered down to something like “social probation”—no more parties for a specified length of time.
The institution’s fear of becoming involved in expensive litigation also affects its handling of a gang rape incident. In dealing with allegations of sexual assault, institutions may find that their judicial procedures are inadequate to deal with such serious breaches of conduct, i.e., most campus judicial procedures are not set up to deal with an incident that is a felony. Due process must be observed; in some instances individuals and the fraternity itself have sued the institution, the latter when the university revoked its campus charter.
Some Legal Remedies For Victims 32
State laws defining rape vary from state to state. Moreover, in addition to, or instead of filing rape charges, victims may be able to charge sexual assault and/or sexual abuse. Unfortunately, criminal charges concerning acquaintance gang rape are difficult to file and successfully prosecute. Additionally, if the woman had been drinking, she may have diminished recall or perception, or she may be viewed as witness without credibility. Even if alcohol or drugs were not involved, prosecutors may still be reluctant to press charges because they feel the case is not likely to succeed or because they too may believe many of the myths surrounding rape and blame the woman for “allowing” it to happen, although prosecutors, juries, and judges are increasingly becoming aware that rape cannot and should not be blamed on the victim.
Civil Remedies
In recent years there has been a growing body of law in which rape victims sue rapists for damages under civil law. Victims may be able to sue the perpetrator(s) for civil damages even if criminal charges are not filed or are dismissed, because the standards of proof are less strict for civil cases than in criminal cases.
Victims might be able to sue for personal injury, 33 and may seek compensation for the full range of damages done to them, including pain and suffering. The victim may also sue the perpetrator(s) under civil theories of assault and battery or other intentional torts (civil wrongs) such as intentional infliction of emotional distress. Should the perpetrators be minors, their parents might also be liable.
The possibility that victims will bring third-party liability civil suits against institutions is growing. In cases of stranger rape, institutions have been held responsible for negligent security measures that have permitted students to be raped and/or assaulted in dormitories, parking lots, classrooms, or elsewhere on institutional property. Thus, it may be possible for students to bring charges against the institution for not warning them against known hazardous situations (e.g. some campus parties) or not taking actions to correct known hazardous situations on campus. Schools might also be sued for “a breach of duty of reasonable care.” However, students victimized by rape may be less likely to sue an institution if the institution has handled the incident fairly. Schools that treat the victim poorly or otherwise aggravate the situation might also be liable for inflicting additional damages.
Fraternities themselves and individual fraternity members may also be liable, in some cases, to civil suits. The rapists, the house president, the party organizers and/or the “houseparent” might be held to be legally responsible for letting the party get out of control. In addition to suing the individuals involved in a gang rape, the victim may also be able to sue the fraternity chapter, the national organization, and the school itself for damages arising from the rape, depending on the circumstances.
RECOMMENDATIONS
What Should An Institution Do If A Campus Gang Rape Occurs?
“The point needs to be made as strongly as possible, that group sex, whether voluntary or otherwise, is simply not an approved fraternity row activity.”
-- Editorial, local paper
“After all the smoke has cleared, we are left with a perverse microcosm of unwholesome sexuality. …It speaks of sexual abuse, and the most horrible kind of degradation, the objectification of a confused, perhaps weak, young girl.
It also speaks of a generation of young men who are supposed to be forging for themselves character which will enable them to assume positions of societal responsibilities, but instead, consider it recreational, through whatever degree of culpability, to subjugate and humiliate another human being.”
-- John Miglis, Jacksonville Monthly, May 16, 1984
The following are specific recommendations for actions institutions can take if an acquaintance gang rape is reported on campus. In fact, many of them have already been implemented successfully on different campuses. Several of these procedures should be in place prior to any occurrence. Many of the suggestions are applicable for other kinds of sexual assault. The recommendations will not be suitable for all situations at all institutions; they are meant to be catalysts for ideas. Institutions can use or adapt those most appropriate to their particular circumstances.
Institutional Responsibility to the Victim
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Ensure that the victim is consulted in all matters that affect her in the institution’s handling of the incident, such as her wishes regarding anonymity in institutional reports and interviews. |
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Respect the victim’s decision to press or not press formal charges both within and outside the institution, and her right to change her mind. |
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Provide the victim with full and complete information on her legal rights and the support she can expect from the institution. Make sure she is aware of her alternatives in pressing criminal charges and/or cooperating in an internal institutional investigation. |
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Ensure that the victim knows that the institution’s support services, such as medical care and counseling, are available irrespective of her filing charges or cooperating in a campus investigation. |
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Ensure that the victim has access to medical care either through the school’s student health center, hospital, or community treatment center. |
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Provide free counseling services with personnel trained in dealing with rape victims either through the school’s counseling center or a comparable local center. Encourage the victim to take advantage of these services and also rely on peer and faculty counseling if she so desires. |
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Provide financial assistance to the victim. At one institution the Faculty Senate Executive Committee voted overwhelmingly that ”…the University promptly fulfill its moral responsibility to the victim by meeting the medical, legal and educational expenses incurred by her as a consequence of this (rape).” The president and provost agreed to do so. |
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The victim should be encouraged to seek medical attention, to allow evidence to be collected, and to make a statement to the police. Even if she does not wish to file charges, this evidence will be helpful in keeping records of incidents and identifying problem situations, and it will be available should she decide to file charges later. |
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Make sure there is one person from the counseling center or campus police department who is continually available to the victim to help her in dealing with campus and police investigations and/or legal actions. This is especially important so that the victim does not feel that she is being bounced from person to person and forced to tell her story to one stranger after another. |
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Many rapes are not officially reported. To encourage victims to seek help to report incidents, institute a sexual assault peer counseling program that would provide trained and identifiable student aides to assist a victim in obtaining help. |
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Make sure that boyfriends and friends of victims know that counseling services are available to help them deal with the aftermath of rape. |
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Coordinate victim support services. The University of Connecticut operates a “Victim Support Team” made up of representatives from various campus departments such as the women’s center, the police, dean of students, residential life, women’s clinic, counseling and student development, and sexual assault crisis center. The “team” links all rape support services, educates staff members, improves the referral system, develops expertise, and ensures uniform definitions and protocol. |
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Keep the victim informed about the progress of any campus investigations. Make sure that the dean of students, or whoever is in charge, communicates regularly with the victim throughout the investigation. |
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Ensure that the victim is not harassed by the perpetrators and other fraternity members. (At one school where the woman elected to stay on campus, her attackers followed her around the campus in an attempt to intimidate her.) Encourage the woman to report such incidents and inform the men involved that such behavior may be a cause for further and separate disciplinary action. |
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Have someone maintain contact with the victim throughout the rest of her time in school. Monitor her progress and make sure she receives any support she may need in completing her classwork and readjusting to campus life. |
Investigation of Criminal Conduct
Conduct an investigation of what happened.
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Make clear who is in charge of the campus investigation and set appropriate lines of communication. This will eliminate confusion and time-consuming duplication and also help the students involved to know who is in authority and to whom they are expected to report. |
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Ensure that the person(s) conducting the investigation keeps written records, and is aware of the “blame the victim” phenomenon. |
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Inform the participants of their legal rights in the same manner as the victim as been informed. |
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If the victim decides to file a criminal charge of rape, the results of any internal investigation should be handed over to the appropriate police agency immediately. |
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Make sure campus police officers, health personnel, and counselors are trained in dealing with rape victims and are sensitive to their needs. Have female personnel available if the victim prefers. |
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Institute a third-party reporting system in which the victim can communicate through a third person is she wished to protect her anonymity or avoid reporting directly to the police or campus authority. |
Disciplinary Procedures For Individuals
Institutional procedures should allow for institutional action even if the victim does not file criminal charges, or charges within the institution. It is important that the sanctions fit the severity of the act and not be viewed as a mere “slap on the wrist.” In most cases, several sanctions rather than a single one will be appropriate. Sanctions must not be kept confidential if the resolution of the incident is to transmit a clear message to the campus as to what conduct is and is not acceptable.
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The institution’s actions should not be dependent upon the victim’s filing a criminal charge or a charge within the institution. Nor should they be dependent on a criminal charge being successfully prosecuted. In other words, the institution has responsibility to it own community and the victim when the institution’s code of behavior and/or regulations are violated. University procedures and sanctions should be implemented even if criminal charges are initiated or dropped. |
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Establish a clear line of authority for student discipline, usually through the dean of students office and finally, the president. |
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Judicial procedures that specify an all-student panel are usually not appropriate for cases involving personal violence or possible felonies. (Additionally, students might be reluctant to testify or sit as judges.) Review existing disciplinary hearing procedures to handle charges of gang rape. The students involved in the gang rape incident must be allowed to be represented by their attorneys. |
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Appoint a special panel of faculty to hear the case. |
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Develop a clear and consistent policy on appropriate sanctions for those individuals found guilty of party gang rape. Options, depending on the degree of complicity in the illegal conduct, include: |
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immediate expulsion; |
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suspension for a specified time; |
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counseling, including group counseling, to better understand the nature of the acts and the implications and consequences for themselves and for the victim; |
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denial of campus housing; |
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prohibiting the men involved from living together off-campus without approval; |
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requiring those involved to inform their parents; |
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placing a letter in the perpetrators’ permanent files. At one college the sanction letter was written as follows: |
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“ have a letter written by (dean) about these matters entered in their permanent record, to be transmitted to any college, graduate school, professional school, or employer, with any transcript or recommendation requested. Upon a sufficient showing of growth and development in coming to terms with the issues involved, (dean) would expect to destroy the letters. The College has an obligation to help its students with educational and vocational placement, but it also has obligations to those who ask for recommendations or educational records. (Should a student select separation (from the college) we will not send the letter but would respond honestly to inquiries.)” |
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requiring relevant community services such as participation in acquaintance rape presentations; |
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requiring each of the perpetrators to write a letter of apology to the victim. |
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Develop a similar policy for dealing with the fraternity as a whole for having sanctioned or encouraged this behavior. Distinguish between punishing individuals and punishing the fraternity as whole. (Sanctions should not be limited only to the fraternity, since it is individuals who perpetrated the act.) |
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The judicial process within the university should follow due process. |
Disciplinary Procedures For the Fraternity
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Inform the national office of the fraternity about what happened. In at least one instance the national office revoked the charter of a chapter involved in a gang rape. Another national office expelled the members who were involved in a gang rape. |
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Sanctions for fraternities include the following (as with sanctions for the individuals, several rather than one sanction may be appropriate): |
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disbanding of chapter; |
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probation; |
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loss of campus housing; |
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suspending rushing for a specified time; |
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prohibiting all social activities, including parties and participation in sorority socials, Greek Week, ski trips, Homecoming, etc., for a specified time; |
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prohibiting service projects for a specified time; |
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suspending intramural activities, including both fraternity and independent league play; |
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prohibiting pledges and members of the fraternity at the time of the incident from serving as an officer in the chapter; |
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prohibiting pledges and members from holding office in student government of holding any other campus position of leadership and status; |
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prohibiting alcohol at fraternity events for a specified time; |
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requiring relevant community service such as participation in acquaintance rape prevention programs. When such service is required it should apply to all members. (At one campus, the fraternity was to perform a number of hours of community service. Unfortunately, the fraternity was allowed to have new pledges perform all the hours so that those involved in the actual rape did not have to do any of the service.); |
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requiring live-in adult supervision. Alternatively, make supervision of fraternities uniform with other campus residence units are supervised on a regular basis. (However, in addition to the increased costs of providing supervision, this recommendation also has the negative effect of making the fraternity members less responsible for their own actions. For example, if any difficulty does occur, the houseparent is more likely to be blamed rather than those responsible for the difficulty.); |
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restricting female guests to the downstairs area of the fraternity during social functions; |
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requiring every fraternity to develop and record its official position on sexual violence and develop its own guidelines to ensure that the policy will be enforced. |
Legal Responsibilities
The following are suggestions for actions institutions can take to protect themselves from third-party liability suits brought by the victim of a fraternity or party gang rape. These suggestions also may diminish the possibility of gang rape. However, as long as institutions provide official recognition and institutional support of fraternities and allow them to operate on school-owned property, total protection may not be possible. The following options, however, may be of help:
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Regulate fraternity activities. Restrict the availability of alcohol for campus parties, have security guards or other personnel at all functions, and set time limits on how long parties may last. |
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Develop a letter or brochure to be delivered to all fraternity officials detailing the regulations to be followed and informing them that they will be held responsible for any illegal behavior at their parties. Do this at the beginning of each year. |
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Require that fraternity organizations take out liability insurance. In case the institution is sued successfully, it may be able to recover the money from the fraternity. |
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Make sure that the institution is insured for possible third-party liability suits as well. |
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Make sure that all students are informed of the risks of acquaintance rape in general and the party gang rape. Use orientation and student manuals to provide information about this. Do not rely on the “grapevine” to warn students away from dangerous situations. (Institutions often warn students about other dangers such as avoiding “bad” sections of town. They should similarly warn students about the risks that might occur at parties.) |
Publicity
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Appoint a campus spokesperson to be responsible for handling inquiries and giving interviews to the media. This will ensure an accurate, single source of information and lead to more responsible coverage. |
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Appoint an official and possibly a staff to deal with inquiries and comments from the general public which will require responses. (This might be the same person who is handling media inquiries.) |
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Inform the campus community about the sanctions imposed on the individuals and the fraternity. |
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Campus promotional literature and admissions representatives should not ignore the problem of rape on campus. It is better to assure prospective students and parents that your campus, like other American institutions, is unfortunately not immune from sexual violence, but that your institution is doing something about it by developing specific policies and programs to lessen the possibility of rape. At one state university with an extensive and well-publicized rape prevention program, applications and enrollment of women actually increased. |
How To Prevent Campus Gang Rape Incidents
The following are recommendations for action which various groups on campus can use to heighten awareness of the issue of party gang rape and to develop effective policies and programs with which to combat the problem.
Because the problem of rape—stranger rape, date rape, and acquaintance gang rape—and the strategies to combat it have so many common elements, these suggestions do not apply to acquaintance rape exclusively; many of them are useful in educating students about stranger rape and date rape as well. Many of them can be incorporated into already existing rape prevention and intervention programs. Although adopting and/or adapting these recommendations cannot guarantee that no gang rapes will occur, those institutions with specific policies and programs will be in a better position to deal with this issue than institutions which do not, and are more likely to prevent its occurrence in the first place.
Official Policy Statements
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Develop a specific official policy to deal with campus gang rape or amend existing policy to make sure it would apply to gang rape. Include in the policy a clear explanation of applicable state and local laws concerning rape. (Many students are totally unaware that what they do may be considered rape under the law.) Also include a clear description of the institution’s position, i.e., its willingness to follow up complaints of gang rape and to bring to bear the institution’s resources to deal with this issue. Explain judicial procedures that will be followed in handling complaints and stipulate what disciplinary actions will be taken against individual students and/or organizations. |
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Publicize the gang rape policy widely across the campus; publish the policy statement in the student handbook. Ensure that fraternities and sororities receive copies of the policy annually so that new students are aware of the policy. |
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Incorporate information on the potential problem of acquaintance gang rape into other policy statements and materials dealing with the use of drugs and alcohol on campus. |
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Incorporate into the student code working about sexual abuse and the need to respect the rights and dignity of individuals. |
Raising Awareness of Gang Rape Issues: Programs for Women and Men Students
“They (the university) warn us about hitchhiking and about “bad” sections of town. After I was raped (at a fraternity party) I asked the university to warn new students about fraternity parties. They refused, saying they didn’t want to scare students.”
--Rape victim, private mid-Atlantic university
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Appoint a student/faculty task force to investigate campus sexual abuse and to make recommendations in a public report. |
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Develop programs, such as campus discussions, about the interpersonal relations between men and women including sexual rights and responsibilities. Demonstrate how popular culture portrays women and men in magazines, ads, art, music, and cartoons—some examples could deal specifically with rape, others with sex role stereotyping. Explain how men and women are socialized into believing certain ideas about appropriate sex roles and behaviors. Incorporate the concept of date and acquaintance gang rape into these programs. |
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Create a centralized committee to develop activities and programs relating to |