Poll results would suggest; not very much.
In today’s world, it seems that everywhere we turn, another sexual assault case is being brought to the surface, with the ‘Me Too’ phenomenon often being cited as the inspiration. What began as a humble hashtag exploded into a decade defining movement, as offenders from all walks of life were called out , ‘cancelled,' and the topic of sexual assault hit headlines across the globe. Yet, in a post Me-Too era, how much has actually changed? In a recent poll, we asked over three hundred university students various questions on the topic to find out just that. The results? Not promising.
Before delving straight into the deeper end of the question pool, we began by trying to establish the very basics - what actually is sexual assault? When asked their personal stances on this question, the 330 respondents (76% female and 23% male) answered as follows; 51% viewed verbal harassment as a form of sexual assault, rising to 66% with ‘Threats’ and 89% with ‘Groping’.
This number rose even further alongside ‘Forced non- consensual touching’, garnering an almost unanimous conclusion at 98%, a percentage that then dropped to 94% for ‘Rape’. These results don’t only show a clear difference in our attitudes towards ‘sexual abuse’ when it comes to being verbal or physical, but it also highlights the fact that there is not one singular definition in people’s minds; perhaps explaining the confusion surrounding the topic.
The next set of questions then moved away from trying to define sexual assault to delve further into how the respondents would view sexual assault as a problem in today’s society. After all the attention and progress that has apparently come about in the last few years paired with more people speaking out than ever before, surely people would not view sexual assault as that widespread of an issue nowadays? Well according to the poll, this view would be very mistaken.
Not only did 44% of respondents answer ‘very common’ to how widespread they believe the issue to be, but when asked more explicitly about the seriousness of sexual assault at their specific university, more people voted for ‘very serious’ than ‘not serious at all.’
Now even though these two categories received a minority of votes compared to those in the ‘middle ground,’ when the responses are added up, those at the higher end of the spectrum received the exact same number as the lower. Considering that we are talking about sexual assault in a university environment here, the fact that so many people feel this is such a serious issue. Paired with the fact that 66% of respondents believe that their university is not doing enough to tackle the issue effectively, an issue that so many feel is so serious, shows a wider problem at play. It takes strength, courage and a lot of resilience to speak up about sexual assault - but all of these qualities mean nothing if the people you speak up to are not willing to listen.
The final questions provide a greater insight into this, as well as, perhaps, the most shocking results.
‘Do you know anyone personally that has experienced sexual assault?’
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‘Have you ever experienced sexual assault in any form?’
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‘If yes, did you report it?’
As previously mentioned, the 'Me-Too' movement has been championed as an inspirational cause for change, a propelling force in raising awareness of, and empowering the fight against, sexual abuse in all corners of life.
Yet 86% of those questioned stated that they personally knew someone who had been a victim of sexual assault, with over half having experienced it themselves and almost 20% being unsure if they had or not.
So yes, the #Metoo movement and all that has come after it may have had a great influence in raising much needed awareness of sexual assault - and don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to disrepute that in any way. But what these results show us, even if they only represent a very small proportion of the population, is not only that sexual assault is still such a prevalent issue, but one that is frequently misunderstood and brushed off.
Once more, 85% of those who had experienced sexual assault left it unreported. Though this was due to a variety of reasons, such a high percentage affirms the stigma that society still holds surrounding sexual abuse. It is this stigma, this idea of what is acceptable and what is not, that we so desperately need to break down and challenge if there is any hope of reducing these statistics for good, as if people are too afraid to come forward, then the movement can only be held back.
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