Needs Assessment

Needs:

Female students often have a difficult time coping with the incident and moving forward in their lives:
- Unable to focus in class or on assignments, more likely to drop out of school
- Isolation can occur

Standardized reporting system within campus policies

Stricter laws to support survivors

Mandated education on sexual assault for incoming freshman and new students

Anonymous chat lines or system for individuals to utilize if a support group or other support setting feel too public and overwhelming

Assets:

More efforts have been put forward in order to ensure colleges are properly dealing with sexual assault

More women are standing together and speaking out about their stories

Sexual assault on college campuses is a conversation that is not being ignored

More awareness is being brought to this issue through protests, accessible documentaries and publicized high-profile cases

On-campus assistance available to students, possible support groups

Occupational Performance Issues:

ADLs:

Dressing- may dress differently in order to blend in more and feel unnoticed

Personal hygiene/grooming- keeping up with a normal hygiene routine may be impacted if feeling depressed and unmotivated to care for yourself

Sexual activity- difficulty engaging in activities that are physically intimate with a partner and display difficulties forming emotional connections and trusting others

IADLs:

Health management and maintenance- may not keep up with regular exercise routines due to feeling unmotivated and depressive or fear of being seen by other students on campus

Meal preparation- may be less likely to make nutritious meals and rather order take out or not eat at all

Sleep and Rest:

Sleep participation- engaging in sleep may be difficult if the individual is having nightmares of the incident

Education:

Formal education participation- focus in class may decrease due to anxiety over the incident especially if the assaulter is in class with the individual

Work:

Employment interests and pursuits- the focus on exploring career choices and determining what degree you want achieve in college would be decreased due to coping with and recovering from the sexual assault

Job performance- might not be completing job requirements or even going to work due to depression and anxiety over the incident

Leisure:

Leisure Participation- may not be engaging in normal leisure due to low motivation and decreased focus

Social Participation:

Peer, friend- women may not want to be with friends if the assaulter is in the friend group and may isolate themselves due to mistrust of others

Family- disconnection from family may occur due to not wanting to talk about what happened and efforts to avoid feelings of embarrassment, shame and disappoint from their family

Sociopolitcal Considerations:

The current US administration is focused on giving those accused of sexual assault more rights which can further deter women from reporting their own sexual assault.

Current administration has proposed weakening Title IX protections against sexual assault

Proposed Title IX changes would give more rights to those who have been accused of sexual assault, rather than giving more rights to the survivors

Changes would make it more difficult for women to present their cases

May make survivors less likely to report

Would make the US Department of Education less involved in reviewing how schools and colleges handle sexual assault cases

Will make Federal investigations less frequent

Kingkade, T. (2019), Planned Parenthood. (2019)

Organizations

Campus Specific Supports:

Most college campuses have some sort of student organization to support individuals who have been sexually assaulted and assist them when dealing with the possible issues that may come after the assault. Listed below are a few examples of what college campuses currently provide:

Central Michigan University- Sexual Assault Peer Advocates (SAPA)

Grand Valley State University- Center For Women and Gender Equality

Campus Outreach Services (COS)- serves over 2,500 colleges, military bases and organization in all of North America

National Supports:

Rape Abuse Incest National Network (RAINN)

End Rape On Campus (EROC)

National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA)

Me Too Movement