Back to Results
Cover image of Campus Sexual Assault
Cover image of Campus Sexual Assault
Share this Title:

Campus Sexual Assault

College Women Respond

Lauren J. Germain

Publication Date
Binding Type

Survivors of campus sexual assault share the stories of how they confronted and overcame the trauma of being attacked.

A 2014 report issued by the White House Council on Women and Girls included the alarming statistic that one in five female college students in the United States experiences some form of campus sexual assault. Despite more than fifty years of anti-rape activism and over two decades of federal legislation regarding campus sexual violence, sexual assault on American college and university campuses remains prevalent, underreported, and poorly understood. A principal reason for this...

Survivors of campus sexual assault share the stories of how they confronted and overcame the trauma of being attacked.

A 2014 report issued by the White House Council on Women and Girls included the alarming statistic that one in five female college students in the United States experiences some form of campus sexual assault. Despite more than fifty years of anti-rape activism and over two decades of federal legislation regarding campus sexual violence, sexual assault on American college and university campuses remains prevalent, underreported, and poorly understood. A principal reason for this lack of understanding is that the voices of women who have experienced campus sexual assault have been largely absent from academic discourse about the issue.

In Campus Sexual Assault, Lauren J. Germain focuses attention on the post–sexual assault experiences of twenty-six college women. She reframes conversations about sexual violence and student agency on American college campuses by drawing insight directly from the stories of how survivors responded individually to attacks, as well as how and why peers, family members, and school, medical, and civil authorities were (or were not) engaged in addressing the crimes.

Germain weaves together women's narratives to show the women not as victims per se but as individuals with the power to overcome these traumatic experiences.

Reviews

Reviews

Campus Sexual Assault provides in-depth insight into the post-assault experiences of college women. It frames women as agentic beings who conceptualize their experiences and cope with their assault in a multitude of ways. By highlighting the individual pathways for recovery, readers are offered a deeper understanding of how women adapt and move forward following sexual assault.

Lauren Germain has written a powerful, important, and timely book that helps the reader understand the devastation caused by campus sexual assault. A must read for educators!

Stigma, sexism, and additional forms of oppression frequently result in survivors' voices being absent from the dialogue about how to respond to sexual violence on campus. Lauren J. Germain sought to address this void by centering the lived experiences of student women survivors. Her book... provides insight into the ways that college women respond in the aftermath of sexual assault, highlighting an understanding of empowerment and agency among survivors of sexual assault.

A concise and coherent book on identity and identity management, following [college women's] reported sexual assaults at their places of study. Intelligently written and planned.

Lauren Germain gives voices to the statistics around sexual assault on college campuses. The insights shared in this book can enable colleges and universities to make campus safer and better prepared to respond to individuals after they have been assaulted. This is a must read for everyone working on a college campus.

See All Reviews
About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x
9
Pages
144
ISBN
9781421435145
Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. What We Don't Know about Campus Sexual Assault
2. The Paradox of Embodied Agency
3. Managing Identity
4. Telling Friends and Family
5. Seeking Justice
6. The Beautiful Process of

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. What We Don't Know about Campus Sexual Assault
2. The Paradox of Embodied Agency
3. Managing Identity
4. Telling Friends and Family
5. Seeking Justice
6. The Beautiful Process of Empowerment
7. Agency and Campus Sexual Assault
Appendixes
A. Participant Demographics and Case Details
B. Methodological Notes
C. Supplementary Ideas
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Author Bio
Lauren J. Germain
Featured Contributor

Lauren J. Germain, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Lauren J. Germain earned her PhD in higher education from the University of Virginia. She is the director of evaluation, assessment, and research at SUNY Upstate Medical University.