Abstract
The rise in cases of sexual assaults occurring on Santa Clara University’s campus begs the question of why and how the sexual culture on campus allows these traumatic situations to occur and prompts the consideration of how best to support the survivor and uphold justice. Previous research has explored the saturation of sexual assaults on college campuses and revealed a lack of understanding of what constitutes consent and college environments being prone to such crimes. In an effort to center survivors' needs, I utilized personal stories from the Instagram account @metoo.scu to gather information on the assaults and personal sentiments of the survivors’ trauma and healing processes. The findings indicate in the case of the assault there is no practice of consent, often the use of intoxicants, and social power dynamics lead to victims feeling powerless. In terms of the trauma and post-assault life, survivors showed a lot of self-denial, trivialization, and little to no social support, leading to worse mental health, poor performance in school, and harm to relationships. These findings can be used to create programs for education on healthy sex and protocols for helping survivors heal and supporting whatever path to justice they need.
Recommended Citation
Flood, Molly
(2022)
"The Dangerous "Wasn't Super Consensual" Sexual Culture of Santa Clara University,"
Silicon Valley Sociological Review: Vol. 20, Article 5.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/svsr/vol20/iss1/5