College is supposed to be a wonderful experience for all men and women who wish to attend. The time spent on a college campus is associated with being a fun, enlightening experience where students can finally make parent free decisions, drink coffee at 2 a.m., create lifelong relationships and find who they are truly are and what their purpose is in life.

Unfortunately, though, college is also a time where many students experience true evil and witness the darkest parts of life. Universities in America are constantly dealing with a terrifying monster that won't seem to leave, a monster that one in four college women and three percent of college men will fall victim to, according to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. Much scarier than your average horror movie monster, sexual assault is eating away at college students across the country. Sexual assault has become an epidemic among students, and too few truly understand the harsh reality. College students need to be more aware of the realities of sexual assault, including everything from basic statistics to the reporting process and beyond.

According to the United States Department of Justice, sexual assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without consent of the recipient. Sexual assault can include, but is not limited to, forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape. The statistics regarding sexual assault among college students are alarming. According to the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, college women are most vulnerable to rape during the first few weeks of their freshman and sophomore years. Almost 25 percent of college women have been victims of rape or attempted rape since the age of 14. While men certainly experience sexual assault as well, the majority of sexual crimes are committed by men against females. In fact, one in 12 college-age men admitted to having sexually assaulted or attempted to sexually assault somebody, but these same men do not consider themselves rapists.

The most common type of sexual assault among college students is date/acquaintance rape. A boyfriend or girlfriend, the classmate in biology class, or a next door neighbor, anybody can commit sexual assault. Stranger rape certainly happens but is far less common on college campuses. According to Emory University, 90 percent of survivors know the person who assaulted them. One method used during date/acquaintance rape, according to the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, is taking advantage of the vulnerability of the victim. The perpetrator is very manipulative and often makes promises to the victim until he or she lures the victim into an area where they are alone. A second, and perhaps the most common, method used during date/acquaintance rape is the use of drugs. Rapists use date rape drugs, such as Rohypnol and Ketamine, to overpower the victim. These drugs can cause a loss of motor coordination, slurred speech, fatigue, confusion and amnesia. Often, victims pass out, making them an easy target, and this is when the perpetrator acts.

Once a sexual assault has occurred, victims are left to pick up the pieces and deal with the aftermath. When college students hear about a peer's assault, their concern for him or her, more likely than not, ends a few days after the fact. They move on with their lives, assuming the victim is doing the same and all is back to normal, or at least well on its way back to normal. What peers, unfortunately, are unlikely to see are the physical repercussions this young man or women may be dealing with. The immediate physical effects from a sexual assault can include, as stated by the Joyful Heart Foundation, bruising, bleeding, soreness, broken bones, and difficulty walking. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), just a handful of the prolonged physical repercussions sexual assault can leave a person with are chronic pain, cervical cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, migraines and sexually transmitted diseases.

Pregnancy is also a very real possibility for women who have been raped. More than 32,000 of pregnancies occur from rape every year. In the case of a sexual assault, it is important the survivor receives medical attention as soon as possible, especially with the risks of STDs, pregnancy, and damage done to the body. It is also important that a person understands that receiving medical attention is not the same as filing a report for the assault, unless the victim is underage. A hospital or clinic will only contact the police if a victim specifically asks them to do so.

Along with the physical effects, sexual assault can leave a survivor with several psychological ramifications. These are the effects that are more difficult to overcome, because they stay with the victim in a haunting way. According to the CDC, a few immediate psychological consequences are shock, confusion, shame, denial, and anxiety. Sexual assault can also leave the victim with chronic psychological effects. These include, as listed by the CDC, depression, low self-esteem, attempted or completed suicide, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by a terrifying event, such as sexual assault. According to the Joyful Heart Foundation, some symptoms of PTSD are flashbacks, severe anxiety, uncontrollable thoughts about the experience, and nightmares. The Joyful Heart Foundation also states that sexual assault is a traumatic experience that breaches the mental trust of a person against their will. It is common for a victim to feel unlike him or herself and to experience any of the above psychological effects. These outcomes can be indescribably hard to cope with and overwhelming, but with time, patience, and therapy, a survivor can overcome these hardships.

Sexual assault not only affects a victim physically and psychologically, but also socially and academically. The CDC lists possible social consequences as lower likelihood of marriage, isolation from community and family, strained relationships with family, friends, and intimate partners, and less frequent contact with loved ones. Along with affected relationships, a sexually assaulted student's academic career may suffer. The American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, has noted that college students who have experienced sexual assault are less likely to perform at their previous academic levels. Student survivors usually cannot carry normal course loads and are more likely to frequently miss class. They may also drop classes, transfer schools, or quit school altogether. These changes are often a result of the victim's desire to avoid the assaulter.

A student who has experienced sexual assault is more likely to take risks that could affect his or her health and well-being, including putting oneself at risk for being assaulted a second time. The CDC states that the three most common health risk behaviors are engaging in risky sexual behavior, abusing harmful substances, and developing an unhealthy diet.

Students who engage in risky sexual behavior as a result from assault are likely to have unprotected sex, choose unhealthy intimate partners, have multiple sex partners, and trade sex for goods such as food and money. These survivors are also more likely to begin using harmful substances such as cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. Victims may also obtain unhealthy diets by fasting, vomiting, abusing diet pills and overeating. Students often turn to these risky behaviors as a way to forget about the assault, or even as a way to numb the psychological effects an assault may leave behind.

There are several reasons as to why a college student who has been sexually assaulted may not want to report the incident. TIME claims that there are three main reasons why a victim may keep the incident to themselves. The first reason is he or she may not want anyone to know what happened. Nearly 42 percent of college victims decided not to report because they did not want anybody to know. Victims worry about the possibility of losing friends or their social status, especially on smaller college campuses. Survivors are also often ashamed or feel guilty about what happened to them and are, therefore, embarrassed about what happened.

Another reason students choose not to report is that they are unsure what constitutes rape. 35 percent of victims say they did not report their assault because they were worried it wasn't a real crime. This uncertainty is often associated with denial and disbelief, especially if the victim knew their assaulter. Victims may also choose not to report because they are, unfortunately, afraid that police will not believe their story. 33 percent of victims claimed that they were afraid to report because they believed police would not take their case seriously or they would be treated poorly by the police. This fear is not entirely irrational, because only 18 percent of reported rapes result in conviction.

Reporting sexual assault is a difficult decision to make and one that is more uncommon than not. The statistics that go along with reporting are devastating, especially the fact that 98 out of 100 rapists will never spend a day in jail for their actions. However, reporting sexual assault is a vital part of bringing more awareness to the issue and helping to end assault on college campuses.

Reporting a sexual assault to the police is a very difficult action for the survivor to take. Once the decision to report has been made, police will set up a time and place where the victim can give a full statement of what happened. Often, if the survivor has already began therapy, the police will agree to meet at the therapist's office. Meeting at the therapist's office allows the victim to give the report in a familiar environment, that has been deemed as a safe place, with the support of somebody who already knows the situation well. Once the statement is given, the survivor's job is done for quite a while. The victim's statement is taken and then reviewed by the detective.

The next step police will take is interviewing the perpetrator(s) and witnesses, if any, that were included in the statement made by the victim. The case will then be given a charge based upon the statements and evidence collected, and the detective will hand the information over to the prosecutor's office. The case will be reviewed and the attorney will decide if there is enough evidence to follow through with the charge. If the prosecutor decides not to prosecute, he or she will either drop the case entirely or try for a different charge. If the prosecutor decides to go forward with prosecution, the accused will be notified of the charge(s) being placed upon him or her. The perpetrator is often offered a deal that the victim has agreed to. He or she can take this deal and avoid a trial, or take their chances with a jury during trial. If the deal is turned down, trial is usually set for months afterwards. The victim is given time to prep for court, as he or she will have to testify their statement in front of the accused, the judge, and the jury.

In order to help bring down the rate of sexual assault on college campuses, universities must do everything possible in order to inform students on the subject. Bringing awareness to the subject and making sexual assault a common topic on campus should be a major goal for colleges. According to the Rape Treatment Center, colleges can provide sexual assault programs for students. Some goals of these programs should include ways to educate faculty, staff and students about sexual assault, to prevent sexual assault, and to provide an appropriate response when a sexual assault occurs. All colleges should have a section in the student handbook, or on the school's website, that contains a policy statement, definition of sexual assault and sexual misconduct, a description of the protocol for reporting cases and a list of services for victims. This information should be easily accessible for all students on campus. Faculty and staff should make it their mission to be as comforting and supportive as possible to any student who confides in them about a sexual assault, but they should also be aware of the school's policy on reporting the situation. When a university takes every step possible to inform students on sexual assault and to help those who have been assaulted, they are helping prevent another assault from happening.

At this very moment, a countless number of American college students are being sexually assaulted while their oblivious friends go about their business. Why should their peers be worried? Stuff like that doesn't happen everywhere, right? Only on the big campuses in large cities, right? No, not right, because sexual assault happens everywhere, to any person, at any given time. Much like cancer, sexual assault doesn't care if a student is black or white, gay or straight, or male or female. Assault, including rape, can happen to anybody, which is a large reason as to why students MUST be more aware of sexual violence. Every college student should know just how many young men and women are assaulted on campuses each day. Every college student needs to have a good understanding of the many ways sexual assault can affect a victim, how the system works when it comes to reporting a sexual assault, and how their schools can help bring more awareness to the subject. If more students truly understood sexual assault, maybe this vicious crime would be less of an epidemic and more of a rare occurrence that people aren't ashamed to discuss.