The Tragedy of Date Rape Essay -- Expemplification Essays

Exemplary Essay - The Tragedy of Date RapeIn the fall of 1995, Kristin barrel maker was a sophomore at Baker University in Kansas. She was a member of Alpha Chi Omega, an expert skier from the mountains of Colorado, a swimmer, and was active in band, choir and drama.On the night of New Years Eve of that same year, her mother Andrea Cooper came home to find Kristina dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on the family dwell floor.Cooper shared the story of her daughters last months through an essay titled Kristins Story. The essay includes poetry, letters and descriptions from the personal journal found next to Kristins ashes on the night of her death. It was not until Cooper read the journal for the first time that she realized her daughter had been date raped prior to her suicide.Since then, Cooper has travelled around the country to speak to campuses and conferences virtually the aftermath of rape and to try to convince victims to come forward. She visited 45 college s, four conferences and more than 24,000 people in 2004 alone. xx of those visits, including this one to Clemson, were made possible with grants through Alpha Chi Omega and Coopers own sorority, Delta Delta Delta. Members of the two sororities were present at the discussion to distribute fliers, cozies decorated with fate phone numbers and ribbons to promote awareness of informal assault and violence against women.Its healing for me, Cooper said. It keeps Kristins memory alive, and maybe by talking about it, I can help someone.According to the Rape Crisis Council of Pickens County, one out of every four females will be sexually assaulted in their college years. However, rape counts for only vii percent of the college... ...psychological help.However, in 2003, only one sexual assault was reported to the police, a fact that Sparks believes is due to a fear of coming forward about the attack.Were trying to get the word out that its okay to tell, she said.Psychologists are on hand at Redfern to listen to rape victims without judging or blaming, to give comfort, and to emotional state for signs of post-rape trauma. Without proper training, Cooper wasnt able to spot these signs in her daughter.I was not able to help Kristin, but I hope that by being here, I have helped a man or a woman in the audience, she said.Cooper added that female date rape is not the only type of sexual assault threatens the population. Male rape, marital rape and stranger rape are other traumatizing experiences that frequently go unreported, and carry with them the same post-traumatic stress symptoms.