College is a critical stage in life for many young people, and it should be centered around figuring out what you want to do in life, building lifelong relationships, engaging in professional development, and establishing independence from parents. It is also a time in life where things you do and the things that you experience can completely alter the trajectory of your life, including experiences of sexual violence
According to RAINN, women ages 18 to 24-college-aged women-are at elevated risk of experiencing sexual violence--four times more likely than any other age group. Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation. Sexual violence is also more prevalent on college campuses in comparison to other crimes like robbery. According to End Rape on Campus, 73% of LGBTQ+ students experience sexual harassment or abuse. The majority of sexual assaults on campuses, around 50%, occur during the “Red Zone” which begins during the start of the Fall Semester, and lasts through Thanksgiving break.
College itself is challenging for numerous reasons, but there are many additional challenges that come with being a college student and a survivor of sexual assault. Student survivors of sexual violence report higher rates of depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts which can make staying engaged in coursework and managing other responsibilities difficult (NIH). Survivors also face the risk of retraumatization when dealing with the aftermath of their assault--whether this means reporting their assault and dealing with university personnel and law enforcement, facing social scrutiny and victim-blaming from peers, or navigating the medical system to receive care. This is especially true today when reproductive care nationwide is under attack.
How exactly does reproductive care impact student survivors? Survivors of sexual assault often seek various types of reproductive care including emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy, testing and treatment for STIs, abortion care, and mental health services. It’s important that student survivors are able to choose how they handle their medical care after an assault, especially considering they’ve already had their bodily autonomy taken away from them by the sexual assault.
We often hear anti-abortion lawmakers almost casually throw in “exceptions for rape and incest” when they propose near total abortion bans. While we know those exceptions rarely work in practice, this type of narrative is often also about wanting to separate in the public’s mind abuse survivors from the rest of the people who access abortion. But according to the Pew Research Center, 57% of women who have had abortions are women in their 20s, an age range that overlaps with the high percentage of women who experience sexual violence. In North Carolina, people aged 20-24 have the highest rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis with females having the highest rates of chlamydia, and Black and African populations are disproportionately impacted by all major STIs (NCDHHS). Sexual and reproductive health, along with sexual violence, are topics that are so stigmatized and silenced that it is reasonable to think many people accessing abortion, emergency contraception, STI testing, and other sexual health services are doing so in response to an assault, but may not be willing or able to talk about it.
What laws are currently impacting student survivors, and their access to reproductive care? At the state level, there are a handful of bills this legislative session that seek to limit access to abortion care. House Bill 553, an extension of SB 20 that passed in 2023, attacks access to medication abortion which is the most common method of abortion among college students. House Bill 844 seeks a six-week abortion ban, which would disenfranchise many people, most of whom don’t know they are pregnant until they are 5.5 weeks along, and especially Black and Hispanic women (NIH). House Bill 804, named the “Human Life Protection Act” filed last week, aims to ban all abortions from conception with no exceptions for rape or incest. Similar laws are being debated at the federal level, in addition to rollbacks by the Trump Administration on Title IX protections for survivors. According the reinstated rules from 2020, only “servere, and objectively offensive conduct” must be investigated, with sexual assault incidents that occur off of school grounds potentially not covered at all. Many of these bills are supported by lawmakers that also support legislation that harms transgender young people who are disproportionately impacted by sexual violence.
How can we support student survivors and their access to reproductive care? Bans on reproductive care are unpopular, and there are a handful of bills that were introduced this legislative session that aim to protect and expand these necessary services including: SB 247 which aims to curtail state funding to anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, HB 474/SB 413 that protects access to contraception, and HB 509/SB 467 titled the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Act”. In North Carolina, there are a handful of organizations, including Pro Choice North Carolina, who are dedicated to protecting the rights of students and of reproductive care, and who have supported the aforementioned legislation. These organizations welcome donations and volunteer support, and especially encourage the involvement of young people, to allow their voices to be heard. I myself have been welcomed by the PCNC team with open arms, and I encourage you all to keep up with our email communications and involve your networks so you’re up to date with the latest policy changes and community events. We’re in this fight together.
Chalina Morgan-Lopez is a board member of Pro-Choice North Carolina Foundation