Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-2023

School/College

School of Communication (SOC)

Degree Name

MA in Communication

Committee Chairperson

Toniesha Taylor

Committee Co-Chairperson

Morgan Kirby

Committee Member 1

Zantel Nichols

Committee Member 2

Allison Monterrosa

Keywords

• Black Women • Communication Privacy Management Theory • Historically Black University • Sexual Assault • Silence • Title IX

Abstract

Often, we are conditioned to think about Sexual Assault as something that is taboo, rare, and unheard of unless you happen to be in a terrible situation. However, the reality is that it occurs so often that people are silent about their situation. Why are people quiet? They are silent because they tend to feel ashamed and blame themselves. Seriously, what about the young ladies and men that never speak up? “The Majority of Sexual Assaults are not reported to the police. Only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported to the police. That means more than 2 out of 3 go unreported.” (Rainn,2022). Imagine being a student on a Historically Black University Campus and dealing with sexual assault. Unfortunately, the black community often looks down upon situations like this because of this do not ask, don’t tell culture we have embedded in them. Sexually assaulted female scholars on Historically Black University Campuses are silent because they do not feel they have a haven on campus, at home, or within their community. If they were provided with the right resources and security, silence would be eradicated from these vicious cycles of sexual assault.

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